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Information on this page updated: December 23 2009

Flying the de Havilland Heron

This section details the flying characteristics of the de Havilland Heron model by Dee Waldron. He has in fact produced two models - the DH114-2B and DH-114 2D. Their difference is in the engines. A third type, the DH114-1, can be emulated by making the landing gear inoperable.

The history of the de Havilland Heron is interesting. It is surely the world's smallest four-engine airliner ever. But why? Well, following the immense success of the pre-war de Havilland Dragon Rapide, de Havilland produced a modern looking replacement under the name Dove. In looks it was a great advance, but in reality it was just window dressing - the same basic piston-engines with wooden propellers powered the aircraft. Perceived demand for slightly higher capacity brought about the Heron, with an extended fuselage and two extra engines of the same type.

But before you start, you need to shoe-horn yourself into the cockpit.

The cockpit

This picture, courtesy of Airliners.net, was taken inside one of the fleet of Herons operated by Prinair from Puerto Rico. Handy that the co-pilot was so small!

This marvellous view of the preserved Jersey Airlines Heron must have been taken with an extremely powerful wide-angle lens. Compared with other photographs at Airliners.net, this cockpit looks far more original than many, although notice that it is not configured to be flown by the co-pilot as there are just radios where his dials and indicators would be. This is the photograph I based my "panel" on.

The controls

There are no surprises to the controls if you are familiar with flying the default piston-engined aircrafts in Flight Simulator 2004. However, a personal dislike of icons dotted around the panel means that you need to know the hotspots to click the mouse on if you want to use the pop-up panel features. They are quite simple to use when you get the hang of things:

Almost every function on the panel can be made using the mouse, if you are so inclined.

We've defined three types of Heron that should all fly differently. Information about their flight characteristics seems contradictory at many internet sources, so a little bit of intuition has to be used. Curiously, nearly all available information applies to aircraft with retractable gear, so there is little to show how the Heron 1 flew.

What is listed below is based on a combination of researched information and how the model actually performs. It is not necessarily accurate or factual. However, I have seen it said that its performance as a type 2B is extremely accurate, which is certainly an excellent start.

General characteristics

Note that it appears that the RPM settings are two-position only on the real aircraft - Full or 1800.

The flaps are fierce, and the small aircraft will respond heavily. It is best to only use flaps on approach - at other times keep the speed up.

You have an autopilot to use if you wish, but be prepared for the aircraft to wallow badly if changing course.

I note that the engines run very hot during climb on the simulation. I do not know what the cooling arrangements were on the real aircraft.

De Havilland Heron 1

All of the above figures may need adjusting slightly to suit your flight - they are based on a flight of about one hour departing with about 30% fuel.

De Havilland Heron 2B

All of the above figures may need adjusting slightly to suit your flight - they are based on a flight of about one hour departing with about 30% fuel.

De Havilland Heron 2D

The 2D model, with more powerful engines, should perform quite differently. But it doesn't in the simulator, as the Flight Dynamics appear to be the same as the 2B.

For the moment, therefore, please use the reference for the 2B.

Other liveries

All other liveries for the Dee Waldron model are compatible with the "Three Herons" panel, although many distributed as the 2B model are really of the Mk 1 type with fixed undercarriage. They can be matched to the FDEs of my Mk1 Heron. Here is a chart showing all the available liveries I have come across.

John Hinson, Potterspury, UK, 2008 - 2010