Handley Page Hastings
| Handley Page Hastings | |
|---|---|
 A Hastings on Christmas Island , 1956 |
|
| Type: | Transport plane |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
May 7, 1946 |
| Commissioning: |
1948 |
| Number of pieces: |
151 |
The Handley Page HP67 Hastings was a four-engine transport aircraft of the British Handley Page Aircraft Company . The low wing aircraft with retractable tail wheel landing gear and pressurized cabin was the largest transport aircraft specially designed for the Royal Air Force in its time and replaced the Avro York as the standard long-haul transporter. The Royal New Zealand Air Force received four of the 151 machines built .
history
After the first flight of the first prototype on May 7, 1946 and another six months later, a total of 143 machines were taken over by the RAF Transport Command in the following years . The commissioning of these aircraft took place in good time before the start of the Berlin Airlift in June 1948, which was to last until May 1949.
The first association was the 47th Squadron in RAF Dishforth from 1948 . Hastings served with eleven squadrons of the Transport Command and one in the area of the RAF Coastal Command . They also served in the Middle and Far East Air Force . In addition to the 47th squadron, the 24th , 36th , 47th , 48th , 53rd , 70th , 99th , 114th , 116th , 202nd , 297th and 511th Squadron were equipped with the transport version. There were also various school and retraining units. The Royal Aircraft Establishment used Hastings for weather research.
Until they were replaced by the Lockheed Hercules in 1967/68, the Hastings were in service with the Transport Command. A few planes were parked at No. 90 Group of the Strike Command on duty even longer.
The last Hastings T.Mk.5 was decommissioned on July 30, 1977 at Radar Flight of the 230th Retraining Unit at RAF Scampton .
The four machines of the Royal New Zealand Air Force flew with the 41st and later with the 40th Squadron .
Versions
- Hastings C.Mk.1 : basic version; 94 copies built
- Hastings C.Mk.1A : The C.Mk.1 were later converted to the C.Mk.2 standard and designated as C.Mk.1A
- Hastings Met.Mk.1 : Version for weather observation by the Met Office ; 16 converted C.Mk.1
- Hastings C.Mk.2 : The second series C.Mk.2 was built from 1950 in a number of 43 machines with more powerful engines and some other changes, in particular a slightly lower tail unit for improved aerodynamics.
- Hastings C.Mk.3 : version for the Royal New Zealand Air Force ; 4 copies built
- Hastings C.Mk.4 : Four machines with VIP interiors were used as type C.Mk.4.
- Hastings T.Mk.5 : Eight Hastings C.Mk.1 were converted in 1959 by installing radar-controlled bomb sights and other equipment in training machines T.Mk.5. They were used to train crews on the Avro Vulcan.
Military use
Incidents
From 1948 until the decommissioning in 1977 there were 33 total casualties with 114 deaths in the Royal Air Force. The only other operator, the Royal New Zealand Air Force, lost an aircraft, but without a fatality. Examples:
- On April 6, 1949, a Royal Air Force Hastings C.1 ( registration number TG534 ) caught fire at the Schleswigland military airfield while starting the engines. The machine was used for the Berlin Airlift . A fuel leak was found to be the cause. The crew remained uninjured and the aircraft was destroyed.
- On October 10, 1961, a Hastings C.2 of the Royal Air Force (WD498) got into a very steep climb shortly after taking off from the RAF El Adem air base ( Libya ) because the commander's seat slid backwards and he was at the height control held on. There was stall , crash and explosion. Of the 37 inmates, 17 were killed.
- On July 6, 1965, a Royal Air Force Hastings C.1A (TG577) entered a very steep climb shortly after taking off from RAF Abingdon Air Force Base . There was a stall and loss of control; the machine crashed into a field. Apparently two elevator bolts were overstressed and the other two bolts broke due to material fatigue. All 41 people on board were killed, 6 crew members and 35 paratroopers.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| crew | 5-6 |
| Passengers | 50 |
| length | 25.2 m |
| span | 34.44 m |
| height | 6.9 m |
| Wing area | 130.8 m² |
| Empty mass | 18,910 kg |
| Max. Takeoff mass | 34,010 kg |
| Cruising speed | ? km / h |
| Top speed | 560 km / h at 22,000 m |
| Service ceiling | 8,140 m |
| Range | 5,246 km |
| Engines | 4 × Bristol Hercules Mk. 106 with 1,700 PS (1,250 kW) each |
Preserved copies
The Hastings T.Mk.5 with the RAF serial number TG503 was preserved and is on display on the open-air site of the Allied Museum in Berlin. Three other copies are on display in British museums and parts of another copy in New Zealand.
See also
literature
- CH Barnes: Handley Page Aircraft Since 1907. Putnam & Company Ltd., London 1987.
- Donald C. Clayton: Handley Page. An Aircraft Album. Ian Allan Ltd., Shepperton 1969, ISBN 0-7110-0094-8 .
- Paul Jackson: The Hastings. Last of a transport line. In: Air Enthusiast 40 September / December 1989, Tri-Service Press, Bromley, pp. 1-7, 47-52.
- Allied Museum (ed.): Landed in the museum. The biography of the Hastings TG 503 | A Museum Landing. The Biography of the Hastings TG 503 | Atterisage in the museum. La carrière du Hastings TG 503. (in three languages), Berlin 2003.
- Alan W. Hall: Handley Page Hastings. Warpaint Series no.62, Warpaint Books, Bletchley 2007.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jackson, Paul. "The Hastings. Last of a Transport Line". In: Air Enthusiast 40, September-December 1989. Bromley, Kent: Tri-Service Press. pp. 1-7, 47-52.
- ↑ Accident statistics HP Hastings , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 24, 2017.
- ↑ James J. Halley: Broken Wings. Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents . Air-Britain (Historians), Tunbridge Wells, 1999, ISBN 0-85130-290-4 , p. 87.
- ↑ accident report HP Hastings TG534 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 7 March of 2019.
- ↑ James J. Halley: Broken Wings. Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents . Air-Britain (Historians), Tunbridge Wells, 1999, ISBN 0-85130-290-4 , p. 206.
- ↑ accident report HP Hastings WD498 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 10 November 2017th
- ↑ James J. Halley: Broken Wings. Post-War Royal Air Force Accidents . Air-Britain (Historians), Tunbridge Wells, 1999, ISBN 0-85130-290-4 , p. 214.
- ↑ accident report HP Hastings TG577 , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on 10 November 2017th
- ↑ FliegerRevue No. 43 p. 6