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Aviation History
1947
1947 - 1657.PDF
Septonber i$'h, 1947 Handley Page FLIGHT HASTINGS Britain's Largest and Fastest Military Transport : New Standards of Comfort and Safety OR some years past, the transport aircraft employed on air support duties in the Royal Air Force have been largely of American manufacture, though certain adaptations of British four-engined bombers, like the Halifax C.VIII and A.IX, have done excellent work within their capacity. Now, at last, British machines designed speci- fically for use as transports are becoming available. As a replacement for the Dakota, the Valetta C.I (two Bristol Hercules 230) is being produced by Vickers-Arm- strongs, and to meet a require- ment for a* type of greater capacity and higher perform- ance the Hastings C.I, with four Hercules 101, has been ordered in quantity from Handley Page, Ltd. This im- pressive machine is the subject of our description and of the special Flight drawing over- f. In all essential features the Hastings is identical with the Hermes I, a civil project which did not materialize, having given place to later marks with a lengthened fuselage and nose- wheel undercarriage, in keep- ing with the current require- ments of commercial aviation. Structurally, the Hastings fol lows orthodox Handley Page practice and is characterized by extremely clean design. The fuselage is of circular cross section, and the low cantilever wing is very carefully faired into it. The wing is a two- spar structure, and the centre-section main spar com- prises single-length, deep channel-section extruded booms with plate-web Warren-girder bracing. The rear spar is of I-section with extruded T booms and a plate web. Inter-spar ribs are of diaphragm type with angle extrusions on each side. The centre-section leading edge is skinned on open-diaphragm nose ribs and is removable for access to the " plumbing," electrics and engine controls. Likewise of open-diaphragm type, the trailing-edge ribs extend to the curved shrouding of the Hand- ley Page slotted flaps. In the intermediate wing section, the front spar is of T- section extruded booms, with a web plate, and the rear spar is of angle section. Both spars of the outer wing panels have extruded angle booms and plate webs. The fuel tanks are located in- board of the inner nacelles, be- tveen the pairs of nacelles, and in the inboard sections of the outer wing panels. The tanks are installed from above, the hatch covers being attached along the spars and ribs. For jettisoning the fuel, which totals 1,400 gallons, flush-fit- ting ejector pipes within the wings are lowered pneumati- cally. Jettisoning can be ac- complished at the rate of 466- gallons per minute and may
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