Most DH.80As were used as private aircraft, though many also flew commercially with small air charter firms for passenger and mail carrying. Seating was normally two, although in commercial use two passengers could be carried in slightly staggered seats with the rear passenger's legs beside the forward passenger seat. The wings folded backwards for storage, pivoting on the rear spar root fitting and the V-strut root fitting, a system used on other de Havilland light aircraft of the period. One aircraft took part in the
Challenge 1934 European tourist plane contest, but dropped out because of an engine fault on one of the last stages. Surviving British civilian aircraft were impressed into service during the
Second World War to act as communication aircraft. A few survive into the early 21st century.
Record breaking flights During the early 1930s, DH.80s were used for a number of record breaking flights. In early 1931,
Nevill Vintcent made the first flight from England to
Ceylon in G-AAXJ. On 25 May 1931 Capt James Douglas Mail flew in his Puss Moth G–ABIU named
Baby Tank from Croydon to Bulawayo, taking 8 days according to his logbook via Pisa to Rome then on to north Africa and down the east coast, arriving 8 days later. Total flying time was 73hrs 50mins. In July and August 1931
Amy Johnson made an eight-day flight with her co-pilot, Jack Humphreys, to
Moscow and
Tokyo in G-AAZV, named
Jason II, completing the leg to Moscow in one day. Late in 1931, the Australian
Bert Hinkler piloted the Canadian-built CF-APK on a series of important flights including
New York City to
Jamaica, Jamaica to
Venezuela, and a 22-hour, west–east crossing of the South
Atlantic, only the second solo transatlantic crossing. In November 1931, 19-year-old
Peggy Salaman set out in G-ABEH named
Good Hope, to beat the record for the flight from London to
Cape Town. With Gordon Store, her co-pilot and navigator, she arrived in Cape Town at 5.40 a.m. beating the previous record set up by Glen Kidston by more than one day.
Jim Mollison, in Puss Moth G-ABXY, ''The Heart's Content
, completed the first solo east-west Atlantic crossing in August 1932, from Portmarnock Strand near Dublin to New Brunswick, Canada, and the first east–west crossing of the South Atlantic from Lympne Aerodrome to Natal, Brazil in February 1933. His wife, Amy Johnson, made record flights between England and Cape Town using G-ACAB, Desert Cloud
in 1932. C. J. Melrose flew VH-UQO, named My Hildegarde'' in the 1934
MacRobertson Air Race. They finished overall seventh and second on handicap in a time of 10 days 16 hours. In 1933, a Puss Moth was used as the reconnaissance plane in the
Houston–Mount Everest flight expedition, though the recording-breaking flight over
Mount Everest was performed by different aircraft types.
Accidents and incidents • On 5 May 1931, English aviator
Glen Kidston was killed when his Puss Moth broke up in mid-air while flying through a dust storm over the
Drakensberg escarpment of South Africa. • On 27 July 1932, Puss Moth G-ABDH, owned by Brian Lewis and Company and piloted by Bruce Bossom, son of politician
Alfred Bossom, encountered thundery weather and turbulence en route from
Heston to
Hamble. The plane broke up in mid air and crashed near
Hindhead, killing all three occupants. • On 18 September 1932, Puss Moth VH-UPM of
New England Airways crashed at
Byron Bay, New South Wales, while travelling from
Sydney to
Brisbane. Three people were killed, including World War I fighter ace
Les Holden (travelling as a passenger). • On 20 July 1936 a Puss Moth crashed on takeoff at the marina adjacent to
Boca do Inferno, in
Cascais, Portugal. The crash killed the passenger
General Jose Sanjurjo y Sacanell, who was travelling to Spain to assume command of the Nationalists in the
Spanish Civil War. The pilot, Spanish playboy and aviator
Juan Antonio Ansaldo, survived the crash. • On 19 January 1937, Puss Moth VH-UPQ of
North Queensland Airways crashed into the sea on approach to
Cairns, Queensland, en route from
Cooktown. One person was killed and two badly injured. • On 27 August 1941, an
Airlines of Australia Puss Moth crashed in the
Coen River near
Coen, Queensland, while flying from
Thursday Island to Cairns. Three people were killed, including former Australian senator
Charles Hardy. ==Variants==