Handley Page Aircraft Company

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Handley Page Limited was the UK's first publicly traded aircraft manufacturer . The company, based in Radlett , Hertfordshire , was founded in 1909 and dissolved in 1970 due to insolvency. It became known as a producer of bombers and commercial aircraft.

Origins

Handley Page was founded on June 17, 1909 by Frederick Handley Page (1885-1962), who had previously operated a small workshop for aircraft construction. The first construction in 1910 was the Type A Blue Bird with sickle-shaped wings by José Weiss and with a 50-hp engine. In 1912 the company received its first government contracts that made it necessary to expand the workshop facilities, so that Handley-Page moved its headquarters from Barking Creek to Cricklewood .

First World War

O / 400
HP42 Hanno

At the beginning of the First World War , the company was commissioned to develop large bomber planes. Handley Page then manufactured a number of heavy bombers with which the German Zeppelin bases were to be destroyed.

Four twin-engine biplanes were produced and designated as HP11 or O / 100 ; they were the largest British aircraft at the time. The heavy night bomber had folding wings , an armored , closed cabin with bulletproof glass and engines in armored engine nacelles.

An improved variant was the O / 400 with more powerful engines. 450 pieces of this type were built in 1918 and 1919. The four-engine O / 1500 should be able to fly as far as Berlin , but was not put into service until the end of the war.

Interwar period

After the end of the war, some O / 400s were converted into passenger aircraft and used by the newly founded airline “Handley Page Transport” between London and Paris. From this, Handley Page developed the company's first purely civil airliner, the W.8 (first flight December 4, 1919), W.9 (first flight October 1, 1925) and W.10 (also 1925). These machines had an open cockpit and an enclosed cabin for fifteen passengers. In 1924, Handley Page Transport merged with three other companies to form Imperial Airways .

Imperial Airways' request for a larger aircraft for routes to Africa and India was met with the HP42 , a metal biplane with a closed cockpit and space for 24 passengers, which first flew in 1930.

Handley Page also invested in the development of a small air duct cut into the leading edge of the wing to improve airflow at high angles of attack - the so-called " Handley Page Slat ". This proved so successful in the early 1920s that royalties for use by other companies became Handley Page's largest source of income during that time.

When Cricklewood Airfield closed in 1929, Handley Page moved most of the production to the new Radlett Airfield. The old location continued to be used until 1964.

Second World War

HP61 Halifax Mk.3
HP67 Hastings
HP80 Victor

When the war broke out, production was completely switched back to military aircraft. These included bombers such as the well-known Halifax , Hampden , Hereford , Harrow and Heyford . Then there were the night bombers Hyderabad and Hinaidi , who had already entered the service of the RAF in 1930 .

post war period

After the Second World War, long-planned transport aircraft could be tackled again, such as the Handley Page Hastings , which took off for the first time on May 7, 1946, and the Hermes , the first modern British passenger aircraft after the war, which took off on December 3, 1945 took off for the first flight.

In 1947 Handley Page bought much of the bankrupt Miles Aircraft Company , including aircraft designs, machines and the Reading factory . The Miles Marathon was produced under the name HPR1 Marathon by Handley Page (Reading) Ltd., founded on July 5, 1948 . Another aircraft developed in Reading was the HPR3 Herald . Fifty copies of its successor, the HPR7 Dart Herald , were built between 1959 and 1968.

In the post-war years, Handley Page built some aircraft for supersonic research, tested new wing shapes and aircraft without conventional tail units. This research eventually led to the HP80 Victor , one of the V-bombers that were to carry the British atomic bomb . The Victor flew for the first time on December 24, 1952 and - converted to a tanker - was to remain in service for much longer (until 1993) than its manufacturing company existed.

Decline

In contrast to the other British aircraft manufacturers, Handley Page did not comply with the government's request to merge into larger units. By the late 1960s, aircraft construction was already dominated by two companies, Hawker Siddeley and British Aircraft . Handley Page was no longer able to compete for government contracts for large commercial aircraft.

In order to survive anyway, the company developed the HP137 Jetstream , a small turboprop aircraft for twelve to eighteen passengers, which was to be sold on the US market. However, Handley Page took over the development costs of Jetstream. The company then went into liquidation on August 8, 1969 and finally dissolved on June 1, 1970.

The Jetstream was then first built by Scottish Aviation , then by British Aerospace .

Aircraft designs

Designed by Handley Page (Reading)

Web links

Commons : Handley Page  - collection of images, videos and audio files
List of aircraft types made by Handley Page


Bomber:

Type O / 400 • Type V / 1500 • Hare • Hendon • Hyderabad • Hinaidi • Heyford • Hampden • Halifax • Harrow • Victor

Passenger aircraft:

Type W • HP.42 • HP.43 • HP.45 • HP.97 • HP.111C •

Hermes • Marathon • Herald • Dart Herald • Jetstream

Experimental aircraft:

Type L • Gugnunc • Manx • HP.88 • HP.115

Transport aircraft:

Clive • HP.111 •

Hastings