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Aviation History
1939
1939 - 1929.PDF
FLIGHT. June 22, 1939. One version of the Handley-Page Hare bomber was fitted with a geared Bristol Jupiter, as shown on the left. Below is the Hare with a Siddeley Panther. It will be noted that torpedo crutches are fitted. The O/ioo and O/400 biplanes were used exten sively for night raids on Rhineland towns, but their range was not sufficient to make possible raids on Berlin. With this objective in mind an even larger type, known as the V/1500, was put in hand and was far and away the most am bitious project of its day. The first'machine was built in great secrecy (components were manufactured in Belfast by Harland and Wolf) and made its first test flight in May, 1918. It was crashed in the following month, so that there was a further delay in going into production. A total of 255 had been ordered, but by the time the Armis tice came in November, 1918, only three were ready for the raid on Berlin, which never took place. Some idea of the daring of these designs can be gathered from their dimensions and other data. The O/400 had an upper-wing span of 100ft., and an empty weight of 8,200 lb. The loaded weight was 14,000 lb., which does not sound much nowadays, but was considered very bold then. With 300 gallons of petrol (about 2,400 lb.) the machine had a duration of six to seven hours at a cruising speed of about 70 m.p.h., and carried a military load of 2,800 lb. When it is remembered that power was supplied by two Rolls-Royce Eagle engines of 350 h.p. each, this performance is by no means bad. The military load represented 4 lb./h.p. Even more impressive were the figures for the V/1500. With four Eagle engines, arranged in tandem pairs in the gap between the wings, this machine had a wing span of 126ft., and weighed 16,000 lb. empty and 28,000 lb. loaded. Its cruising speed was 75 m.p.h. and its duration about. 8 hours with a military load of 6,600 lb. Commercial Aviation From the beginning Mr. Handley-Page had never doubted the ultimate triumph of the large aeroplane as a peaceful carrier of passengers, mails and freight, and as soon as civil aviation was given its freedom after the war, Handley- Page, Ltd., converted O/400 military aero planes into commercial aircraft. A subsidiary company, Handley-Page Transport, Ltd., was formed, and commercial flying was inaugurated in August, 1919, when a Cricklewood-Paris ser vice started. This was followed in September by a London-Brussels service, and the next year by a London-Amsterdam service. After a time, the competition of foreign Government- subsidised air lines became so intense that Handley-Page Transport, Ltd., had to cease operations. After a long delay—in 1921, to be exact—the Government decided to grant sub sidies to air traffic companies, and Handley- Page Transport, Ltd., resumed operations. Bomber Transport Trio : From top to bottom are the Clive (two Bristol Jupiters) ; the H.P. 43 (three Bristol Pegasus) ; and the H.P. 51 (two Siddeley Tigers). The last-named machine was, in effect, the prototype of the Harrow bomber.
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