FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1939
1939 - 1935.PDF
634 tfUL ®m? fighter ever built by the Handley Page company, though the Type 47 general purpose monoplane which appeared in I 935 could, due to its peculiar design and high performance characteristics, function efficiently as a two-seater fighter. The most striking feature of this low-wing cantilever monoplane was the " waisted " fuselage which, aft of the gunner's cockpit became a circular boom to carry the tail, which was also unconventional in layout in that the fin and rudder were placed ahead of the elevator. Stressed skin construction was employed and the engine was a Bristol Pegasus III, giving a maximum output of 750 h.p. The wide split undercarriage permitted the carrying of a torpedo and optional equipment included desert rations and spares, stretchers, army co-operation gear or special long- range tanks. A crew of three could be carried. Troop Carriers Apart from the specialised bombers (description of which is purposely being deferred until the end of this account) H.P.'s have produced three types of bomber transport (troop carrier) machines. The first of these was the Clive (circa 1929) which resembled externally the twin-engined transport biplanes and, for that matter, contemporary Handley Page bombers. The Clive was, in fact, generally similar to the Hinaidi and had two Bristol Jupiter geared engines. It had seating for 17 fully armed soldiers and the cabin equipment included rifle racks. Scarff gun rings were fitted in the nose and aft of the wings. The H.P. 43 bomber transport is of special interest for two reasons: firstly, because its biplane wing structure resembled that of the four-engined machines for Imperial JUNE 22, 1939 Breaking new ground : The Handley Page Hampden, prototype. Airways and secondly, be cause, as will be explained, it was indirectly connected with the development of the Harrow monoplane bomber. The three geared Pegasus engines were arranged follow ing "42" practice though the top wing bore only one engine instead of two. Thirty fully armed troops could be carried in addition to a crew of five. There were gun rings in the extreme nose and the extreme tail. After tests the machine was developed into the H.P. 51, which retained the same fuselage and a similar tail, but differed in that it had a monoplane wing, tapering sharply in chord and thickness, and fitted with slots and slotted flaps. The engines in this revised prototype were Siddeley Tigers, though units of the Pegasus series were eventually substituted, giving the machine an even closer resemblance to the Harrow bomber which followed it. It is of interest to observe that whereas the biplane wing cellule spanned 114 ft. the monoplane wing measured only 90 ft. It is for their bombing aircraft that the Handley Page company are chiefly famed and it is fitting that this review should conclude with an outline of the development of Handley Page bombers from the Hyderabad up to that Hampden of to-day. The Hyderabad, which was supplied in quantity to the R.A.F., was a military development of the W.8 and was fitted with two Napier Lion engines. In addition to machine guns on Scarff mountings in the nose and aft of the wings there was a third weapon in the bottom of the fuselage. Bombs were carried externally under the lower wings. The Hyderabad was the precursor of the Hinaidi, like wise a standard R.A.F. type, which resembled its fore runner in essentials, but was fitted with geared Bristol Jupiter engines either one of which would sustain it in flight. Like the Hyderabad, the Hinaidi was of wooden construction. It had a top speed of 114 m.p.h. and a ceil ing of 11,300 ft. with the original geared Jupiters. In 1926, after the appearance of the Hyderabad, the company produced a very large single-engined bomber Development : The production version of the Hampden, a bomber of outstanding merit.
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
