Geoffrey de Havilland, was a passionate, lifelong amateur lepidopterist (someone who studies butterflies and moths). He named his first light biplane the DH.60 Moth because when he saw the design on the drawing board and noticed its wings could fold backwards against the fuselage, he remarked that it folded its wings "like a moth". De Havilland decided to capitalize on the branding by naming a long series of aircraft - such as the Gipsy Moth, Tiger Moth, Puss Moth, and Fox Moth - after various species of moths.The dragon names were reserved for larger, twin-engined civilian transports and airliners (like the DH.84 Dragon). They were much larger and more powerful, which is why they were branded as "Dragons" rather than "Moths". There are still 24 Gypsy Moths, 3 Cirrus Moths, 176 Tiger Moths, 4 Fox Moths, 5 Leopard Moths, 6 Hornet Moths, 4 Moth Minors and 3 Dragons registered in Australia.

Douglas Mawson was a lecturer in mineralogy and petrology at Adelaide University and had survived a near-disastrous expedition to Antarctica in 1907-09. Mawson arranged to import a Vickers REP monoplane when he was in England in 1911 organising and recruiting personnel for his next Antarctic expedition. During a test flight on October 4 1911, at Adelaide's Cheltenham racecourse, its petrol tank exploded and the next day it crashed. It was sent south with the expedition, stripped of its wings and metal sheathing from the fuselage and used as an air tractor towing four sledges.