De Havilland DH.104 Dove

Updated: October 2026 – A small twin-engine low-wing aircraft, two slim engine nacelles with three-blade propellers, and a glass canopy over the cockpit: if you see an aircraft like that in a museum hall or at a vintage aircraft meet, you are very likely looking at a de Havilland DH.104 Dove. It was the first new British civil airliner type after World War II and brought all-metal construction, nose gear and variable-pitch propellers to the small feeder routes. This page shows you how the Dove came about, which versions exist, how to tell it apart from similar types and where you can still get it in front of your lens today.

What is the de Havilland Dove?

The Dove is a twin-engine short-haul and feeder aircraft of all-metal construction. Depending on the cabin fit, it carried eight to eleven passengers, or five to six as an executive and corporate aircraft. It is powered by two air-cooled piston engines of the in-house Gipsy Queen 70 series, which deliver between roughly 330 and 400 hp depending on the version and turn three-blade variable-pitch propellers.

At just under twelve meters long with a wingspan of a good 17 meters, the Dove is a compact aircraft. It has no pressurized cabin, so it flies at altitudes where none is needed. Its field of use was short routes, feeders to large airports, charter, corporate travel and military liaison flights.

It was built by the de Havilland Aircraft Company, which had previously become famous for the wooden DH.98 Mosquito and shortly afterward built the world’s first jet airliner, the DH.106 Comet. The Dove is the down-to-earth counterpart to the Comet: not a prestige project, but a solid workhorse that sold for two decades.

Origins: a successor for the Dragon Rapide

While the war was still on, Britain was planning what its civil aviation should look like once it ended. The so-called Brabazon Committee drew up requirements for various aircraft classes – from the large transatlantic airliner to the small feeder. The Dove was created to the Type VB specification, a design for a small, modern short-haul aircraft.

At the same time, it was meant as a replacement for the DH.89 Dragon Rapide. The Rapide was a biplane of wood and fabric with fixed landing gear that had carried countless small airlines in the 1930s. The Dove, by contrast, brought everything that made up a postwar aircraft:

• an all-metal airframe instead of wood and fabric covering
• a retractable nose gear instead of a tailwheel
• variable-pitch propellers with feathering
• flaps for short runways
• a transparent canopy over the cockpit for a good view upward

The manufacturing is also remarkable: de Havilland used metal bonding processes to save on rivets. For maintenance, the wings and tail cone were removable, and the engines sat on quick-change mounts. A de-icing system was available as an option.

The first flight took place on September 25, 1945 – only a few weeks after the end of the war in Asia. In December 1946, Central African Airways put the type into service as the first operator. It was built first in Hatfield north of London, and from 1951 at the Broughton plant near Chester. Production ran until the end of the 1960s; depending on the source, the last aircraft were built in 1967 or 1968.

The versions at a glance

Over the long production run, a whole series of variants appeared. Roughly speaking, you can distinguish feeder versions with more seats from executive versions with a more luxurious cabin, plus military versions and later conversions.

Version	Role	Engines
Dove 1 / 1B	Feeder, 8 to 11 seats	Gipsy Queen 70-3 or 70-4 (330 or 340 hp)
Dove 2 / 2B	Executive transport, up to 6 seats	Gipsy Queen 70-3 or 70-4
Dove 5	Feeder with more powerful engines, up to 11 seats	Gipsy Queen 70 Mk2 (380 hp)
Dove 6	Executive transport, 6 seats	Gipsy Queen 70 Mk2 (380 hp)
Dove 7	Feeder with revised cockpit	Gipsy Queen 70 Mk3 (400 hp)
Dove 8 / 8A	Executive transport with revised cockpit, 8A as a five-seater for the USA	Gipsy Queen 70 Mk3 (400 hp)
Devon C.1 / C.2	Royal Air Force liaison aircraft	Gipsy Queen 70 or 175
Sea Devon C.20	Royal Navy liaison aircraft	Gipsy Queen

A version designated Dove 3 was planned as a high-altitude survey aircraft but was never built.

Conversions from the USA

In the United States, the dealer Jack Riley sold more than 50 Doves. His company later converted some of them: the Riley Dove received Lycoming flat engines of 400 hp each and usually a taller, swept vertical stabilizer. Aircraft that kept the original de Havilland tail were sold as the Riley Dove 2.

The Carstedt Jet Liner 600 went even further: the fuselage was stretched so that 18 passengers had room, and two Garrett turboprops replaced the piston engines. Only six conversions were built. For you as a spotter, both variants are exciting rarities because they clearly change the familiar Dove silhouette.

The big sister: Heron

From the Dove, de Havilland developed the DH.114 Heron, a stretched four-engine type for more passengers. The cockpit area and basic shape strongly recall the Dove, but the doubled number of engines gives away the difference right away.

The Dove with airlines, companies and the military

The Dove found customers on practically every continent. Civil operators included, besides Central African Airways, LAN-Chile, Union of Burma Airways, Sabena, Gulf Aviation, Dan-Air, Channel Airways, Cambrian Airways, JAT and the British BOAC. The type was also active in Germany: LTU is listed among the civil operators, and over the years several Doves carried German registrations with the D-I prefix used for twin-engine aircraft of this weight class. How German registrations are structured is explained in the article on German aircraft registrations.

One big market was companies looking for a fast, comfortable executive aircraft. The six-seat versions Dove 2, 6 and 8 in particular are regarded as early examples of what we now call business aviation. De Havilland itself later entered the business jet market with the DH.125, which became known as the Hawker Siddeley HS 125.

On the military side, the Royal Air Force was the most important customer: from 1948, 30 aircraft served there as the Devon C.1. The Royal Navy received ten Sea Devons in 1955, with three more added later. Larger quantities also went to Argentina with a total of 70 aircraft, most of them for the air force, to the Royal New Zealand Air Force with 30 aircraft, and to India, whose air force received around 20 Doves.

How to recognize the Dove

In a museum, an information board usually helps you. At vintage aircraft meets or with photos from archives, on the other hand, you have to identify the aircraft yourself. Four features are usually enough.

In the end, the registration confirms the identification. Historic British Doves carry G- registrations, former RAF Devons their military serial numbers. How to look up British registrations is explained in the article on British G- registrations.

Dove, Twin Beech, Dragon Rapide or Heron?

The Dove is mostly confused with other small twin-engine classics. The finder narrows it down in three steps.

Larger classics like the Douglas DC-3 or the four-engine Vickers Viscount are ruled out by size alone. The DC-3 is also a tailwheel aircraft that sits tilted noticeably backward on the ground.

For general tips on identifying vintage aircraft in the sky and on the ground, see the guide How to recognize vintage aircraft.

Where to see the Dove today

Airworthy Doves have become rare. A few aircraft are in private hands, others are waiting for restoration. Whether a particular aircraft is flying changes over time – the registration in the relevant aircraft register gives you the current status. Museums are more reliable, and many of them have a Dove or Devon in their collection.

Location	Example according to inventory lists	Note
Technik Museum Sinsheim	Dove 7	closest Dove for spotters from southern Germany
de Havilland Aircraft Museum, London Colney	Dove 8, built in Chester in 1961, formerly a demonstrator and VIP aircraft	close to the manufacturer: Hatfield is right next door
Imperial War Museum Duxford	Dove 6	can be combined with an airshow
RAF Museum Cosford	Devon C.1	military variant
National Museum of Flight East Fortune	Dove 6	Scotland
Aviodrome Lelystad	Sea Devon C.20	easy to reach from northwestern Germany
Technisches Museum Wien (Vienna Technical Museum)	Dove exhibit (extent given differently depending on the source)	ask the museum beforehand

More examples are in British collections such as the Yorkshire Air Museum in Elvington, the East Midlands Aeropark and the museums in Newark and Coventry-Baginton. For spotters in Great Britain, the Dove fits easily into a museum tour – for instance at the Yorkshire Air Museum or the East Midlands Aeropark, where you can also see current traffic at the airport on the side.

For an overview of collections in Germany, see the article Aviation museums in Germany. If you want to experience airworthy vintage aircraft, check out events like the Hahnweide vintage aircraft meet or the airshows at Duxford. There’s no guarantee of a Dove there, but the chances of British classics are good.

Photo tips for the Dove in a museum

The Dove is small enough to fit completely into the frame in a hall – if you find the right vantage point. A few points help.

You can gauge how rare your encounter really is with the article How rare is my sighting?. And if British classics have got you hooked, take a look at the page on the Comet and the background article De Havilland Comet – the first jetliner.

Conclusion

The DH.104 Dove is not a spectacular aircraft, but an important one: after the war, it brought modern technology to the small routes, replaced the wooden Dragon Rapide and served airlines, companies and the military for decades. With around 540 built, it is among the most successful British civil aircraft of its time. Today you encounter it almost only in a museum or, with a lot of luck, at a vintage aircraft meet – which makes every sighting for your collection all the nicer.