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From: Miloch <Miloch_member@newsguy.com>
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Subject: Handley Page Heyford
Date: 15 Aug 2018 07:06:15 -0700
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handley_Page_Heyford
The Handley Page Heyford was a twin-engine British biplane bomber of the 1930s.
Although it had a short service life, it equipped several squadrons of the RAF
as one of the most important British bombers of the mid-1930s, and was the last
biplane heavy bomber to serve with the RAF. The aircraft was named after and
first deployed at RAF Upper Heyford, near Bicester in Oxfordshire.
The aircraft was of mixed construction having fabric-covered, two-bay
metal-frame wings, while the fuselage had an aluminium monocoque forward section
with a fabric-covered frame to the rear, It had a crew of four, consisting of a
pilot, a bomb aimer/navigator/gunner, a radio operator and a dorsal/ventral
gunner. Open positions were provided for the pilot and both the nose and dorsal
gunners. The Heyford had a novel configuration, with the fuselage attached to
bomb bay in the thickened centre lower wing. This provided a good defensive
field of fire for the nose and dorsal guns as well as the ventral retractable
"dustbin" turret, each equipped with a single .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Gun. The
fixed undercarriage consisted of large, spat-covered wheels. The design allowed
ground crews to safely attach bombs while the engines were running, but the
result was that the pilot was some 17 ft (5 m) off the ground.
The HP.38 proved successful during service trials at Martlesham Heath and with
No. 10 Squadron RAF and was chosen as the winner of the B19/27 competition,
being ordered as the HP.50 Heyford. Production Heyford Is were fitted with 575
hp (429 kW) Kestrel III engines and retained the two-blade propellers, while the
IAs had four-blade propellers. Engine variations marked the main Mk II and III
differences; the former being equipped with 640 hp (480 kW) Kestrel IVs,
supercharged to 695 hp (518 kW) in the Heyford III.
Role
Heavy night bomber
Manufacturer
Handley Page Aircraft
Designer
George Rudolph Volkert
First flight
12 June 1930
Introduction
1934
Retired
1941
Primary user
Royal Air Force
Produced
1933 - 1936
Number built
125
The Heyford I entered service with No. 99 Squadron RAF, at RAF Upper Heyford in
November 1933, and later with No. 10 Squadron and 7 Squadron, re-equipping with
the Heyford IA and II in August 1934 and April 1935 respectively. As part of the
RAF's expansion scheme, orders were placed for 70 Heyford IIIs in 1936, with
steam condenser-cooled Rolls-Royce Kestrel VI engines. The delivery of these
aircraft allowed the RAF to have nine operational Heyford Squadrons by the end
of 1936.
These squadrons of Heyfords formed the major part of Bomber Command's night
bomber strength in the late 1930s. Heyfords flew many long night exercises,
sometimes flying mock attacks against targets in France. Disaster struck on one
of these long-range exercises on 12 December 1936, when a flight of seven
Heyfords of No. 102 Squadron RAF, flying from Northern Ireland, encountered fog
and icy weather conditions as they approached their base at RAF Finningley,
Yorkshire. Four crashed and two had to make forced landings resulting in three
crewmen killed and three injured.
The Heyford started to be replaced in 1937, with the arrival in service of
Armstrong Whitworth Whitleys and Vickers Wellesleys, finally being retired from
frontline service in 1939. Some remained flying until 1940 as bombing and
gunnery trainers, being declared obsolete in July 1939, with two used as glider
tugs until April 1941. At least two examples found experimental use; one for
airborne radar and the other for inflight refuelling, and it is reported that
one was still stored as late as 1944.
Specifications (Heyford IA)
General characteristics
Crew: four (pilot, co-pilot/navigator, bomb aimer/air gunner, wireless
operator/air gunner
Length: 58 ft (17.68 m)
Wingspan: 75 ft (22.87 m)
Height: 17 ft 6 in (5.34 m)
Empty weight: 9,200 lb (4,180 kg)
Loaded weight: 16,900 lb (7,680 kg)
kW) each
Performance
Maximum speed: 142 mph (123 knots, 229 km/h) at 13,000 ft (3,960 m)
Range: 920 mi (800 nmi, 1481 km)
Service ceiling: 21,000 ft (6,400 m)
Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 15.3 minutes
Armament
positions)
Bombs: 2,500 lb (1,134 kg) total
*
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