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Home , Bomber, Frederick Handley Page, Frederick Page, Handley Page, Handley Page Halifax, Handley Page Hampden

Ltd. 1909-1970. 60 years of Achievement.

A.H.Fraser-Mitchell. F.R.Ae.S.

Synopsis After a brief introduction, the six decades during which the Company operated are taken in turn, with the principal designs and events for each illustrated and discussed. It is shown that Handley Page was always in the forefront of the technology of the time, in design and production. The company was strong in research for the large structures in the early days, and renowned for the development of the aerodynamic slot principle. Later, they were perhaps the principal UK experts for laminar flow control and for flutter model techniques. Having won design competitions for RAF logistic (HP 111) and assault ( Herald) transports, orders for these were vetoed on political grounds, leading to the firm’s eventual failure in 1970, early in the development of the HP 137 “Jetstream”.

In other hands, the Victor tanker and the Jetstream have continued to serve, the Victor until 1993 and the Jetstream until 1997 with the RAF, and still in service Figure 1. . with the . (1913, “Flight”) th Born at Cheltenham 15 November 1885 Early History. Second son of and Eliza Frederick Handley Page was trained as an electrical (neé Handley). engineer, graduating in 1906, but, inspired by the Graduated 1906 Electrical Engineer, Finsbury exploits of the Wright brothers, he began Tech. Joined Aero. Soc. In 1907. experimenting with, initially, flapping wings, and then Set up own business in 1907 supplying small parts and propellers to Weiss’ design. with models. th This eventually led him to relinquish his job as Chief Formed Limited Company 17 June 1907. Designer for Johnson and Phillips, Electrical Engineers, and in 1908 he decided to set up for He had met the elderly Jose Weiss in 1907 through himself, using a small office in , supplying the Aeronautical Society. parts for aeronautical engineers, and wooden Weiss had remembered his boyhood observations of propellers to a patented design by a certain Jose eagles soaring in the Austrian Tyrol in 1870 Weiss, whom he had met earlier. eventually to come up with a wing design having He decided to reform his business activities into a camber and twist, which he had patented in 1908. private limited Company, and on 17th June 1909 he Though he had spent some 2 years studying science registered “Handley Page Ltd.” for the express and engineering at Lille, he was no engineer and had purpose of Aeronautical Engineering, the design and become a landscape artist. His pictures sold well, and manufacture of . He always claimed that his the proceeds enabled him to experiment with a large was the first such company in the UK, but this was number of glider models, including a larger one to be something of a technicality, since by this time Short flown by a 17-year-old Eric Gordon England, who Bros. were well established as manufacturers of the later became a pilot for Bristol, and even designed Wright under licence. However, they were a built and flew his own design, the G.E.1 at Filton, Partnership, not a Company. finally becoming Managing Director of General It is also possible that he was preceded by a small Aircraft Ltd until 1942. outfit set up by Horatio Barber in March 1909, The The structure of Weiss’ gliders was deficient, Aeronautical Syndicate, makers of “Valkyrie” constructed, as they were, of bamboo poles lashed monoplanes, and offering, according to their together. advertisement, all types of aeronautical engineering, On the other hand FHP was a trained engineer, and with “propellers a speciality”. However, they did not his charm was such that the older man allowed him to manufacture their aircraft; these were built by Howard use his patented wing. No money seemed to have Wright, so perhaps HP can rightly claim precedence. changed hands for the use of the patent, though FHP In any case, he bought them up in 1912 ! would say that in return he had applied sound engineering to the structure, improving it. He set up his “Works” in a couple of large tin sheds at Barking Creek, lodging with Mr and Mrs Hamilton at The shape of the wing with its sweepback and 60 Cecil Street, Barking. He started on the washout was such that it possessed positive inherent construction of a tractor monoplane, Type A, which he longitudinal and some lateral stability christened “Bluebird”. Unfortunately it did not show much in the way of bird-like qualities and crashed all FHP spent some time at Weiss’ home near Amberley too frequently. in Sussex, seeing glides made from the top of a hill by young Eric Gordon England, all firing his inspiration.

1 The Work of the Company.

It is convenient to split up the work of Handley Page Ltd. into six periods of approximately ten years each. The products, significant events and research in each period are shown and discussed.

1909 – 1919

In this period the firm grew from “one-man-and-a-boy” to one of the foremost in the UK, mainly from the impact of WW 1. FHP’s first powered aircraft, the “Bluebird” was powered by a 20hp “Advance” air-cooled Vee-four Figure 4. Type F/70. Hendon 1912. engine, and made the first of its few straight “hops” on 26th May 1910, but crashed every time FHP initiated a It was HP’s first fatal crash, and it was said this so turn. Surviving these without substantial damage to upset him that he became determined to find a himself, he wisely decided henceforth to employ solution to the problem, which was then claiming professional pilots for his aircraf t. many lives. He set to work in his own wind tunnel, perhaps the earliest company-owned facility in the U.K., and in 1919 took out a patent for the invention of the “aerodynamic slot”, applied to both leading and flaps. In 1928 the “Automatic Slot” was adopted by the as a mandatory fitment to all RAF aircraft, irrespective of the manufacturer. Though the patents have long expired, the use of the slot principle in modern aircraft designs is widespread. The Type “F” was the last aircraft built at the Barking Creek Works.

In 1912 the War Office had banned the use of monoplanes by the , offering only the BE2a to manufacturers. FHP built three but these were said to have poor workmanship and the small amount of high quality steel that was required was very costly. So FHP, with Volkert, set about designing Figure 2. FHP in "Bluebird". April 1910. his own , the Type G/100, based upon the Type “E” , with the top wing raised above the fuselage, and a smaller lower wing slung beneath it. The engine was a 100hp Anzani ten cylinder air -cooled radial.

In a lecture, delivered on 15th January 1913(1), he compared monoplanes and biplanes, concluding that for wing areas of up to 250 sq.ft. monoplanes should be superior, but that above this, the biplane wins. The area of the G/100 was 384 sq.ft.

Figure 3. HP Type E "Yellow Peril" Brooklands, July 1912. The Type “E” which flew first on 26th April 1912 was his first really successful aircraft. In the next two years it flew a total of several thousand miles including a flight across from Fairlop to Brooklands, and it gave flights to several hundred passengers. Powered by a reliable 50hp Gnome rotary air-cooled engine, it was initially controlled in roll by wing warping, à la Figure 5. Type G/100 at Hendon, 1914. Wright Bros., but the addition of , the first task Prior to Channel Crossing assigned to George Volkert, one of FHP’s students from the Northampton Institute, gave a significant It was very successful, making its first flight on 6th improvement in handling. November 1913. It scored several “firsts” for FHP. It was the first The next aircraft, the Type F/70, was a monoplane aircraft of his ow n design to be sold to a private with side-by -side seating, crashing on 15th December customer, Lindsay Bainbridge, whose pilot, Roland 1913 after a and spin at low altitude, killing the Ding, made several remarkable flights in it. pilot, Lt Wilfred Parke, RN, and Arkell Hardwick, These included one across the English Channel, FHP’s General Manager. This was during a flight to chartered by a Princess Lowenstein-Wertheim, and assess the aircraft as an observation machine for the so impressed was she by the aircraft that she Royal Navy. commissioned FHP to make a larger aircraft for her 2 and Ding to attempt a non-stop Atlantic crossing for really the first “strategic” . Over 550 were built the Daily Mail prize of £10,000, putting down a by HP and several other manufacturers, including deposit. She changed her mind a few days later, but some in the USA. It was used in several war theatres, her cheque had already been cashed! particularly the .

The aircraft, Type L, about which little is known, is In 1918, HP had designed and built an even larger believed to have had a span of 60 ft, and was largely bomber, the V/1500 with four Rolls-Royce “Eagle” complete by 1914, but all aero engines were engines of 360 hp each, in two tandem pairs. It commandeered by the War Office at the outbreak of weighed 30,000 lb. and had a top speed of 100mph. war, so the Type L was broken up. It could carry a maximum load of 7,500 lb. At a The significance of the aircraft was that it gave FHP lower speed, it had a maximum endurance of 16 and Volkert design experience for a large biplane. hours. It was intended to bomb in reprisal for aerial Several eminent authorities had maintained that large attacks on London, and only bad weather and the aircraft were going to be too difficult, due to the Armistice prevented this operation being carried out. operation of the “Square-Cube” law. This stated that if the linear dimensions of a given design were, say, doubled, then the area would go up by a factor of four, but the volume and hence the weight for a similar material would go up by a factor of eight. Thus the wing loading, or the lift required per unit area, would go up by a factor of two, which would be very difficult to achieve, at the contemporary level of technology. But FHP was able to show (in a paper published in Jan. 1917(2)) that as the aircraft got bigger, the structure could be made more efficient; spars, etc. could be made hollow and “minimum gauges” could be avoided. Furthermore, big machines were not subject to the very high manoeuvrability required for Figure 7. V/1500 with 40 passengers. 1918. smaller combat aircraft.

Thus the design experience with the Type L was to This aircraft also scored an unofficial “first” when, at a stand him in good stead when, having been turned whim, FHP proposed a flight over London in one of down by the War Office, FHP was welcomed by the them to a party of ournalistsj visiting Admiralty, with more than a hint of inter-service works on his 33rd birthday, 15th November 1918. 40 rivalry. people were packed into the fuselage, mostly without seats. FHP himself declined to go, giving up his place Capt. Murray Sueter, responding to the call of to his secretary, who had never flown before. Commander Samson from Flanders for an aircraft to 160 of these 126ft span monsters were ordered but deal the enemy a “Bloody Paralyser”, discussed with only 60 were delivered before the end of the war FHP and Volkert the design of an even bigger aircraft . than the Type L, and a specification was issued at the Thus in this decade, HP’s output of aircraft rose from end of 1914 calling for a twin-engine bomber/patrol 14 small aircraft in the five years prewar, to over 300 aircraft. It was to carry six 100lb and 200 large two- and four-engine aircraft in the next five gallons of petrol, but must have folding wings such years, a phenomenal expansion, with a new factory that it fitted into a box of 70ft square and 18 ft high. and flying field established at Cricklewood.. The notion for such an aircraft was enthusiastically supported by the First Lord of the Admiralty, , and, with help from the Admiralty, the first 1919 – 1929 prototype “O/100” appeared at Hendon to make its Difficult times. first flight on 17th December 1915. With the end of the war came an almost complete cessation of military orders. But as soon as civil flying was permitted, FHP put into the air a modified version of the O/400, in which the fuselage cross-bracing wires were replaced by tubes, which were more easily negotiated by passengers. Between 12 and 14 wicker seats were provided, but no seat belts. The design number was O/700.

A number of aircraft were assembled from surplus spares, and some new build aircraft were added to the stock.

Figure 6. Type O/400, 1917. The first six aircraft were exported to in August and September 1919 as the O/7, and a further five Much modification followed and some 46 aircraft were were built for Indo-Burmese Transport Ltd., 1919-20. eventually delivered. Experience in the field brought Some 32 war surplus were eventually about the need for more redesign, and this resulted in converted into various forms of transport as well. the O/400, a pretty potent war weapon for its time. It handsomely exceeded the original specification, normally carrying 16 x 116 lb bombs, at up to nearly 100mph, and having an endurance of 8 hours. It was 3 The new aircraft was found to have an excellent performance, and in the Air Ministry competition of August 1920, it was the best of all the competitors, winning the second prize of £8000, the first prize of £20,000 being withheld. For the production aircraft, Rolls-Royce Eagles were standard, but they were a little less powerful. The aircraft were used by Handley Page Transport Ltd. until 1924, when took over the fleet.

The W.8 design was very versatile, and the same wings and empennage were used with a new body for a bomber version for the RAF, the W.8b, named the Hyderabad, with Napier Lion IIB or V engines of 400shp each.

Figure 8. Interior seating. O/700 .

This was facilitated by FHP’s winning bid of £1million plus 50% of profits for the entire stock of the Aircraft Disposals Board, consisting of upwards of 10,000 airframes, 30,000 engines and mountains of other stores, setting up an establishment called the Aircraft Disposals Co. with HP Ltd. as their sole agents. The company operated for five years at a healthy profit. It was an enormous coup. Figure 10. W.8d "Hyderabad". 2 x Napier Lion. As soon as civil flying outside the UK was permitted, FHP set up his own , Handley Page Transport In 1921, Volkert was seconded to the Sempill Mission Ltd. with routes from Cricklewood to and to Japan, so Stanley Richards continued to exploit the . Later the base moved from Cricklewood to possibilities of the design by producing two three- Hounslow and later still to Croydon, and Amsterdam, engined versions the W.8e and W.8f. These were Basle and Zurich were added as destinations. essentially similar having a Rolls-Royce Eagle IX in the nose and two 240hp Siddeley Puma engines in The last O/400 based airliner (an O/10) was taken the wing positions, the idea being that height could be over by Imperial Airways in 1924 when they became maintained with any one engine out. the flag carrier for the UK. It was used as a stand-by until 1925. This was particularly attractive to the Belgian airline SABENA, who apart from their Continental routes But it was clear that the O/400 derivatives were only wished to use them on a service to the Belgian an interim solution to the problem of civil air transport, Congo. Most of their W.8 aircraft were built under and that a purpose-built aircraft was needed. licence by SABCA , in .

FHP gave the task to his Chief Designer, Volkert, and his assistant Stanley Richards, who devised a biplane with equal span wings of 75 ft span and a fuselage laid out to accommodate up to 16 passengers in cane seats, with a toilet, and having large picture windows. The biplane tail and multiple fins of the O/400 were replaced by a single fin and and a single horizontal tail. The two engines were, for the prototype of this “W” series, Napier Lions of 400shp, borrowed from the Air Ministry.

Figure 11. The first SABCA - built W.8e. 1925.

Another three-engine version, the W.9 with high lift slotted and flapped wings was offered to the Air Ministry to Spec 41/22 as a bomber/transport for the Middle East but the Air Ministry required as many components as possible to be interchangeable with the Hyderabad. This meant that the new wing could not be used, so the extra lift required was obtained by inserting a centre section wing extending the span to 79 ft, over the standard 75 ft. The engines were, for Figure 9. W 8 prototype Dec.1919. the first time, air-cooled Siddeley Jaguar, and later, Jupiter radials.

4 The military version was rejected but the prototype W.9a as it was called, was used by Imperial Airways in its civil role. In 1925 Imperial Airways found themselves running short of capacity on their Cross-Channel routes. They ordered four of an improved W.8b to be known as the W.10, on condition they were delivered by 31st March 1926. Since there was no time for an extensive redesign, the basic Hyderabad was used, but with the front fuselage of a standard W.8. All four were delivered by 13th March. Two of them later participated in Alan ’s trials with in-flight refuelling.

Figure 14. Wind tunnel tests on RAF aerofoils with slat (4).

He proved the principle in flight, using a surplus DH 9

acquired from the Aircraft Disposals Co., but because Figure 12. W.10 for Imperial Airways. 1926. the maximum lift occurred at a high angle of attack,

This was not the end of the W.8 development. the undercarriage had to be lengthened. But he Impressed by the good performance of the Jupiter, discovered that if, at the same time, a trailing edge slotted was lowered, then the angle for maximum the Ministry adopted these engines in a variant to replace the Hyderabad, which had liquid-cooled lift was very much reduced – in effect the lift curves engines. This became the Hinaidi I, given the design were shifted to the left. A number of “one-off” prototypes were built with number HP 33. slotted wings to try to gain orders for naval aircraft ,

but none of these were ordered in quantity. Further development(4) gave rise to a slat which automatically extended when a certain angle of attack, just less than that for the stall with slat retracted, was reached. This “Autoslot” was the answer to FHP’s quest. When installed on the outer wings of an aircraft the slats maintained lift and roll control, the inner part of the wing stalling normally. This major aerodynamic breakthrough added immeasurably to the safety of aircraft, and in 1928 the device was made mandatory on all new designs for Figure 13. HP 36 Hinaidi II. 1929. the RAF, irrespective of manufacturer.

A transport version with a different fuselage was the Work on fitting slats to existing aircraft and licences HP 35 Clive, which also inaugurated the use of metal sold to foreign governments brought in a very structures by Handley Page. Toward the end of this welcome income in those hard times; for example the decade, new Hinaidis were also made with metal U.S.Navy paid a royalty of one million dollars (about structure, and no more HP production aircraft were £200.000 at the time) for free usage. made in wood from then on.

The Aerodynamic slot.

When wind tunnel time could be spared from war work, FHP pursued his quest for a cure for the stall – spin syndrome, and in 1921, having protected his interests with a patent, No.157567 granted 24th October 1919, he presented his results to a distinguished audience at the Aeronautical Society on 17th Feb.1921, published in the Journal(3). He had some remarkable results to show them; for example, with a well tried RAF wing section, the lift was virtually doubled with a leading edge flap deployed(4).

Figure 15. HP 39 Guggenheim Competitionaircraft. 5 A convincing demonstration of the utility of slotted The prototype aircraft (HP 38) was ordered as the HP wings was the Guggenheim Competition for safe 50 Heyford in production form, and some 124 aircraft flight. HP’s entry was the HP 39 “Gugnunc” which was were built. It was adjudged to be “The most efficient judged marginally below the winning American Curtiss large biplane in RAF service” and, surprisingly, shown “Tanager”, fitted with (unauthorised) slotted flaps. to have better overall performance and handling than its competitor, the Fairey Hendon monoplane, which HP’s test pilot, Maj.James Cordes used to show off was much heavier. the aircraft’s short field performance by starting up the engine inside the hangar, and, releasing the brakes, it would be airborne by the time the open hangar doors were reached. The discovery of the aerodynamic slot was described by the redoubtable C.G.Grey to be as important to as the pneumatic tyre to land transport.

By one of those co-incidences by no means uncommon in the history of Aeronautics, the principle of the slot had been discovered also by Gustav Victor Figure 17. HP 50 Heyford 1. 1935. Lachmann, a German fighter pilot of WW 1 who had crashed due to stalling. Recovering in hospital from a The table below shows some comparative figures: broken jaw, he experimented using a fan and Heyford Hendon cigarette smoke and filed for a German patent in Span, ft. 75 101 February 1918, but the Patent Office required a Wing area, sq.ft. 1470 1446 demonstration that it would work, but not having it, the Empty weight. lb. 9200 12773 application was refused. Loaded weight, lb. 16900 20000 In 1920 Lachmann saw an account of FHP’s work – Disposable load, lb 7700 7227 neither of the men had any inkling of the other’s work Power, shp per engine 575 600 – and he challenged HP’s priority. Also he managed Top speed, mph 142 155 to scrape up enough money to pay for a wind tunnel No. in service, 124 14 test, the results of which finally convinced the German Patent Office, who then backdated the application. Though some 40 were still in service in September The two men met in Berlin and agreed to collaborate, 1939, it was clearly obsolete, and the day of the with FHP supporting Lachmann as a Consultant to bomber biplane was over. continue research at Göttingen. The exigencies of the rearmament programmes of the mid 30’s meant that reasonably modern aircraft were required in large numbers. HP responded with the HP 54 Harrow, which had a modern cantilever monoplane wing and a good air-cooled installation, but still had a partly fabric -covered tubular structure fuselage, though it did have an enclosed cockpit. It still had a fixed undercarriage, but it’s main claim to fame was the speed with which it was produced. It was a “stop-gap” aircraft.

Figure 16. Dr.Ing. Gustav V. Lachmann.

Lachmann joined HP full-time in 1929 and served

(with a break during WW 2 when he was interned) Figure 18. HP 54 Harrow 1. 214 Sqdn. until he retired in 1965, having been Research Director since 1953, concentrating on the theory and Ordered in August 1935 as a batch of 100 aircraft, the application of laminar flow for low drag, which is first aircraft was flown in October 1936 and delivered discussed later. for service trials in November, which took about a year. The first fifty were in service a year later. 1929 – 1939 This rapid production was due to a completely new The end of the biplane. production-line system of manufacture, with main components of the aircraft made elsewhere and only Spec.B.19/27 called for a replacement of the Hinaidi, brought to the final assembly point at a late stage, and Volkert, newly returned from Japan, came up with saving floor space and labour. The basic system was yet another biplane, albeit a carefully optimised one further developed in later aircraft. for the lowest drag. This gave rise to the The Harrow was used during WW 2 as a transport, its unconventional placing of the upper wing just above short field performance suiting it for CASEVAC roles, the fuselage, with the lower wing well below, reducing particularly after “Market Garden”, , 1944. interference. 6 However the biplane lingered a little longer in the civil day, but no match for the modern monoplane fighters transport field. In 1928 Imperial Airways issued a equipped with cannon armament. detailed specification for its next transport aircraft for service in and the East. The first aircraft was to be delivered by the end of 1930 with a full Certificate of Airworthiness, and fuel consumption had to meet guarantees at the specified cruising speed of 95mph.

Volkert submitted a series of designs, and his proposals for four, four engined biplanes for each route were accepted. The design number HP 42 was assigned to the Eastern version, and HP 45 to the Western, though they were more generally known as 42E and 42W. The eight aircraft became popularly known as the “Hannibal” class, after the name of the first of them, which made its first flight 14th November 1929. But it Figure 20. HP 52 Hampden, 1936. was not delivered until June 1931, though all the others were delivered by the end of that year. Dispersed production, first tried on the Harrow, was applied to a high degree on this aircraft, each component being completed to a late stage, and only coming together on the final assembly line, where only a few personnel were needed.

Figure 19. HP 42 "Helena" . ca 1933.

They were possibly the largest biplanes in service anywhere in the World, with a wing span of 130 ft and a wing area of 2989 sq. ft. The engines were Figure 21. Bristol Jupiter XI for the Eastern version and Jupiter X Dispersed production components. FBM for the Western version. A new technique, photo-lofting, for the rapid and In accordance with the specification, the passenger accurate production of drawings and jig templates cabins, with accommodation for up to 24 in the 42E was introduced on this aircraft by Volkert, who was a and 38 in the 42W were very comfortable in the skilled amateur photographer. The master drawing manner of a “Pullman” railway coach, and very quiet. was copied at exact size on to an emulsified plate, as Sailing along at 100 mph, the flexing wings took out many times as necessary. This was of immense value most of the gustiness of the relatively low altitude when production was spread, during the war, to a flight, and it was claimed that the passengers number of other factories, some of which had no sustained higher “g” loads in the omnibus which took earlier connection with the aircraft industry. them from Le Bourget airfield to the terminal building in Paris! The fleet gained an enviable reputation for safety, reliability and elegant comfort in the manner of the “Queen” liners then plying the North Atlantic sea routes. In all the time the fleet was in civil operation, there was not a single fatality. The work done was prodigious. One aircraft, “Heracles”, had flown 1.2 million miles by the start of WW 2, and the fleet as a whole clocked up 2.3 million miles. They were extremely profitable to Imperial Airways, but not to Handley Page, who made a loss on them, but basked in the good publicity.

But alongside the Harrow, HP was designing a “State Figure 22. Photo-loft room. of the Art” monoplane for the The camera is in the background, right. expected conflict with . This was the HP 52 “Hampden” of 1936. It had a stressed-skin all metal structure, two modern, air-cooled radial engines, retracting undercarriage and . But, like many of its contemporaries, it had poor defensive armament. It was as fast as the biplane fighters of the 7 1939 – 1949 At about the same time as the Halifax was being WW 2 and after. produced, a small, tailless research

The HP 57 was designed to Spec. P 13/36 as a twin R-R Vulture engine medium bomber, the same spec. producing the Manchester, also with Vultures. Faced with a shortage of engines, and with difficulties apparent on the Vulture, the aircraft was enlarged and powered by four engines. Volkert’s original choice was the air-cooled Hercules, but they were earmarked for the Short , and so he had to “make do” with a relatively low power version of the R-R Merlin, a liquid-cooled engine, though he was an advocate for the air-cooled radial. Figure 25. HP 75 "Manx" tailless research aircraft.

aircraft, the HP 75, registered H0222 and unofficially dubbed “Manx”, was designed by Lachmann as a “scale model” of a much larger aircraft with heavy rear armament. It was powered by two Gipsy Queen engines driving two-bladed pusher propellers. When he was interned, Godfrey Lee took over its (protracted) development, and eventually got it to fly quite well. By then the requirement had been dropped, but Lee gained a valuable insight into the low speed behaviour of swept wings. From this background came his inspiration for a jet bomber, the HP 80, starting with a rather Figure 23. HP 57 Halifax prototype. 1939. futuristic layout . It was the basis of Spec.B.35/46 with OR 230 for a long range, high speed bomber. The prototype aircraft made its first flight on 25th October 1939. All those with Merlin engines were somewhat underpowered, and the maximum span of 100 ft given in the specification limited its bombing altitude. Later, this limit was removed – it was never applied to the Lancaster – and the eventual installation of the powerful and more suitable Bristol Hercules 14- cylinder twin row radial transformed the aircraft, such that it was more than a match for the much vaunted and publicised Lancaster. The Halifax proved itself to be a versatile aircraft, undertaking glider-towing, cargo transport, Figure 26. Artist's impression, HP 80 bomber. meteorological flights, ELINT, paratroop and supply 1947. dropping amongst its many activities, in all war As was the case after WW 1, were theatres, as well as the second most numerous converted to civil use and pressed into service as bomber. With radial engines, it was much better stop-gap transport aircraft. suited to the Middle and than aircraft with Hercules engined versions of the Halifax were liquid cooling, generally designed for European eminently suited for this, and nearly a hundred of the conditions. transport versions of the Halifax were converted, mainly as freighters, but including twelve for BOAC’s African routes. Several aircraft saw service in Operation “Plainfare”, the Berlin Airlift of 1948-49.

Figure 24. HP 61 Halifax B.III. Bristol Hercules.

Over 6000 were built, nearly three-quarters of them in factories other than Handley Page’s, facilitated by Figure 27. HP’s dispersed production principles. Halton 1. 10-seat passenger transport for BOAC. 1946.

8 During WW 2 transport aircraft had been provided, almost exclusively, by the USAF, military versions of the DC3 and DC4. With the coming of peace, the need for a military transport for the RAF became urgent, and not enough dollars were available to “buy American” on any large scale. HP came up with a military transport, the HP 67 Hastings, based on modified Halifax wings, but with a fuselage of 11 ft. diameter and a single fin and rudder.

Figure 30. HP 82 Hermes V. Bristol Theseus prop-turbines. 1949.

1949 -1959 The Decade of the Victor

This was the decade which saw the development of the Victor V-Bomber and its introduction into RAF service. Figure 28. Prototype Hastings C.1. 1946.

This aircraft became the backbone of RAF Transport Command for some 20 years. A fleet of 150 flew a total of more than 150 million miles, carrying one and a half million passengers and 180 tons of cargo. A few remained in service until 1977.

Of course, a civil version of the aircraft was promoted, but BOAC insisted on a nosewheel layout, and this was a major change. Furthermore, as they required maximum payloads under “hot and high” conditions in Africa, the engines had to be uprated and run on 115 octane fuel, which was difficult to obtain in those areas. As a result, the Hermes IV aircraft was not Figure 31. HP 80 prototype. 1952. popular with BOAC engineers, though the passengers were appreciative of the comfort of an air-conditioned, When the prototype made its first flight on Christmas pressurised cabin, one of the first on a British Eve 1952, ti differed considerably from the 1947 passenger aircraft. artist’s impression.

The wing, designed for cruise at a Mach no. of 0.875, tapered in thickness, and had reduced sweepback on the outer panels, to ameliorate tip-stalling tendencies. The tail had been taken to the top of the fin. The winglets had been deleted, as the uncertainties of their behaviour were too much of a risk, when taken together with all the other innovative features. These included spot-welded corrugated skin panels for main structure, never before tried in this context or extent, a 16-wheel bogie undercarriage, fully duplicated powered flying controls with no manual reversion, large area-increasing flaps and a new form of variable airbrake at the rear fuselage which was found to be Figure 29. most effective and useful as a means of flight path HP 81 Hermes IV for BOAC. 1948. control. Development difficulties had to be, and were, Their fleet of 25 aircraft were sold on to the overcome, and the first of fifty production aircraft flew Independents, who used them intensively for trooping on 1st February 1956, the type entering RAF service and inclusive holiday tours by air, and they made far in November 1957 as the Victor B.Mk.1. more profit than the flag carrier! The Hermes IV had a commercial life of about The flight testing had shown great promise that the fourteen years, finally being withdrawn at the end of design aims had been achieved, and in some cases 1964, the last ones having been operated by Air Links exceeded. Ltd. One test aircraft exceeded the speed of sound on 1st Two examples of a propeller-turbine engined version, June 1957, with little drama – the only one of the the first such for HP, the Hermes V, were built and three V -Bombers to do this. showed high promise, but were let down by their Bristol “Theseus” engines, which were very unreliable. 9 This cancellation and a disagreement about the value of the due compensation had a crucial effect on bringing the company down, as will be related later. Several Mk.2’s were converted to carry the “” stand-off nuclear missile, and others were kitted-out with extra bomb bay tanks as very long range photo-. Two of these latter aircraft were flown in the “Daily Mail” TransAtlantic Air Race, and one won its class with a time of 5hr 49 min 28 sec ., cruising at Mach 0.93, unrefuelled.

In 1964 the withdrawal of the Valiant fleet left the RAF without air-air tanker capability, so six B.Mk.1 aircraft were hurriedly converted to two-point tankers, as a Figure 32. Victor B.Mk.1. 1956. prelude to a full three-point conversion (two wing Four “Sapphire”As7 units, and a fuselage unit), which entered service in 1967. 24 aircraft were converted and they carried the Other milestones were passed; 50,000 ft. altitude, and burden of flight refuelling in the RAF for some nine a full salvo of 35 x 1000 lb. bombs released in 1959. years, until the Mk.2 conversion took over, as related The RAF lost no time in showing what the aircraft later. could do. A flight of 1310 miles between Farnborough Many attempts were made by Handley Page to and Luqa, Malta flown in exactly 2 hours, and Goose interest both military and civil authorities in a transport bay to Marham, 2480 miles in 4 hours and one version of the Victor. minute, the cruise distance of 2020 miles flown at an The nearest to success was the HP 111 proposal of average speed of 644 mph. 1958 - 59.

1959 – 1969

The increased capability of defences now decreed that more height over the target was essential. One solution was more power and an increase in wingspan. The Rolls-Royce “Conway” low by-pass engine was selected, doubling the take-off power and permitting a higher take off weight, though the fall-off of thrust with increase of speed and altitude was higher than for the straight jets like the Sapphire and Olympus. On the other hand, the fuel consumption was better, giving longer range. Thus the Victor B.Mk.2 was devised, with a wing span of 120 ft., 10 ft. more than the Mk.1, achieved by Figure 34. HP 111 Strategic Military Transport inserting an 18 inch section at each fuselage side, Project. 1958. and adding 42 inches to each wingtip. This permitted a maximum all-up-weight of 224500lb. This won the design competition for a military heavy- lift transport for the RAF, and was selected by the Air Staff, but the order was vetoed by the Air Minister on the grounds that HP had not joined one of the two Groups ( and British Aircraft Corporation). It was a vastly more capable aircraft than the aircraft that was ordered, the Short “Britannic”, which eventually became the “”. So the RAF received an aircraft it didn’t really want, ordered in penny numbers and withdrawn in a relatively short time, an inefficient use of taxpayer money to pander to political dogma.

Figure 33. Victor B.Mk.2 with "Blue Steel" stand- off nuclear missile.

The first of these flew in February 1959, though with the lower-rated Conway 11 engines, 17000lb nominal static thrust as compared with the final Conway 17 thrust of just over 20000lb. Underwing drop tanks were added and “Whitcomb Bodies” at the trailing edge enhanced the high performance. Thirty-four aircraft were delivered, but unfortunately an order for 28 more was cancelled as a cost-cutting venture. Figure 35. HP 115 Slender Delta Research.

10 A brighter time in the relative trough in the fortunes of which limited the aircraft maximum operating weight Handley Page at this time was the design and flight artificially to 12500 lb. despite the aircraft being (August 1961) of an aircraft designed to conduct designed to 14000 lb. studies into the low speed behaviour of “slender” delta Unfortunately this gave a poor range-payload wings, as a check on a possible problem with performance, and, in hindsight, it would have been “Concorde”. This was the HP 115. better to have gone straight for the full transport category certification. With a span of only 20ft and a leading edge sweep of Late in 1969 the bank’s patience ran out and the nearly 75 degrees, it depended for its lift on two large receivers were called in. They ran the firm until the vortices springing from the sharp leading edge, and it end of the year when a US company, K.R.Cravens was the stability of these that was in question. took over, putting in their own top management. The The aircraft proved to be remarkably successful, easy new name, Handley Page Aircraft Ltd. was to handle and cheap and simple to run. It had a busy announced. life of 13 years and about 1000 flights before being But unluckily, the head of the corporation, Mr.Craven, honourably retired. was struck down by terminal illness and all foreign Sadly its first flight was not observed by Sir Frederick activities were closed down. Without funds to pay the Handley Page, who was terminally ill and died on 21st wages, the Americans had to withdraw and new April 1962. receivers were appointed to liquidate the firm, then in debt for about £14 million. The Board, now led by George Russell, decided, after This was the end of February 1970 negotiations with Hawker Siddeley did not yield acceptable terms , to continue in the aircraft business, Merger Negotiations. but to concentrate on smaller, civil aircraft. The obvious question is why did not the firm merge A gap in the market for executive and third level when it became obvious that the Government, HP’s transports had been indicated by a far-ranging study. biggest customer, were constrained by politics from Triggered by a request by Riley for an investigation giving any assistance to the firm? The big Groups into the possible fitting of the “Dove” with would have had a lot to say about it if they had. As it small turbo-propeller engines, it was shown that a was , all that Hawker Siddeley had to do was sit back case could be made for a purpose-built “mini-airliner” and wait for the firm to collapse, being certain that the to full transport standards, particularly for the US RAF’s urgent need for Mk.2 tanker aircraft would market. cause the contract (agreed technically with HP, but not signed) to be handed to them on a plate. A feasibility study brought out a design for a 12 to 18 Which is what happened. seater aircraft of 52 ft span and powered by two HSG put the work into Manchester with a conversion Turbomeca “Astazou” of approximately line running alongside that of the Nimrod. 800shp each. This was the HP 137 Jetstream, the design of which started in 1965. Documents (5) show that Sir Frederick had himself held talks with Hawker Siddeley Aviation in September 1960, on the basis of 16 shillings per share, but when the 28 Mk.2 Victors were cancelled, HSA would offer only 10 shillings. HP’s accountants felt that less than 16 shillings would not be acceptable to the shareholders with the shares trading at 13 shillings. In November, HSA stated that they had an overdraft of £32 million and so could not afford to buy HP unless the Government would underwrite a short term loan to boost their bid price. One factor in favour of HP was that the RAF had selected a rear-loading version of the Herald transport, in preference to the Avro 748. But instead, the order for 45 Heralds was vetoed, and

the 748 was ordered, a less capable aircraft, Figure 36. HP 137 Prototype. 1968. requiring, due to its low , major

changes.(6) (11) After a first flight on 18th August 1968 it was pronounced “a delight to fly”, although the first landing In June 1963, negotiations (7) were reopened with had to be made with the brakes hard on, on one side. S.G.Warburg acting for the Hawker Siddeley Group. Happily there was no accident. In September they recommended a bid of 8/2d a

share, then trading at 10/3d. Sir Arnold Hall for HSG Development was drawn out somewhat and the said he could afford only 5/-. aircraft was overweight – it was difficult for designers Baring Bros., called in for an opinion, said that 10/- used to dealing with large high speed military aircraft was the least that the shareholders would accept. to “think small”. Arnold Hall responded by saying that if he took over Additionally, the firm participated in responding to a HP, he would have to close one or more of his USAF “Request for Quotation” (RFQ) which tied up factories, politically unpopular. most of the design and support staff for a month. HP HP had placed a large claim for compensation in won the USAF competition, quite unheard of in those respect of the cancelled Victors, which if paid, would days, with a version equipped with Garrett nearly have closed the gap, but the then Minister, AiResearch TPE 331 propeller turbine engines, Julian Amery, offered less than half.(7) though they were not at that time powerful enough, The HP Board considered that there was no point in being gearbox limited to about 700 shp. continuing the talks.

It was decided initially, to save time and effort, to certify the aircraft under BCAR Section “K” rules,

11 Research at Handley Page. The benefits of laminar flow control had been Aerodynamics exploited in a series of project studies, partic ularly by Godfrey Lee, with large all-wing aircraft, but the engineering aspects of operating such an aircraft Handley Page’s work in laminar flow control for low were unproven, as stated earlier. drag was mainly, at first, conducted in the Research Dept. under G.V.Lachmann and J.Brian Edwards. The Ministry funded an extensive feasibility (8) study Over a period of 12 years from 1953, a large resource and wind tunnel tests on the models illustrated. of data was accumulated, and the firm was But they insisted that the contract be placed with undoubtedly the leader in this field in the UK. Hawker Siddeley, with HP as a sub-contractor. Following work in the wind tunnel, a Vampire was fitted with a “glove” having an aerofoil shape and slits through which carefully metered quantities of the boundary layer were removed by a suction pump in the fuselage. Virtually full laminar flow was achieved at quite a high Reynolds Number.

Figure 39. Wind tunnel models, HP 130 & HS 125. 1964.

Though the Ministry assessment stated that the study was realistic, it also said there was little point in doing it unless there was a firm decision to go ahead with a laminar flow airliner. Since the object of the exercise was to see if the engineering problems could be solved so that a firm Figure 37. de Havilland VampireTrainer. decision could be made with firm data, this opinion Slitted test glove on port wing. 1953. seemed unhelpful.

With Lachmann’s retirement in 1965, no further work But it was clear that this would also have to be was done. demonstrated on a swept wing, on which the boundary layer was subject to additional instabilities. Thus a swept half wing was designed and built, and Structures mounted as a dorsal fin on the fuselage of an ex- The design of the Victor in 1947 demanded a new Aeronavale Lancaster (PA 474, now in the Battle of type of structure to be efficient and lightweight, and Britain Flight.) give a smooth external finish to flying surfaces. The solution arrived at was to have wing panels made with a corrugated light alloy core, spot-welded to an outer skin, with an inner skin, if required, blind riveted to the corrugations.

Figure 38. Lancaster PA 474 with swept half-wing. 1957.

This work was conducted by the College of Figure 40. Sandwich skin in jig. Aeronautics at Cranfield, with assistance from Handley Page. This had not been tried before in the U.K. for primary

structure, and methods of manufacture and inspection A final attempt to interest the Ministry into funding had to be developed from scratch. Though applied research to tackle the engineering problems involved mainly to the wing structure, it was also used for fin in the practical design and operation of a laminar flow and tail. aircraft was a proposal to put new, slitted surface laminar flow wings on a Hawker Siddeley (de Cylindrical and conical test pieces were also made Havilland) HS 125 business jet. The HP design and tested successfully. number HP 130 was allocated. HP had already, in 1959, proposed the HP 113, a small executive jet, which was quite attractive even with turbulent flow on the flying surfaces, but there were no orders.

12 A large centrifuge facility was built to test the effects of acceleration on components with fluids, for example, underwing tanks.

Figure 41. Circular section sandwich skins.

On the Jetstream, chemi-etched panels and skins Figure 44. D.H. tail flutter model. were bonded using an adhesive, cured ni a large autoclave. Much work was done on the effects of It is believed that Handley Page pioneered the use in weathering and fatigue on this type of structure. the U.K. of dynamic flutter models,(9) tested in the low speed wind tunnel. Production H.P. aircraft after the collapse. Dispersed production and photo-lofting have already been mentioned. Another technique introduced was the stretchforming The Victor of and frames using hydraulic rams. For the Halifax, a scheme of draw dies was used to The contract for the conversion of Mk.2 Victors to form frame and sections from strip material. tankers, held up by the Ministry while HP was trading, Very large rubber presses were used for the mass was given to Hawker Siddeley within weeks after the production of pressed components. collapse. The HP design, which involved the use of tip tanks full Test Facilities of fuel to relieve the wing bending moment, so critical to the fatigue life, was cast aside in favour of the The structural test frame at Park Street was 50% simpler, but less efficient, expedient of cropping the larger than the RAE’s “Cathedral” and could take an wing tips by 18 inches each side and “up-floating” the entire Victor fuselage and wing. ailerons to unload the outer wing. This increased the induced drag and reduced the longitudinal stability, which necessitated a modification to the control system to give just acceptable behaviour.

Nineteen aircraft were ferried from airfield, where they had been standing in the open for over a year, to Woodford, where they were stripped and refurbished before the tanker modifications were added. These were very similar to those proved on the Mk.1, with wing and central hose drum units. Five other aircraft were added to the fleet.

The first flight of a partially modified aircraft took place at Woodford in March 1972, with the first delivery to the RAF in October 1974. Figure 42. Structural test frame with Victor. It was said that the whole exercise cost the taxpayer about three times more than the HP contract fixed price, and this did not include the cost of keeping on the K.Mk.1 fleet until the K.Mk.2 was ready. Nevertheless, Woodford made a pretty fair fist of the task, with the help of a few ex -HP personnel under contract.

Operated and maintained by the RAF in a very professional manner, the aircraft gave sterling service until it was withdrawn in 1993. It served in the Falklands Islands campaign, ferrying aircraft to , and supported the “Black Buck” bombing raids on Stanley Airfield. Its use was crucial to the success of the operation, indeed some have said that without that capability, the Falklands campaign might not have been mounted. Figure 43. Centrifuge.

13 Turbomeca Astazou, uprated versions of the engines used by HP for the USAF Military Jetstream, the C.10A.

Figure 45. Victor K.Mk.2 Tanker.

The aircraft also served with distinction in the first , some 299 sorties without failure. Figure 48. BAe Jetstream 31

The Jetstream With power up to 1100 shp and new four-bladed propellers the aircraft weight was increased to A small band of ex-HP people, led by Bill Bright of 16000lb, and the range-payload capability of the Terravia , who had been a ferry pilot delivering HP aircraft greatly enhanced. Jetstreams to the USA, bought the design rights and It was termed the Jetstream 31, and has been a airframes from the receiver and completed the runaway success in its field, with well over 300 sold. certification of the series 200 to full transport category. Several aircraft were completed and Some Notable Projects modified to the new standard, and in February 1972 the outfit sold out to , at one time a As with many other companies at the time, HP major wing sub-contractor to HP, simultaneously with investigated many projects , sometimes in great depth. their receipt of an order for 25 Jetstream Trainers, to be known as the T.Mk.1. Bombers

In May 1937, G.R.Volkert, HP’s Chief Designer, wrote a paper(10) which inter alia argued for the use of small, streamlined, high speed, unarmed bombers for daylight attacks. With a crew of only two or three and no heavy gun turrets manned by highly trained aircrew, there was a saving in manpower and production effort.

Figure 46. Jetstream T.Mk.1 (Astazou 16D)

The last Jetstream was withdrawn from service in 1997 after nearly 25 years, bringing an end to 86 years of continuous service in the RAF by aircraft of Handley Page design. Figure 49. Volkert's High Speed Bomber But the aircraft continues in service as a navigation trainer with the Royal Navy, in No.750 NAS Culdrose. The top authorities did not accept his arguments; there was still the view that bombing should be done using large fleets of bombers in formation. So the report was shelved. However it did plant a seed in open minds, and, only a few years later, the idea resurfaced as the magnificent Mosquito, with a performance almost identical to that predicted by Volkert.

Supersonics Handley Page were well represented in the work of the Supersonic Transport Aircraft Committee in 1956- 1957, undertaking project work involving the application of laminar flow to M=1.15 and M=2.2 Figure 47. Jetstream T.Mk.2 (Astazou 16D) aircraft with swept and slender wings respectively, Royal Navy. and flutter testing.

Scottish Aviation, merged into British , also But even before this, in 1955, the firm had put forward modified the aircraft by installing U.S. AiResearch the HP 100 supersonic recce/bomber aircraft, with a Garrett TPE 331 propturbines in place of the R-R 14 slender delta wing, before such wings were thought to from the wing surface was ingested by the propulsion be feasible, an advanced design at the time. engines. Ram air intakes were used when not It was thought to have potentially serious low speed laminarised. Whilst this was not the most efficient handling problems, and was not ordered. way, it was simpler to engineer.

Several versions of the basic layout were studied, for both civil and military use. A later (military) version had a nose fuselage which was allowed to have a turbulent boundary layer, but this was then removed by means of a slot, the rest of the aircraft being laminarised in the usual way.

CONCLUDING REMARKS.

A review of the six decades of the work of the firm has, it is hoped, shown that the company’s products were always at the front of the technology of the day, Figure 50. and at times ahead of it. In some cases the firm paid HP 100 Supersonic Bomber Project. 1955. the penalty of being the pioneers too far ahead of the market. The successful HP 115 flying, five years later, showed Although the Government was the main customer, that the misgivings about handling were misplaced. politics were not always on the side of the firm, and in The order was given to the Avro contender which was the final decade the political attitude was to bring itself scrapped shortly after. down the company.

Aerobus aircraft Whether it was a poor decision for the board to hold In 1965 Handley contributed to the discussions on out for a better offer and, when this was not Cheap Short-Range Air Transport Symposium with forthcoming with the government clearly not inclined the design of a minimum volume blended wing-body to assist, to submit, it is left to the reader to decide. tailless aircraft the HP 134 project.. Studies indicated that it would be cheaper to operate The fact remains that the two last main products of than a conventional aircraft to the same specification, the firm, the Victor and the Jetstream, had great but not by a big enough margin to warrant such a success even after the firm folded, and many of the radical approach. But it was a very interesting ex-employees have gone on to achieve good things in concept, showing HP at the forefront of innovative their later careers. thought. How much better it would have been for the country and the industry had HP been helped at the critical times with contracts for the Military Herald, the HP 111 and the Mk.2 tanker is speculative, and again, a matter of opinion.

THE MAIN ACHIEVEMENTS.

· The first limited company in the UK for the design & construction of aeroplanes

· Mass production of large bombers in WW1 Figure 51. HP 134 All-Wing Aerobus. 1965. · Development of the aerodynamic slot for Laminar Flow leading & trailing edge flaps Many projects involving the application of laminar flow control by suction for low drag were investigated. · A successful range of in the 20’s Some have already been mentioned. and 30’s Perhaps the ultimate application was a military version of the HP 117 series of all-wing aircraft. · Development of dispersed production techniques

· Over 1500 Hampdens and 6000 Halifaxes built, WW 2

· 150 Hastings transports , used for more than 20 years

· The Victor, (the best?) V-Bomber and tanker aircraft

· The Jetstream, a winner in other hands.

Figure 52. HP 117 Pass./Cargo Version. · 86 years of continuous service to the RAF from its formation in April 1918 This particular version had a canopy which was followed by a “clean-up” slot. The air sucked away 15

Sir Frederick Handley Page (Portrait in the R.Ae.S. H.Q. London)

Honours.

C.B.E. 1918.

Knighted 1962.

Officer of the Crown of Belgium

Officer of the Legion of Honour,

Awards.

Birmingham Coll. Of Advanced Technology – Hon. Associate C & G of London Institute – Fellow. Council Chairman 1950 – 62 College of Aeronautics Cranfield Chairman Board of Governers 1953 – 62 H.M.Dep. Lieutenant, Middlesex !953-56 H.M. Lieutenant, Middlesex 1956-60 Imperial College – Member of the Governing Body – Fellowship 1951 Inst. Aerospace Sciences, USA - Hon. Fellow 1932 Inst. Transport – President 1945-46 Manchester Institute of Science & Technology -- Associate Royal Aero Club – Vice President. Royal Aeronautical Society. Hon Fellow 1949 President1945-47 R.Ae.S Gold Medal 1960 Royal Inst. British Architects – Hon. Associate 1956 Royal Society of Arts -- Albert Gold Medal 1960 Society Auto Engineers, Member 1937 Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Luftfahrt. Prandtl Ring 1960 Wakefield Gold Medal 1928 Worshipful Co. of Coachmakers and Coach Harnessmakers -- Master 1943-44

16 APPENDIX Handley Page (Reading) Ltd.

This paper has been concerned with the main company, Handley Page Ltd., but some mention should be made of the former of Woodley, taken over by Handley Page in 1948. The company was in financial difficulties and had embarked on the design of a small feeder liner, the Miles M60 Marathon, as the Brabazon Type 5A. 50 were to be purchased by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, acting as agents for BOAC and BEA. The wished to keep the expert Figure 54. HP 124 Military Herald. 1961. Miles design team together, so encouraged FHP to take over, which he did on the proviso that the MCA honour its commitment to order. References. Thus Handley Page (Reading) came into being on 5th July 1948. 1. “The Comparison of Monoplanes and Biplanes” Ten Marathons were cancelled, and most of the by F Handley Page others were converted to become Mk.T.11 Navigation The Aeronautical Journal April 1913. (p.49) trainers. R.Ae.S. Library 2. “The Case for the Large Aeroplane.” The next big task for the Reading team was to design by F. Handley Page a small airliner to replace the ubiquitous DC 3, and The Aeronautical Journal Jan-Mar. 1917. (p.28) after a market survey, a high wing monoplane with a R.Ae.S. Library pressurised fuselage and four Alvis Leonides piston 3. “The Handley Page Wing.” by F Handley Page th engines was designed and built, to fly on 14 August The Aeronautical Journal June 1921. (p263) 1956. This was the HP(R) 3 “Herald”. R.Ae.S. Library But it was soon clear that the Fokker Friendship, a 4. 16th Wilbur Wright Memorial Lecture. 30th May similar aircraft but with two R-R Dart propeller turbine 1928 The Aeronautical Journal 1928 (p.648) engines was more attractive, and so the Herald was R.Ae.S. Library redesigned and built to take two R-R Darts also, 5. AVIA 63/138 Handley Page – HSG Merger. becoming known as the Dart-Herald, HP(R) 7. National Archive About 50 were built and operated quite successfully in 6. ibid. Memo. Parl.Sec. 16.11.60 to Sir Roy many parts of the World and for a long time. Dobson. National Archive 7. Report of a meeting with Mr Julian Amery, 8th October 1963 by G.Russell Unpublished private memo to HP Board. HPA Archives, A07.131 8. Reports on HP 130. Various authors at Handley Page. HPA Archive B.1700 9. “Flutter models and Aircraf t Design” by J.C.A.Baldock HP Bulletin 22, 221 1956 10. “Memorandum on Bombing Policy and its Influence on Design.” By G.R.Volkert. Handley Page Ltd. Cricklewood, May 1937. HPA Archive B.VHSB See also “Volkert’s High Speed Bomber and the Mosquito” Iss.2 May 2005. (unpublished) Figure 53. The HP(R) 7. Dart Herald. By A.H.Fraser-Mitchell 11. “Mudlarking at Martlesham” A.H.Fraser-Mitchell. Many of the Reading design staff were absorbed into “Aeroplane Monthly” July 2009. the Cricklewood design offices when the Woodley site was progressively reduced until it finally closed in Bibliography. 1962, but work continued to study developments of the aircraft. “Handley Page Aircraft since 1907” C.H.Barnes. Puttnam. 2nd Edition 1987. ISBN 0 85177 803 8 When a specification was published for a close support light transport, the Dart Herald seemed to be “” Andrew Brookes. Ian Allan very suitable as a basis, and the rear fuselage was redesigned to have a rear-loading door. 1988. ISBN 0 7110 1803 0 This design was given the type number HP 124, and after a Dart Herald had shown its capability to operate “The Handley Page Victor” Vol.1 2007 R.R.Brooks from a typical soft and muddy combat airstrip, it was Pen & Sword ISBN 978 1 84415 411 1 selected by the Air Staff and an order for 45 was Vol.2 2007. prepared. Pen & Sword ISBN 978 1 84415 570 5 As has already been related, the order was vetoed on Articles in “Aeroplane Monthly” IPC Media. political grounds, and the RAF lost an an aircraft Handley Page HP 42 January 2002 which would have suited their needs admirably (11). May 2003 The Avro 748 MF, though a good aircraft, had to be Handley Page Hastings August 2004 much more extensively modified as it had a low wing, July 2006 and only 31 were ordered, perhaps a measure of the Handley Page Centenary & H.P.Victor extra cost. July 2009 17 Acknowledgements. Figure 43. Centrifuge Figure 44. D.H.Trident Tail Flutter Model Figure 45. Victor K.Mk.2 Tanker Thanks to: Handley Page Assn., R.Ae.S.Library Figure 46. Jetstream T.Mk.1 . . (B.Riddle), The National Archive, R.R.Brooks, . (Astazou 16D) V.F.Bingham, C.G.B.Mitchell. Figure 47. Jetstream T. Mk. 2 . . (Astazou 16D) Royal Navy Figure 48. BAe Jetstream 31 Photo Credits: (As indicated on the reverse of Figure 49. Volkert's High Speed Bomber the prints) Figure 50. HP 100 Supersonic Bomber Author: Figs. 31,45,46 Figure 51. HP 134 All-Wing Aerobus.1965. Adrian Meredith Fig. 29 Figure 52. HP 117 Pass./Cargo Version. BAe Fig.48 Figure 53. The HP(R) 7. Dart Herald BOAC Fig.27 Figure 54. HP 124 Military Herald. 1961 Crown Figs. 17,23,35,47 Puttnam Figs.13,16 Real Photo Fig. 25 Unknown Figs. 10,13,24,28,32,37,38. All the rest are Handley Page photographs from the photo Archives of the H.P.A.

List of Figures.

Figure 1. Frederick Handley Page. Figure 2. FHP in "Bluebird". April 1910. Figure 3. HP Type E "Yellow Peril" Figure 4. Type F/70. Hendon 1912. Figure 5. Type G/100 at Hendon. 1914 Figure 6. Type O/400, 1917. Figure 7. V/1500 with 40 passengers. . 1918. Figure 8. Interior seating. O/700 airliner. Figure 9. W 8 prototype Dec.1919. Figure 10. W.8d Hyderabad Figure 11. SABCA built W.8e Figure 12. W.10 for Imperial Airways. 1926. Figure 13. HP 36 Hinaidi II. 1929. Figure 14. Wind tunnel tests on RAF . . aerofoils with slat Figure 15. HP 39 “Gugnunc” Figure 16. Dr.Ing. Gustav V. Lachmann. Figure 17. HP 50 Heyford 1. 1935. Figure 18. HP 54 Harrow 1. 214 Sqdn. Figure 19. HP 42 “Helena” Figure 20. HP 52 Hampden, 1936. Figure 21. Dispersed Production Figure 22. Photo-loft room. Figure 23. HP 57 Halifax prototype. . . 1939. Figure 24. HP 61 Halifax B.III Figure 25. HP 75 “Manx” Figure 26. Artist's impression, HP 80 . . bomber. 1947. Figure 27. Halton 1 BOAC Figure 28. Prototype Hastings C.1 1946. Figure 29. HP 81 Hermes IV BOAC Figure 30. HP 82 Hermes V Figure 31. HP 80 prototype. 1952. Figure 32. Victor B.Mk.1. 1956 Figure 33. Victor B.Mk.2 with "Blue Steel" stand-off nuclear missile. Figure 34. HP 111 Stratecic Military . . Transport Project. 1958. Figure 35. HP 115 Slender Delta . . Research. Figure 36. HP 137 Prototype Figure 37. Trainer Figure 38. Lancaster PA 474 Figure 39. HP 130 Wind Tunnel Models Figure 40. Sandwich skin in jig. Figure 41. Circular section sandwich skins Figure 42. Structural test frame with Victor 18