One of the last photos of the DH.66 prototype. Then five years old, it crashed at Kupang during a proving flight from Britain to Australia in April 1931. This photo must have been taken in the Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) as one of the barrels appears to read 'De Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij' and the other 'Palembang'. The photo is indeed dated 1931 by the Dutch source. Note retrofitted enclosed cockpit. Photo from: KB - National Library of the Netherlands

The prototype DH.66 Hercules. Registered 11 Dec.1925. First flight 30 Sept.1926. While on a trial mail flight from India to Australia 19 April 1931, it suffered fuel starvation in bad weather on the leg from Surabaya to Koepang and with all three engines stopped, it made a forced landing 10 miles from Koepang, Timor. After landing it struck rocks, lost its landing gear and came to rest. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair but the two crew were uninjured. Cancelled June 1931.

The protoype of the DH.66 Hercules airliner. Similar, but a bit smaller smaller and more elegant than the Armstrong Whitworth Argosy, it was designed for the Cairo to Karachi route. Photograph presumably taken at Stag Lane. Photo from: De Havilland