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Aviation History
1949
1949 - 1166.PDF
June 23rd, 1949 FLIGHT o A Jubilee Collection of Handley Page Aircraft from "Blue Bird" to Hermes For I v Years Famous HJ».3. 1AST week—as readers who read our '' Portrait of a Pioneer''will be aware—the firm of Handley Page, Ltd., celebrated the fortieth anniversary of its existence. In that article we des- cribed the early work of Mr. (now Sir Frederick) Handley Page. Here, from the archives of Flight and the Handley Page Company, we illustrate the history of his firm's products. The student, we believe, will be interested by the crescent-shaped wings of the early H.P. monoplanes and may muse on the form of wings yet to come from the forty-year-old firm. Should he be puzzled by the omission of certain type numbers, it may be explained that the absentees are, in the main, variants of secondary interest or projected types which never saw the light of day. H.P.I "Blue Bird" First of the Handley Page powered aircraft (earlier experimental work had been conducted with gliders), the Blue Bird was built at Barking and first flew in 1909. It was so named by reason of its form and colour. The intrepid aeronaut seen at the wheel is, of course, the one-and-only " H.P.", in person. H.P.3 Built for demonstration flying, and shown at Olympia in 1910, the H.P.3 monoplane followed on the heels of a privately ordered biplane (H.P.2), first flown in 1909. H.P.4 This 1911 monoplane, which has been described as "less efficient than handsome," was another H.P. Olympia exhibit. The engine was a 35 h.p., four-cylinder, water-cooled Green and the rear portion of the fuselage was a beautifully finished monocoque structure of mahogany. H.P.5 "Yellow Peril," ©r "Antiseptic~ The somewhat undignified sobriquets applied to this famous mono- plane, dating from 1911, and retaining the crescent wings of its fore- runners, arose from the non-rusting composition with which its surface was treated. Capable of 60 m.p.h., it measured 35ft in span and was fitted with a 50 h.p. Gnome. Reconstructed after a crash, it flew over London in 1912. H.P.6 Built for the Military Trials, conducted on Salisbury Plain in 1912, the H.P.6 was a larger and more powerful machine than the " Yellow Peril." The engine was a 70/80 h.p. Gnome, and the pilot and pas- senger sat side-by-side. Lateness of completion combined with a damaged wing to prevent participation in the famous Trials.
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