The Flamingo was a twin-engined civil airliner developed by de Havilland, led by their newly appointed chief designer R. E. Bishop, and was the first all-metal stressed-skin aircraft built by the company; only the control surfaces were fabric covered.

[1] It had a retractable undercarriage, slotted flaps, and was considered a highly promising sales prospect for the company, capable of competing with the American Douglas DC-3 and Lockheed Model 10 Electra.

[1] It had a third central fin fitted as a temporary measure; this was removed when larger fins with larger rudder area were fitted to the twin tail Powered by 890 hp (660 kW) Bristol Perseus XIIIC engines, it had a maximum weight takeoff in 750 ft (230 m) and the ability to maintain height or climb at 120 mph (190 km/h) on a single engine.

Testing was successful, with the Flamingo being granted a certificate of airworthiness on 30 June 1939,[2] with an initial production run of twenty aircraft being laid down.

The second aircraft was to be the first for Guernsey and Jersey Airlines but it was impressed into military service and delivered to 24 Squadron, the other two on order were never built due to the outbreak of the Second World War.

[5] The Flamingo was Winston Churchill's favourite short/medium range transport and he flew it to visit Reynaud and the French leadership as the Western front collapsed on May 16, 1940.

[6][page needed] The BOAC Flamingoes were not popular, and following three accidents[a] – one of which was fatal – and with a lack of spares, the airline decided to withdraw the type.

The Admiralty aircraft (BT312 ‘Merlin VI') was due to be withdrawn and scrapped but in August 1944 it ground looped at Gatwick and was abandoned.

A short clip of a Flamingo appears in the film Mistaken Identity Data from De Havilland Aircraft since 1909[7]General characteristics Performance Avionics