De Havilland Dragon Rapide

The de Havilland DH 89 Dragon Rapide was a successful British short-haul passenger airliner of the 1930s. Designed as a successor to the DH 84 Dragon, it featured the tapered wings and streamlined undercarriage fairings of the four-engined DH 86 Express.

In 1936 General Franco was carried in a DH 89 on his escape from Africa to Spain at the start of the Civil War.

At the start of World War II many Dragon Rapides were impressed by the British armed forces and together with fresh RAF orders served under the designation de Havilland Dominie. As well as passengers duties they were used for radio navigational training.

731 Rapides were built and they have proved astonishingly durable with many still flying into the 21st century.