Introduction The RAF ordered 35 dual-control Tiger Moth Is, which had the company designation DH.82. A subsequent order was placed for 50 aircraft powered by the de Havilland Gipsy Major I engine (130 hp) which was the DH.82A or to the RAF Tiger Moth II. The Tiger Moth entered service at the
RAF Central Flying School in February 1932. During the prewar years, increasing numbers of Tiger Moths were procured for the RAF and by overseas customers; by 1939, nearly 40 flying schools operating the type had been established, nine of which operated civilian-register models, as well. From 1937 onwards, the Tiger Moth was made available to general flying clubs, production having been previously occupied by military customers. The type was used to replace older aircraft in the civilian trainer capacity, such as the older
de Havilland Cirrus Moth and Gipsy Moth. The DH.82 had a wooden fuselage, based on that of the DH.60 Gipsy Moth (with appropriate structural changes related to
cabane strut placement) and the wings of the Tiger Moth II. Queen Bees retained a normal front cockpit for test-flying or
ferry flights, but had a radio-control system in the rear cockpit to operate the controls using pneumatically driven
servos. In total, 400 were built by de Havilland at Hatfield and a further 70 by
Scottish Aviation. There were nearly 300 in service at the start of the Second World War.
Coastal patrol In December 1939, owing to a shortage of
maritime patrol aircraft, six
flights of Tiger Moths were operated by
RAF Coastal Command for surveillance flights over coastal waters, known as "scarecrow patrols". The aircraft operated in pairs and were armed only with a
Very pistol. The intention was to force any encroaching
U-boat to dive; one aircraft would then remain in the vicinity while the other would search for a naval patrol vessel that could be led back to the spot. Because they were not radio equipped, each aircraft also carried a pair of
homing pigeons in a wicker basket to call for help in case of a forced landing at sea. A 25-lb (11.5 kg) bomb was sometimes carried, but no record shows one being dropped in action.
Anti-invasion preparations In the aftermath of Britain's disastrous campaign in France, in August 1940 three proposals for beach defence systems were put forward; 350 Tiger Moths were fitted with bomb racks to serve as light bombers as a part of
Operation Banquet. A more radical conversion involved the "paraslasher", a scythe-like blade fitted to a Tiger Moth and intended to cut
parachutists' canopies as they descended. Flight tests proved the idea, but it was not officially adopted. The Tiger Moth was also tested as a dispenser of
Paris green rat poison for use against ground troops, with powder dispensers located under the wings.
Postwar in 1955 in 1967 has the extended fin area required by the Dutch authorities in 2009 In the postwar climate, impressed Tiger Moths were restored to their former civilian operations and owners. Accordingly, large numbers of Tiger Moths were made available for sale to flying clubs and individuals. Relatively few new light aircraft were being manufactured at the time to take its place. Due to the type being inexpensive to operate and the aforementioned factors, the Tiger Moth was met with an enthusiastic reception across the civilian market. Additionally, it was put to use for new roles, including aerial advertising, aerial ambulance, aerobatic performer, crop dusting, and
glider tug work. Three particular aircraft,
G-APDZ,
G-ANZZ and
G-ANMZ, were accordingly rebuilt and were used in international competitions; the design changes led to substantially improved performance during inverted flight. Ex-RAF examples were imported to the Netherlands during the postwar era and used to equip the Dutch National Flying School at
Ypenburg. These aircraft were required by the Dutch civil aviation authorities to be fitted with a larger dorsal fin, incorporating an extended forward fillet to the fin, to provide for additional area; this requirement was also extended to privately owned Tiger Moths in the Netherlands. One became the last biplane to land on an aircraft carrier () in the
English Channel during the summer of 1967. On takeoff, the wind over the deck allowed the aircraft to fly, but it was slower than the carrier, which turned hard to starboard to avoid a possible collision. These planes remained in service until the early 1970s. The Tiger Moth (and to a lesser extent, the similar Belgian
Stampe-Vertongen SV.4) had been often used as a stand-in for rarer aircraft in films, sometimes having been extensively modified to outwardly resemble the aircraft it was depicting. Three aircraft were converted by
Croydon-based Film Aviation Services Ltd for use in the filming of the 1962 movie
Lawrence of Arabia; one Tiger Moth became a replica of a
Fokker D.VII, while two aircraft resembled the
Rumpler C.V to depict these types for the film. Several Tiger Moths were used in the crash scenes in
The Great Waldo Pepper, standing in for the
Curtiss JN-1. Due to the popularity of the design and the rising cost of flyable examples, a number of replicas (scale and full-sized) have been designed for the homebuilder; these include the
Fisher R-80 Tiger Moth and the
RagWing RW22 Tiger Moth. ==Flying characteristics==