Handley Page Hermes

Handley Page Hermes
Hermes IV of the Air Links, Biggin Hill 1963
Type:	Passenger plane
Design country:	United Kingdom
Manufacturer:	Handley Page
First flight:	December 3, 1945
Quantity:	29

The Handley Page Hermes was a four-engine airliner made by the British manufacturer Handley Page . The type of aircraft built shortly after the Second World War offered space for up to 63 passengers.

history

The Handley Page Hermes was the civil version of the Handley Page Hastings . Both versions were four-engine all - metal aircraft and designed as a low-wing aircraft that had a pressurized cabin . Originally, the civil aircraft was supposed to be brought out first. When the prototype HP68 Hermes I crashed on its first flight on December 3, 1945, this plan had to be abandoned.

The second prototype HP74 Hermes II received an extended fuselage and flew for the first time on September 2, 1947. The production model HP81 Hermes IV was powered by four Bristol-Hercules -763 engines with 1,570 kW and had a nose wheel landing gear , while the weaker motorized prototypes and the Hastings were still equipped with a tail wheel landing gear .

The 25 Hermes IVs produced were delivered to the BOAC airline from August 1950 and were mainly used in West and South Africa. The aircraft definitely ended their service at BOAC in December 1954, after some had been put back into service because of the flight ban for the Comet after its shutdown in 1952. The aircraft ended their careers with Airwork Ltd. in the 1960s . London , Britavia / Silver City Airways, Skyways Limited or, as the last one in 1964, with Air Links Limited . The last aircraft was the prototype of the Hermes II, which flew in the service of the Royal Radar Establishment until 1969 .

Versions

Hermes IV of Britavia, Blackbushe 1954

• HP68 Hermes I - 1 prototype
• HP74 Hermes II - 1 prototype
• HP81 Hermes IV - 25 series machines
  • Hermes IV A - converted Hermes IV with four Bristol Hercules 773 engines
• HP82 Hermes V - 2 prototypes with Bristol Theseus turboprop engines

Incidents

From the first flight in 1945 to the end of operations in 1964, it came with HP. Hermes on 12 total write-offs of aircraft. In 5 of them, 20 people were killed. Examples:

• On April 10, 1951, a test flight was carried out with a Hermes V of the Ministry of Supply ( aircraft registration G-ALEU ), on which three of the four engines failed one after the other. An emergency landing took place on a soaked field near Chilbolton . All five inmates survived.

• On November 5, 1956, a Hermes IVA of Britavia (G-ALDJ) collided with trees during the approach to Blackbushe . 7 of the 80 people on board were killed.

Technical data (Hermes IV)

Hermes IV

Parameter	Data
crew	5
Passengers	40-63
span	34.45 m
length	29.52 m
height	9.15 m
Wing area	130.85 m²
Empty mass	25,159 kg
Takeoff mass	39.092 kg
Cruising speed	437 km / h
Top speed	567 km / h
Service ceiling	7,470 m
Range	3,242 km
Engines	4 × radial engines Bristol Hercules -763 with 1,566 kW each (approx. 2,130 PS)

See also

• List of aircraft types

literature

• CH Barnes: Handley Page Aircraft Since 1907. Putnam & Company Ltd., London 1987, ISBN 0-85177-803-8 .
• AJ Jackson: British Civil Aircraft since 1919. Volume 2. Putnam, Second edition 1973, London, ISBN 0-370-10010-7 .

Web links

Commons : Handley Page Hermes  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Accident statistics HP Hermes , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 12, 2018.
2. ^ Accident report HP Hermes V G-ALEU , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on January 15, 2018.
3. ↑ Accident report HP Hermes IVA G-ALDJ , Aviation Safety Network (English), accessed on August 23, 2017.