Dart Kitten

The Dart Kitten was a British-built ultra-light aircraft of the 1930s.

Design and development
The Dart Kitten was designed by A.R. Weyl in 1936 and built by Dart Aircraft Ltd at Dunstable, Bedfordshire. It is an ultra-light single-seat low-wing aircraft with a fixed tailskid undercarriage. The four examples built were powered by a variety of engines of between 27 h.p. and 40 h.p.

Operational history
The Dart Kitten I G-AERP first flew in January 1937 and was sold to a private owner at Tollerton airport near Nottingham. It was stored during the Second World War. It was re-engined with a 40 h.p. J.A.P. J-99 postwar and flew with a private owner at Broxbourne airfield Hertfordshire before crashing there in November 1952.

The Dart Kitten II G-AEXT received its authorisation to fly on 30 April 1937 and had a series of owners before being badly damaged in a crash at Willingale, Essex in November 1964. It was subsequently rebuilt and in 2009 was airworthy with a private owner near Aylesbury Buckinghamshire. As of 2023 it is based with the Real Aeroplane Company at Breighton near Selby in North Yorkshire.

The Dart Kitten III G-AMJP was built by Dart Aircraft in January 1952 and was flown by owners in Buckinghamshire, Wiltshire and Lincolnshire before being lost in a crash near Kings Lynn in June 1966.

A fourth Kitten was home-built at Port Moresby New Guinea in 1960 and registered in Australia as VH-WGL.

Variants

 * Kitten I : 27 h.p. Ava 4A-00 flat four engine;
 * Kitten II : 36 h.p. Aeronca-J.A.P. J-99 engine, revised rear decking and simplified undercarriage;
 * Kitten III : as Kitten II but with wheel brakes.