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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 1296.PDF
Vickers Wellington. SP^aSHE^s*^" Bristol Blenheim. form; as a bomber it carried a single 112- pounder or four 25-pounders—loads which it frequently deposited in the hours of dark- ness on dumps, railheads and troop concen- trations. It was willing, gentle and long- suffering. Should the 120 h.p. Beardmore engine (of, in the case of the later F.E.2d, the 250 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle) cease to drive the churning four-blade pusher pro- peller at the rear of the nacelle, this grand- motherly old bomber could be set down in a meadow, though the hazards of this under- taking by night, with only primitive aids, art obvious enough. The first specially designed day-bomber to achieve fame was the D.H.4, introduced early in 1917 and approaching in speed the best single-seat fighters of its day, especially when powered with the Rolls-Royce Eagle 12-cylinder engine. Armed with a fixed Vickers and a free Lewis gun, this handsome machine, forerunner of the D.H.9 and 9a, operated without escort. The D.H.ga was generally similar, but the cockpits were brought close together and the American-designed Liherty engine was installed. Overseas and Auxiliary squadrons were still using "Nine Acks " in the early 1930's. Earliest—and certainly one of the most famous—of the really large bombers was the Handley Page 0/400 (the "Bloody Paralyser "),-with two Rolls-Royce Eagle engines, 1,800-lb bomb load and four machine guns. Sixteen ua-lb bombs were stowed internally, suspended by their noses as in the German Heinkel 111 bomber of the Second World War. Big brother to the 0/400 was the later V/1500, with four Eagles, which flew in May, 1918. This was a real giant, having a span of 126ft, and was designed with the utmost secrecy in Iceland. Three machines of the type were ready to bomb Berlin when the war ended. These pioneer heavy bombers were followed in R.A.F. service by a series of Handley Pages hardly less distinguished. There was the Lion-engined Hyderabad of 1923, faster than its predecessors, with a speed of no m.p.h.; the Hinaidi—a development with Jupiter radial engines; and the Heyford ofI 93I, of totally new, and highly original, design. The Heyford was capable of over 140 m.p.h., had three gun positions (includ- ing a retractable "dustbin" turret) and carried its bombs in the distended centre- section of the lower wing. It was one of the last British biplane bombers and was succeeded by the Harrow high-wing mono- Avro Lancaster.
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