Dragon Rapide Flights

1930's FLYING The ultimate in city sightseeing in a vintage aircraft. Tour over the UK's finest cities in a 1930's de Havilland Dragon Rapide.

During the summer of 2008 we are offering the chance to soar above the dreaming skyline of Oxford, Cambridge or London in 1930's style, viewing the historic sights from the stylish art-deco seats of a vintage Dragon Rapide biplane airliner.

Your flight is a ticket to a unique time warp experience. Every one of the eight passengers in the art-deco cabin get an aisle and a window seat, giving a superb view along with a sense of how it was to travel the world in a 1930's airliner.

The Dragon Rapide first flew on the 17th April 1934 from the de Havilland factory at Hatfield in Hertfordshire and such was the safety of its design that it became the first aircraft to carry a reigning British Monarch. Over 600 were used during war years as training and communications aircraft and in the 1940s, these were used by scores of airlines. Today though only a handful are flying, but the Rapide remains one of the best loved pre-war aircraft. Your aircraft are two of the very few left flying and are completely restored to comply with modern regulations.

Typical Oxford Tour

The historic aeroplane will be based for the summer at Oxford's Kidlington airport, just a short journey from the city centre. For both visitors and locals alike, the flight is the stuff of dreams, with elegant tapered wings framing views of famous landmarks including the Bodleian Library and the Oxford colleges as well as Blenheim Palace - one of the UK's finest stately homes.

Flights from Oxford

The experience

You will receive a comprehensive briefing before your flight where any specific requirements can be discussed. When airborne, your pilot will point out sights during your flight.

The aircraft

The Rapide is largely based on the four-engined DH 86 which in turn had originated from the earlier De Havilland Dragon. The original Dragon was designed to a requirement from Hillman Airlines for an aircraft that could carry 6 passengers and luggage from London to Paris in some comfort.

The Rapide was quickly assimilated into the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, initially as a communications aircraft. These military aircraft worked very hard, often flying four details a day. When hostilities came to an end a great many of the surviving aircraft were made available to charter companies and "start-up" airlines after a conversion which basically involved new paint, soundproofing and better seats. Indeed British European Airways, later merged with BOAC to form the present British Airways, had a fleet of Rapides for the short distance over-water routes in Scotland, Scilly and Channel Islands. The types’ continuing versatility led to it being used worldwide for tasks such as aerial survey, oil exploration, ambulance flights, parachute dropping and to bring the wheel full circle, pleasure flying.

Tiger Moth flights
Other vintage biplane flights