De Havilland T.K.2

de Havilland Aircraft Company · United Kingdom · first flew 1935 · light aircraft

The De Havilland T.K.2 was a fast low-wing touring monoplane designed and built by students of the de Havilland Aeronautical Technical School.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Low-mounted, tapered
E — Engines	1 × piston, nose-mounted
F — Fuselage	6.83 m fuselage
T — Tail	Conventional

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Spot it by:

Low-wing monoplane with a tightly cowled Gipsy Major and spatted fixed gear
Enclosed single-piece canopy over two closely spaced seats
Slim tapered wing shaped for closed-circuit air racing

A trim, enclosed-cockpit low-wing racer with spatted fixed undercarriage and a close-cowled inline engine, distinct from the school's earlier open-cockpit biplane.

Specifications

The De Havilland T.K.2 has a length of 6.83 m (22 ft).
It has a wingspan of 9.75 m (32 ft).
Its maximum speed is 293 km/h (182 mph).
Typical crew: 2.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Following the biplane T.K.1, the school's apprentices under Marcus Langley designed a purpose-built high-speed tourer, first flown at Hatfield in August 1935 with a 147 hp Gipsy Major engine. It went on to win pre-war closed-circuit air races.

Variants

Only the single T.K.2 was built; the school followed it with the more radical single-seat T.K.4 racer.

Where you'll see it

The T.K.2 stayed in private hands after the war and was still competing in 1947, when Pat Fillingham set a 100 km closed-circuit class record in it; it was scrapped that December and no example survives.

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