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- Status: On display
- Airworthiness: Airworthy (flown regularly)
- Type: Trainer
- Built: 1940
- Serial Number: RCAF 4319
- Construction Number: 649
- Civil Registration: CF-GTU
- Current Markings: RCAF 4319
- Length: 23 ft 11 in
- Wingspan: 29 ft 4 in
- Power: 145 hp
- Engine: 1 x de Havilland Gipsy Major 1C
- Maximum Speed: 107 mph
- Cruising Speed: 90 mph
- Service Ceiling: 14,200 ft
Aircraft Description
The de Havilland Tiger Moth was designed in 1931 as a primary trainer for the RAF. During the following fifteen years, the DH.82 was to become the foremost training airplane flown by the Commonwealth’s military and civilian pilots. It was one of several training aircraft that made an enormous contribution to the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. From 1938 to 1948, the RCAF employed more than 1,500 of these aircraft.
The Canadian built DH.82C differed from the British DH.82A in a number of ways, which included; a jettisonable cockpit canopy, cockpit heating, wheel brakes, a tail wheel and a more powerful engine. The DH.82C prototype was first flown from Downsview (Toronto) Ontario, in March 1940. The various Canadian modifications added both weight and drag to the aircraft, so inevitably the Canadian DH.82C was less nimble than its British counterpart, but better suited to Canadian flying conditions.
Tiger Moths and Fleet Finches did all the elementary flight training for the BCATP until the summer of 1942, with Tiger Moths outnumbering Fleet Finches by over three to one. Besides pilot training, Tiger Moths were used for basic radio operator instruction. Many Tiger Moth trainers were flown at Mount Hope during the Second World War, by No.10 Elementary Flying Training School(EFTS). An estimated 7,800 Tiger Moths were manufactured for the RAF and other Allied Air Forces. Of these, 1,550 were built in Canada between 1937 and 1944. Today, about 300 Tiger Moths remain in flying condition around the world - 40 of them in Canada.
The Museum's Tiger Moth was manufactured by de Havilland at Downsview in 1940 and was taken on strength by the RCAF on December 7, 1940. It served with No. 8 Elementary Flying Training
School (EFTS) which was established beside the Vancouver Airport (on Sea Island), in BC, No. 15 EFTS at Regina, Saskatchewan, and No. 12 EFTS at Goderich, Ontario. It was struck off strength on September 25, 1945 with a total of 2118:25 hours of flying time.
The Tiger Moth was then given to the Royal Canadian Flying Club Association and registered as CF-GTU. It was subsequently owned by several different owners in Ontario, one of whom operated it on floats. It was eventually acquired by Hannu Halminen who owned it for several years before generously donating it to the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in October 2022.