DH.91 ALBATROSS FRANKLIN, FARADAY

The De Havilland DH.91 Albatross was a British-made four-engine passenger and mail plane from the interwar period and World War II. The drive was provided by four in-line engines de Havilland Gipsy Twelve with 525 hp each. The flight of the prototype took place in 1937, and production continued in 1938-1939, ending with the production of 7 serial copies of this aircraft. In 1943 or 1944 the machine was definitely withdrawn from use. The DH.91 Albatross was developed by the De Havilland Aircraft Company on behalf of the British Ministry of Aviation, which in the 1930s wanted to acquire a new mail aircraft capable of transporting shipments over the Atlantic. Shortly thereafter, on the grassroots initiative of De Havilland, a passenger version was created, capable of carrying 22 passengers. At the outbreak of the war, they were used by the British Overseas Airways Corporation. However, three of them suffered disasters and the other two were taken out of service due to a lack of spare parts. On the other hand, the airplanes in the mail version (2 copies) were taken over by the RAF and were used for communication between Great Britain and Iceland, however, they also suffered catastrophes in 1941 and 1942.