The Handley Page Halifax was a four-engined heavy bomber operated by the British Royal Air Force during World War II. A two-gun BP Type C turret mounted dorsally replaced the beam guns. [citation needed] With the airfreight market in decline, most of the civilian Halifaxes were scrapped on their return to England. Handley Page Halifax B Mk.I/II - GRII Model Revell No. This area led to the two-gun dorsal turret. The Victor had been developed as part of the United Kingdom's airborne nuclear deterrent. It was patented in 1919. Upon the end of the conflict, Bomber Command quickly disbanded the majority of its Halifax-equipped squadrons; the aircraft themselves were transferred to Transport Command. Handley-Page Halifax v1.0.6 / 01 feb 22 / greg goebel * In the mid-1930s, Britain began programs to develop heavy bombers, with three four-engine bombers -- the Shorts Stirling, the Handley-Page Halifax, and the Avro Lancaster -- emerging in World War II. On later-built aircraft, the two-gun dorsal turret was replaced by a four-gun Boulton Paul turret. At its peak strength, Bomber Command operated a total of 76 Halifax-equipped squadrons. The second aircraft the organization is seeking to recover is LW170 off the coast of Scotland. Within hours, the aircraft sank through the ice into 27 metres (89ft) of water. It was a wise move because it meant that the RAF had reasonably. The majority of these crew (in Canada over 60%) flew their beloved Halifax's, above all others, to Victory in World War Two. Halifax production subsequently began at Handley Page's (now English Electric's) site in Samlesbury, Lancashire, with over 2,000 bombers being built by this factory during the war. [s ee more ] The first of the companys aircraft based in Australasia was G-AIWT (c/n 1338 ex PP265), a Halifax C.VIII, which was named Port of Sydney. Development led to the HP.57, an order for 100 of which was placed on 1 January 1938. This is my latest large scale vacform project - a 1/32nd scale Handley-Page Halifax from ID (tigger) Models. Above the navigator's position was the forward gun turret. Avro continued working on the two engined design, while Handley Page modified their design to use four engines. A contemporary of the famous Avro Lancaster, the Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing. LAPG used the production facilities of the London Passenger Transport Board, Park Royal Coach Works, Express Motor and Body Works, Chrysler Motors, and Duplex Bodies and Motors. They see that their parents are traumatized: they scream and dont react normally.Elie Wiesel (b. As the aircraft returned to England most civil Halifaxes were scrapped; the last civilian-operated Halifaxes were withdrawn from service in late 1952. Air Chief Marshal Arthur Harris, head of Bomber Command, was scathing in his criticism of the Halifax's performance compared to the new Avro Lancaster, primarily of its bomb-carrying capability: it was calculated that an average Halifax would drop 100 tons of bombs in its lifetime compared to a Lancaster's 154. The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War.It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester.. The Avro Manchester was built with Vultures and entered RAF service, but also suffered from engine problems. The final bomber version, the Mk VII, reverted to the less powerful Hercules XVI. All structured data from the file namespace is available under the Creative Commons CC0 License ; all unstructured text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. Aft of the pilot and set lower than the pilot was the flight engineer's compartment with controls on the bulkhead. Harris continued to have a poor opinion of the Halifax, despite the fact that later Hercules-engined machines had lower loss rates and higher crew survival rates after abandoning the aircraft than Lancasters, and came very close to the Lancaster's speed and altitude performance. Royal Air Force four-engine heavy bomber of WWII, Looking upward and rearward from the navigator's position: wireless operator at lower right; pilot at upper right; flight engineer in his usual inflight position at upper left behind the pilot, RAF strategic bombing during the Second World War, The aircraft were assembled at Leavesden from components and assemblies manufactured around London. The sizeable production run envisioned required the involvement of several external parties in addition to Handley Page. Handley Page Halifax B Mk.II Series I Royal Air Force (1918-now) No. The front fuselage section of Halifax MkVII PN323, built by Fairey Aviation at Manchester, is displayed at the Imperial War Museum in London. To contain and attach the engines to the airframe, Handley Page developed their own design for the power egg instead of using the typical, slimmer Rolls-Royce counterpart; despite generating increased drag, this in-house design was readily adaptable to the alternative Hercules engine on later aircraft. This Hampden was recovered from a crash-site in Russia in 1991 and is being reconstructed at the Michael Beetham Conservation Centre at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, Shifnal, Shropshire. The wireless (radio) operator was behind the navigator's position, separated by a half width partition. First Look. It crash landed at Bovingdon in Hertfordshire on 5 September 1947, was written off and was eventually scrapped. Crash sites Handley Page Halifax. That is why the children of survivors are so tragic. At the time, it was the largest transport plane ever designed for the RAF, and it replaced the Avro York as the standard long-range transport. First appearing in 1943, the Mk III featured the Perspex nose and modified tail of the Mk II Series IA but replaced the Merlin with the more powerful 1,650hp (1,230kW) Bristol Hercules XVI radial engine. it naturally flew out of a dive. Twelve aircraft were converted for BOAC and became known as the Handley Page Halton but they only operated until 1948, the conversion work being performed by Handley Page and Short Brothers & Harland. W1048, on display at RAF Museum Hendon, flew from Linton to RAF Kinloss,Scotland, as the advance base for their forthcoming raid on the German battleship Tirpitz which lay in Norwegian waters, on April 27, 1942. [10], While the early-built models of the Halifax were heavily used by Bomber Command and made valuable contributions to operations, the aircraft's performance was considered unsatisfactory for the most part, mainly due to the underpowered Merlin engine, which meant that it could not fly at the higher altitudes needed to avoid enemy fighters, which were becoming increasingly effective throughout 1943. [10] The first English Electric-built aircraft was flown from Samlesbury on 15 August 1941. The front fuselage section of Halifax MkVII PN323, built by Fairey Aviation at Manchester, is displayed at the Imperial War Museum in London. [18], Owing to a shortage of Messier-built landing gear and hydraulics, Dowty-built landing gear were used on some aircraft instead. Such was the promise of the new model that, in January 1938, the RAF chose to place their first production order for the type, ordering 100 Mk.I Halifaxes "off the drawing board", at which point the serials which had already been assigned to HP56 were switched to HP57. The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. The Halifax has its origins in the twin-engine HP56 proposal of the late 1930s, produced in response to the British Air Ministry's Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium . This necessitated the removal of all armament and making provision for freight, nine stretchers, or eight passengers. The first production standard Halifax, the Mk.I, had a 22ft (6.7m) long bomb bay as well as six bomb cells in the wings, providing a bomb capacity of 13,000lb (5,900kg). For quicker delivery Avro and HP56 designs were ordered "off the drawing board" in mid-1937. The prototype HP.57 (L7244) made its first flight at Radlett in Hertfordshire on 25 October 1940, the first production machine flying on 11 October 1940. After World War II LAMS obtained 16 ex RAF Halifaxes for the carriage of freight. With a crew of seven, comprising a pilot, wireless operator, navigator, flight engineer, bomb-aimer/gunner, and two turret gunners, the Halifax was built to an Air Ministry specification issued on 8 May 1935. The plan is to build this as a Rolls-Royce Merlin powered MkII Series IA - squadron and exact aircraft yet to be decided. This resulted in an increase in top speed by 60mph to 324mph at 19,000ft. Due to a shortage of Merlins with two stage superchargers production of the B Mk IV was not proceeded with. [10] In all, 6,178 Halifaxes were built, the last delivered in April 1945. These were followed by 25 of the Mk I Series II with increased gross weight (from 58,000lb/26,310kg to 60,000lb/27,220kg) but with maximum landing weight unchanged at 50,000lb (23,000kg). The Mk I Series III had increased fuel capacity (1,882gal/8,556L), and larger oil coolers to accept the Merlin XX. In service with RAF Bomber Command, Halifax bombers flew 82,773 missions, dropped 224,207 tons of bombs, and lost 1,833 aircraft. [16] With the coming of the MkIII the Halifax's performance finally matched that of the Lancaster[20] though the latter had a larger bomb load and could take larger bombs. Following the end of the Second World War, the RAF quickly retired the Halifax, after the type was succeeded as a strategic bomber by the Avro Lincoln, an advanced derivative of the Lancaster. Designed in the mid/late 1930s,. The third, a B.Mk III VH-BDT (ex NR169, G-AGXA Waltzing Matilda), an ex No 466 Squadron RAAF machine, was obtained by Geoffrey Wikner, well known for his aircraft designs, and flown with his family and a group of passengers from the United Kingdom to Sydney in a flying time of 71 hours, arriving on 15 June 1946. A Handley Page Halifax aircrew (1 C, 73 F) Handley Page Halifax in art (1 F) Handley Page Halifax in Australian service (71 F) B Handley Page Halifax bomb bays (11 F) C ; TG528 (C1A) on display at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, England. Handley Page Halifax Mark II Series 1s of No. The Halifax has its origins in the twin-engine HP56 proposal of the late 1930s, produced in response to the British Air Ministry's Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use." A number of former RAF Halifax C.8s were sold from 1945 and used as freighters by a number of mostly British airlines. It was taken to Canada and restoration was completed in 2005. The HP56 was ordered as a backup to the Avro 679, both aircraft being designed to use the underperforming Rolls-Royce Vulture engine. 35 Squadron and four other squadrons were selected to form the Pathfinder Force, later expanded to become No. The purpose of this mission is to drop weapons containers to the Polish resistance. The Mk IV was a non-production design using a turbocharged Hercules powerplant. Four Merlins were specified by the Ministry in September 1937. This aircraft had during the war made 51 bombing raids over Europe. We much appreciate your telegram of congratulation on Saturday night's work, the success of which was very largely due to your support in giving us such a powerful weapon to wield. A Handley Page Halifax B Mark III Series 1A of No. Handley Page Heyford Heavy Night-Bomber / Crew Trainer Aircraft 9 1924 Handley Page Hendon (HP.25) Biplane Torpedo Bomber Prototype Aircraft 10 1924 Handley Page HP.21 / Type S (HPS-1) Single-Seat, Single-Engine Monoplane Fighter 11 1922 Handley Page Hanley Torpedo Biplane Bomber Prototype 12 1918 432 Squadron RCAF, was saved when the aircraft was scrapped after the war. Handley Page built the assemblies and components at Cricklewood and the aircraft were assembled and flown from Radlett Aerodrome; the first production aircraft flew from Radlett on 11 October 1940. It went into voluntary liquidation and ceased to exist in 1970. It was shot down on the night 45 August 1944 while returning from the "air-drop-action" during the Warsaw Uprising. A third Halifax is a B.Mk.II, serial W1048, 'S' for Sugar of no. According to Moyes, within the final few months, bomber losses had fallen to all-time lows while raids were frequently regarded as having been highly successful. Location:Hertfordshire, England. The maximum bomb load was 14,500lb (6,600kg), carried in a bomb bay in the fuselage with six separate bomb compartments, and three bomb compartments in each wing inboard section. gal. The airframe was melted down and used to construct the ceiling of the RAF Bomber Command Memorial in London, which was unveiled in 2012.[42]. [14] Arguably the Merlin engine did not suit the Halifax as much as the Hercules (fitted from the MkIII on) which suited the Halifax better both aerodynamically[15] and power wise. [21], The Halifax B Mk IV was a converted B Mk II non-production design using the Rolls-Royce Merlin 65 engine with a two-stage supercharger and a four bladed propeller fitted. ; TG511 (T5) on display at the RAF Museum Cosford, England. The Berlin Airlift was probably the last major operation of the type and afterwards most survivors were scrapped. [10] The resulting Halifax Group was established to oversee the manufacturing programme, comprising English Electric (who had previously been a valued contributor in the production of the Handley Page Hampden), various firms within the London Aircraft Production Group, Fairey Aviation, and Rootes Motors. It was taken to Canada and restoration was completed in 2005. The Halifax was operated during WWII by the Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force. [29], By the end of 1943, No. 518 Squadron RAF sprang a fuel leak and, while trying to return to base, was forced to ditch off the Hebrides Islands west of Scotland. Our mission is to bring home Halifax's to Canada and the historic aviation world for these Halifax's are the unknown and hidden symbol, thanks to the media and press, of the great effort and sacrifice of our RCAF and RAF bomber crews who gave all of us our Freedom and peace that we enjoy today. And a Mk A VII (N337), recovered also from a Norwegian lake in 1995, has been restored for the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Memorial Museum at Trenton in Canada. However, these variants were produced in relatively small quantities. On the floor just behind the front turret (or later the nose) was the escape hatch. Handley Page Halifax A Mk.VII Royal Air Force (1918-now) 644 Sqn. It was the third and final V-bomber to be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF), the other two being the Avro Vulcan and the Vickers Valiant. The Handley Page Halifax was an archetypal British heavy bomber, making up nearly half of all that were produced. Halifaxes continued to be built because it was considered more efficient to allow existing manufacturing facilities to continue producing them efficiently, rather than stop production for an unknown period while they converted to the Lancaster, while new manufacturing facilities were devoted to the Lancaster. However, the Vulture encountered problems in development, and the bomber design was reworked in 1937 to take four Rolls-Royce Merlins. The Halifax Mk I Series III featured increased fuel capacity (1,882impgal (8,560l; 2,260USgal), and larger oil coolers, the latter of which having been adopted in order to accommodate the Merlin XX engine. Subtle modifications distinguished the Mk I aircraft. [citation needed], The most numerous Halifax variant was the much improved B Mk III of which 2,091 were built. The Handley Page Victor was a British jet-powered strategic bomber, which served during the Cold War. 1924), I believe that all the survivors are mad. [4] In response, Handley Page produced the twin-engine HP56 design to meet Specification P.13/36. The remaining variants were the C Mk VIII unarmed transport (8,000lb/3,630kg cargo pannier instead of a bomb bay, space for 11 passengers) and the Mk A IX paratroop transport (space for 16 paratroopers and gear). [24] With a typical payload of 5,800lbs of bombs and 2,242imp. It is painted to represent Halifax LV907, "Friday the 13th" from no. They also serviced in other roles such as glider tugs, reconnaissance aircraft, and paratrooper transports. As a Pathfinder and Main Force aircraft, the Halifax was a core part of the bombing offensive against Germany and its Axis allies. A transport/cargo version of the Halifax was also produced, known as the Handley Page Halton. The Lancaster was faster, could fly higher with a larger bomb load, and was adaptable to carry a variety of weapons. 138 Sqn. During their service with Bomber Command, Halifaxes flew a total of 82,773 operations and dropped 224,207 tons of bombs, while 1,833 aircraft were lost. 158 Squadron RAF on the port side and "N - Novembre" of 347 "Guyenne" Squadron, Free French Air Force, on the starboard side (RAF Elvington being the home of the only two French heavy bomber squadrons in Bomber Command). They also saw service with Coastal Command. This name followed the practice of naming heavy bombers after major towns in this case, Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Data from Bingham, Halifax, Second to None, A teacher by profession and engineer by . The H.P.57 was enlarged and powered by four 1,280hp (950kW) Rolls-Royce Merlin X engines. 433 Squadron and No. Read more about this topic: Handley Page Halifax, I want to celebrate these elms which have been spared by the plague, these survivors of a once flourishing tribe commemorated by all the Elm Streets in America. In the 1930s, the Royal Air Force (RAF) was primarily interested in twin-engine bombers. As an outstanding example of aircraft restoration, the Handley Page Halifax MK III at. However, before it could reach prototype stage the Vulture project began to run into problems. The Lancaster was faster, could fly higher with a larger bomb load, and was adaptable to carry a variety of weapons. Users: UK (RAF), Australia, Canada, Free-French, New Zealand. Box contents. Halifax MKIII production started in early Autumn 1943 and for 1944, when the MkIII constituted an increasing percentage of the Halifax force, 4 Group flew 25,454 sorties for a loss of 402 aircraft, a loss rate of 1.6%.
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