Handley Page Aircraft Company
The
Handley Page Aircraft Company was founded by
Frederick Handley Page in 1909 as the
United Kingdom's first publicly traded aircraft manufacturing company. It filed for
bankruptcy and ceased to exist in
1970. The company, based at
Radlett Aerodrome in
Hertfordshire, was noted for producing heavy bombers and large airliners.
 |
The Handley Page Cricklewood site in early 1921 |
Frederick (later Sir Frederick) Handley Page first experimented with and built several
biplanes and
monoplanes at premises in
Woolwich, Fambridge and
Barking Creek. His company, Handley Page Ltd, became the first public company to build aircraft when it was founded on
17th June 1909.
In
1912 Handley Page Ltd. established an aircraft factory at
Cricklewood after moving from
Barking. Aircraft were built there and flown from the company's adjacent air field.
During the
First World War Handley Page produced a series of bombers for the
Royal Navy to bomb the
German Zeppelin yards, with the ultimate intent of bombing Berlin in revenge for the Zeppelin attacks on London. These aircraft included the
O/100, the
O/400 and the four engined
V/1500 with the range to reach Berlin. The V/1500 only just reached operational service as the war ended in
1918.
In the immediate post-war years, Handley Page modified a number of O/400's to passenger use, which they flew on the
London-
Paris route as
Handley Page Transport. The V/1500 was considered too large to be practical at the time, but a number of design features of the V/1500 were later incorporated into a O/400 airframe to produce their first dedicated passenger design, the
W.8. In 1924 Handley Page Transport merged with two other regional airlines to create
Imperial Airways, the UK's first national airline service. Handley Page developed several large
biplane airliners, including the 12 luxurious
Handley Page H.P.42, for use on Imperial routes to Africa and India.
Handley Page also paid for the development of what soon became known as the
Handley Page Slat (or slot), a small channel cut into the leading edge of the wing to improve airflow at high
angles of attack. The design was so successful that licensing fees to other companies was their main source of income in the early 1920s.
In 1929 the airfield at Cricklewood was closed and a new one built at Radlett where most aircraft were now to be contructed however the construction of aircraft at Cricklewood continued until 1964 when the premises were sold to become the Cricklewood trading estate.
With the spectre of the
Second World War looming, Handley Page turned back to bomber design, and produced the
Hampden, which took part in the first British raid on Berlin. In response to government request for heavier, longer ranged aircraft Handley Page produced the
Halifax which after the
Lancaster was the most prolific British heavy bomber, and considered by some to be to a superior aircraft.
After the war the British government sought tenders for jet bombers to carry Britain's atomic bomb. The three types produced were known as the
V-Bombers, and Handley Page's contribution was the
Victor, a four engined crescent winged design. This aircraft remained in service (as a tanker aircraft) well beyond the demise of the company which created it.
In
1947 Handley Page bought some of the assets of the bankrupt
Miles Aircraft company. These assets include existing designs, tools and jigs, and the Miles
Reading site at Woodley. The most significant of the inherited designs was the
Herald airliner.
One of the final notable Handley Page designs was the
Jetstream, this was a small commuter turboprop aircraft, with a pressurised cabin and a passenger capacity of 12 to 18. It was designed primarily for the United States feederliner market. Although Handley Page was wound up as a company, the Jetstream lived on as a successful product, being produced at the old
Scottish Aviation factory at
Prestwick, first by Scottish Aviation, then by
British Aerospace.
Opened in 1929 as a grass aerodrome for Handley Page Civil Aircraft, the runway was extended in 1939 to enable production of
Halifax bombers. Most of the towers, hangers and runways were demolished in the 1970s after the Company went bankrupt. The M25 Motorway now stands on the south of the site, with
Lafarge Aggregates now owning the remainder.
Handley Page originally used a letter progression to designate types i.e. R, S, T, U, V, W etc, with a number (that may or may not have been meaningful to designate sub-types, e.g. the O/100 indicated the type's 100 foot wingspan).In
1924, Handley Page moved from the
letter/number (or
letter.number), to the H.P.
number type designation. Thus the W/400 is also known as the H.P.16, and the W.8 is also known as the H.P.18. The H.P.R.
number indicates that the design originated in the
Reading design office.
*
O/100*
O/400*
V/1500*
W.8*
W.9*
W.10*
Handley Page H.P.42/H.P.45*
Handley Page Heyford*
Hampden*
Halifax*
Hastings*
Hermes*
H.P.R.1 Marathon*
Herald*
Dart Herald*
Victor*
Handley Page Type A HP.1 - monoplane 1910
*
Handley Page Type B HP.2 - biplane
*
Handley Page Type D HP.4 - monoplane 1911
*
Handley Page Type E HP.5- monoplane
*
Handley Page Type F Hp.6 - monoplane
*
Handley Page Type G HP.7 - biplne
*
Handley Page Type L HP.8
*
British Aricraft Directory entry*
short history of the company written for the Centennial of Flight*
An enthusiast web site dedicated to the company
