Tiger Moth flight experiences are available at several locations around the world, including several airfields in the UK. These flights offer an opportunity to experience what it was like to fly in one of these aircraft during the the 1930s and as a trainee air force pilot during the Second World War.
Since training future fighter pilots decades ago, this aircraft continues to provide a memorable experience flying in a way that’s all too easily overlooked by those seeking more speed and closed-cockpit comforts.
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Where to find Tiger Moth flight experiences
- A Tiger Moth flight (various durations) at the Bicester Heritage Centre (formerly RAF Bicester) in Oxfordshire. Try some aerobatics if you like or just settle down to enjoy the views of some flights over Oxfordshire.
- A Tiger Moth flight (various durations) at Headcorn Aerodrome in Kent. They have two aircraft available. One was built in 1934 and the other is a rare Australian aircraft built in 1959.
- Tiger Moth Flights at Redhill Aerodrome in Surrey. Redhill was the home of the Tiger Club from 1959-1990.
- How about a Tiger Moth flight over God’s own country, Yorkshire? The flights take place at Sherburn Aerodrome, near Leeds. You’ll be donning a flying jacket for the full 1940s experience, see an original WW II dispersal hut, and contributing to the RAF Benevolent Fund all at the same time.
- Fly over the Sussex Downs or the south coast in a 1940s Tiger Moth or a Stampe from Shoreham Airport (also known as Brighton City Airport).
- There are Tiger Moth flights of various durations available at Derby Airfield in Egginton, Derbyshire. From the same airfield you can book a Dambusters Flight experience, flying the route that the 617 Squadron aircraft flown by Guy Gibson and his crewmates used to practice their dambusting raids.
- You can take lessons in a Tiger Moth at North Weald Airfield in Essex. It’s an historic airfield that was an operational fighter base during WWII.
- Damyns Hall Aerodrome, near Upminster, is another airfield in Essex offering Tiger Moth flights.
- How about some open cockpit flying in a Tiger Moth from Cotswold (Kemble) Airport near Cirencester in Gloucestershire?
- Why not combine a Tiger Moth flight with a ride in an APC (Armoured Personnel Carrier) and make it a full day out at the IWM at Duxford in Cambridgeshire?
- If you can’t decide where or when then Tiger Moth flight vouchers, valid at locations nationwide, are available to purchase online.
What to expect during your Tiger Moth flight
Your much anticipated flight experience will be weather dependent so be sure to check with the airfield before setting off. Arrive in good time so that there’s no rush and you can take time to appreciate this brilliant experience.
Take a good look at the aircraft in pictures or better still on the ground when you arrive. Notice the Tiger Moth wings and how the de Havilland’s design placed the upper wing forward of the lower wing.
Your instructor will give you a pre-flight briefing before your flight experience, during which he or she will explain what to expect and answer any questions you may have. With the briefing over you’ll be lead out to the aircraft. The instructor will then carry out some checks on the aircraft before you’re shown how to climb into the front cockpit by the instructor or the ground crew. The pilot instructor will sit in the rear cockpit.
Once you’re both aboard it’s time to start the engine and let it warm up before taxiing off to beging the flight experience. You’ll find the Tiger Moth is a generally docile aircraft, slower than any others you may have flown in, and an altogether much more sedate flight experience.
Flying these classic aircraft is fairly easy once you’re in the air. The instructor will take care of all the movement on the ground, the take-off, the landing, and the radio calls. Flying lessons can be the beginning of conversion to type or a one-off pleasureable experience for a special occasion or just as a day out with family and friends.
How flying in a Tiger Moth differs from modern aircraft
Open cockpit flying in a Tiger Moth is an entirely different experience to that of flying in a modern light aircraft.
Flying over the English countryside in a Tiger Moth on a brilliant day is a flight experience that differs in many ways from a normal flight in a conventional, modern light aircraft. Some flight schools offer a themed wartime experience that gives you a real taste of what it was like for the RAF and other air force pilots who flew these training aircraft.
You’ll be struck by the sensations, the views, and the way the De Havilland Tiger Moth responds to control inputs from the stick between your knees. The aircraft is of course a tail dragger and your view forward from the front cockpit is directly beneath the aircraft’s fuel tank.
What to wear for your Tiger Moth flights
Your first flight in a Tiger Moth will be a fantastic experience but you need to wear the right clothing. You don’t want it spoiled by being too cold to enjoy it. The temperature at 1,500 feet can be a few degress lower that on the ground, even on a summer’s day, and you can’t rely on cockpit heating to keep your entire body warm. You may be offered a flight suit and a leather flying jacket and our advice is that you should accept both.
You will also be loaned a leather flying helmet and goggles, or perhaps a hard, modern helmet. It all depends on how authentic to the time you want the whole experience to be.
DH.71 Tiger Moths
The de Havilland DH.71 Tiger Moth was a British two-seat biplane trainer aircraft that was first flown in late 1931. It was used by the Royal Air Force and many other military operators around the world. The Tiger Moth remained in RAF service until the early 1960s and was also used by the Royal Navy and several other Commonwealth nations.
A total of 8,580 Tiger Moths were built, making it one of the most popular biplane trainers of all time.The Tiger Moth was produced in many variants with several different types of airframe; the variations were initially designated as separate marks, but after 1940 they became one mark. It is perhaps the most famous intermediate/advanced trainer aircraft ever built, well known for its robustness and ease of handling.
Future generations of pilots would greatly benefit from some Tiger Moth logbook time. There is much that this vintage open cockpit tail dragger can teach those who fly modern aircraft with glass panel cockpits about the forces of flight and stick & rudder flying.
The De Havilland Aircraft Company
The De Havilland Aircraft Company was a British aviation company founded in the earliest days of aviation. For half a century it produced some of the most famous aircraft of the pioneering age of aviation. In 1960s it was absorbed by the Hawker Siddeley group which later merged with BAE Systems plc. The De Havilland Tiger Moth but one in a series of Moths that included types like the Hornet Moth, a four seat cabin biplane.
The company was founded by Geoffrey de Havilland and was based at Stag Lane Aerodrome, a private aerodrome in Edgeware, North London, that was in use between 1915 and 1935. Later, the company moved to the Hatfield Aerodrome in Hertfordshire.
The company produced dozens of aircraft types, from biplanes to jets. The Tiger Moth is a biplane developed as a primary wartime RAF trainer aircraft during the Second World War. Many of the pilots who would later graduate onto the heavier fighter and bomber aircraft first learned to fly in this aircraft. The combination of its light wooden fuselage and gentle Gipsy Major engine made the Tiger Moth’s handling ideal for novice pilots.
Today, many airworthy Tiger Moths remain thanks to the restorations carried out on previously neglected aircraft by civilian restorers and retired RAF personnel. They can often be seen at air displays and at grass airfields where they recreate the Golden Age of flying in the 1930s.
In addition, there are many on static display. If you’re ever in the vicinity then the De Havilland Aircraft Museum at Salisbury Hall off Junction 22 of the M25 orbital motorway around London is well worth a visit. Inside you’ll find all kinds of De Havilland aircraft including rarities like the Queen Bee.
You’ll also see Tiger Moths on static display and giving flight displays the Imperial War Museum at Duxford in Cambridgeshire. You can also book a Tiger Moth flight there.
De Havilland Canada
De Havilland Canada retains the name and produced several aircraft (easily identified by the DHC prefix), some of which are still in use today in the rugged landscapes of Canada and Alaska.
The DHC-1 Chipmunk was another great success. Developed after World War II it sold in high numbers and became the main initial training aicraft for military pilots, replacing the Tiger Moth.
- DHC-1 Chipmunk
- DHC-2 Beaver
- DHC-3 Otter
- DHC-4 Caribou
- DHC-5 Buffalo
- DHC-6 Twin Otter
- DHC-7 Dash 7
- DHC-8 Dash 8
De Havilland Aircraft Built at Stag Lane Aerodrome
- Cierva C.24 Autogiro
- de Havilland DH.34
- de Havilland DH.50
- de Havilland DH.51
- de Havilland DH.53 Humming Bird
- de Havilland DH.60 Moth/Gipsy Moth
- de Havilland DH.61 Giant Moth
- de Havilland DH.65 Hound
- de Havilland DH.66 Hercules
- de Havilland DH.71 Tiger Moth
- de Havilland DH.75 Hawk Moth
- de Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth
- de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth
- de Havilland DH.83 Fox Moth
- de Havilland DH.84 Dragon
- de Havilland DH.85 Leopard Moth
- de Havilland DH.86 Express
Stag Lane Aerodrome closed in 1933 and the site was sold for housing development. Some aviation manufacturing in the form of de Havilland Engine Company Limited remained. In July 1934 a de Havilland Hornet Moth made the last flight out of airfield.
Mackay De Havilland Tiger Moth Museum
If you’re ever in Australia, and Queensland to be precise, the Mackay Tiger Moth Museum RAAF museum is well worth a visit. It’s packed with Australian aircraft and it’s a great place to learn about the history of the Tiger Moth. You can also see some of the original planes that were used by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in World War II.
