The Handley Page Halifax was a four-engined heavy bomber operated by the British Royal Air Force during World War II. The first flight of the second prototype, L7245 (complete with full armament and equipment), was made by Cordes from Radlett on 17 August 1940. This aircraft was re-constructed from a fuselage section of Halifax B.Mk.II HR792 and parts from other aircraft including the wings from an RAF Hastings. A project is currently underway with the stated aim of finding, recovering and restoring Halifax LW170. A rare colour photograph of a 405 Squadron Handley Page Halifax II being serviced and "bombed-up" prior to a raid. Halifax 57 Rescue is a Canadian organization dedicated to the recovery and restoration of Handley Page Halifaxes. The Pakistan Air Force, which had inherited a number of Halifax bombers from the RAF, also continued to operate them and became the last military user of the type, retiring the last aircraft in 1961. At peak one Halifax was completed every hour. Users: UK (RAF), Australia, Canada, Free-French, New Zealand. The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. The Avro Lancaster was a four-engine heavy bomber used by the RAF in 1942 and, together with the Handley Page Halifax, was the main strategic bomber of the RAF and other air forces of the Commonwealth countries. This aircraft was used to convey turkeys between Sydney and The Philippines, as well as carrying freight to the United Kingdom. [36] During the type's service with Bomber Command, Halifaxes flew 82,773 operations and dropped 224,207 tons of bombs. 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). On the floor just behind the front turret (or later the nose) was the escape hatch. Arthur Harris, the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Bomber Command, described the Halifax as inferior to the rival Lancaster (in part due to its smaller payload) though this opinion was not shared by many of the crews that flew it, particularly for the MkIII variant. Crash landed near. Modifications resulted in the definitive HP57, which upon acceptance was given the service name Halifax, following the practice of naming heavy bombers after major towns in this case, Halifax in the West Riding of Yorkshire. Introduced into service in November 1943, the Mk III was first delivered to No. [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. HR744/G, O 1944 - RAF St. Davids. [23], The Handley Page Halifax was a mostly orthodox design, a mid-wing monoplane with a tail unit featuring twin fins and rudders. 1,833 aircraft were lost. The rudder overbalance / directional instability with engine(s) out problem was solved on the Mk III with the fitting of a larger D type fin (40% bigger) and modified rudder. [22], The definitive version of the Halifax was the B Mk VI, powered by the 1,800hp (1,300kW) Hercules 100. [36] As a glider tug the Halifax was superior to the Lancaster, the Halifax Mk III's "tug weight at take off" at 59,400lbs was higher than a Lancaster Mk2 at 52,800lbs. 35 Squadron RAF at RAF Linton-on-Ouse in November 1940; its first operational raid was against Le Havre on the night of 1011 March 1941. After refurbishment, and repainting, VH-BDT was flown by Captain E Hourigan, taking a load of 89 dogs to Singapore to replace the canine population which had become depleted during the war but the company found there was no payload available for the return flight. NA337, 2P-X 1945 - RAF Tarrant Rushton Dark Earth, Dark Green, Night. Nose/Cockpit section only of RNZAF . Above the navigator was the forward gun turret. The most numerous Halifax variant was the B Mk III of which 2,091 were built. It was patented in 1919. Specialised versions of the Halifax were developed for troop transport and paradrop operations. Handley Page Halifax B Mk.III Royal Canadian Air Force - Aviation royale canadienne (1924-1968) 424 Sqn. A two-gun BP Type C turret mounted dorsally replaced the beam guns. Halifax bombers were progressively relegated to secondary theatres such as North Africa and Italy, while many were converted to or built new as glider tugs, transports and maritime reconnaissance. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester . 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). [citation needed] With the airfreight market in decline, most of the civilian Halifaxes were scrapped on their return to England. The Halifax Mk II Series IA was fitted with a moulded Perspex nose (this nose became standard upon future Halifax variants), a four-gun Boulton Paul Type A dorsal turret similar to that used in the Boulton Paul Defiant, and Merlin 22 engines. 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. 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]. 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. 138 Sqn. [33], Large numbers of Halifax bombers were also operated by Coastal Command, which used it to conduct anti submarine warfare, reconnaissance and meteorological operations. But to celebrate them is to be silent about the people who sit and sleep underneath them, the homeless poor who are hauled away by the city like trash, except it has no place to dump them. VII Name: None Status: Displayed Last info: 2016: History: Handley Page Aircraft, Radlett, 1950-1960. When production ended in Nov 1946, 6,176 were built. First Look. On arrival Wikner sought to make some exhibition flights in the aircraft but approval was denied. Halifaxes dropped more than a quarter of all bombs on Germany by the RAF. Of the 6,176 Halifaxes built, three complete examples remain. RM KJCPC0 - Halifax Bomber 4 ExCC The Handley Page Halifax was a four-engined heavy bomber model operated by the British Royal Air Force during World War II.The Halifax remained in service until the end of the war, performing a variety of duties in addition to bombing. [citation needed], Other candidates were submitted for the same specification, including the Avro 679, and designs from Fairey, Boulton Paul and Shorts; all submissions were designed around two-engine configurations, using the Rolls-Royce Vulture, Napier Sabre, Fairey P.24 or Bristol Hercules engines. 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. Handley Page Halifax GR Mk.II Series IA Royal Air Force Coastal Command (1936-1969) No. trade, Handley page halifax heavy bomber mark vii na 337, Polish Air Forces in exile in Great Britain, C Flight No. Development led to the HP.57, an order for 100 of which was placed on 1 January 1938. In 1943 4 Group's Halifax squadrons flew 11,607 sorties for a loss of 485 aircraft, a loss rate of 4.2%. The last mission took place in March 1952 from Gibraltar. The two-gun dorsal turret was replaced by a four-gun Boulton Paul turret. VII NP707, which completed 67 operations with No. Box contents. Production proceeded in parallel, the prototype Mk II (HP.59) flying for the first time on 3 July 1941. [4] The slab-sided fuselage contained a 22-foot bomb bay, which contained the majority of the Halifax's payload, while the cockpit was flush with the upper fuselage. Other changes included the adoption of de Havilland Hydromatic propellers and a wider wing span with rounded wing tips. 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. To speak of one thing is to suppress another.Lisel Mueller (b. [4] In September 1937, the Ministry specified the use of four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines; according to aviation author Phillip J. R. Moyes, this redesign to four Merlin engines had been done "much against the company's wishes". The plane was part of RCAF 426 Squadron, and had been shot down near Geraardsbergen during a raid on Leuven, Belgium on 12 May 1944. 1:144 Handley Page Halifax Bomber Metal Military Airplane Model,RAF 1944 $48.99 Free shipping SPONSORED Atlas Edtions Collection Diecast New Handley Page Halifax 1:144 $13.09 $20.37 shipping or Best Offer Corgi Aviation HP Halifax AV 2007 Highly Exclusive Silver Paint Finish AA37299 $385.23 $65.39 shipping The inboard may be in 2 pieces. The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. 148 Squadron RAF, which was found in southern Poland, near the city of Dbrowa Tarnowska. The Halifax saw extensive service throughout the Berlin airlift, where 41 were used by seven different companies; and examples were placed on the civil registers of Switzerland, Pakistan, and Norway. (Video still from NTNU AUR-LAB via WarbirdsNews.com) A research team from the Marine Technology Center at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway has discovered the sunken wreck of an RAF Handley Page Halifax under roughly 180m of water on the bottom of a nearby fjord. 1,833 aircraft were lost.[40][41]. Flew 67 sorties between 15 July 1943 and 9 December 1944. [33] The Halifax also found itself being increasingly tasked with transport duties around this time; in one instance, around half a million gallons of petrol was delivered to Brussels in support of the advancing Second Army, then engaged in heavy fighting at Arnhem. Founded by Frederick Handley Page in 1909, it was the United Kingdom's first publicly traded aircraft manufacturing company. It covers much more than just its role as a front line bomber, with chapters on the Halifax with Coastal Command, the Pathfinders and SOE, amongst others. Other changes included de Havilland Hydromatic propellers and rounded wing tips. Four Merlins were specified by the Ministry in September 1937. [61], Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era. The Mk II Series IA had a moulded Perspex nose (the standard for future Halifax variants), a four-gun Defiant-type dorsal turret, Merlin 22 engines and larger, trapezoidal-shaped vertical tail surfaces which solved control deficiencies from fin-stall with the roughly triangular-shape original surfaces, leading to rudder overbalance in the early marks. [59] Preparations are currently underway for underwater excavation. In the summer of 1973, it was recovered from the lake by a team of divers from the RAF and a Norwegian diving club, and was transported to the UK on a British Army Landing craft tank. [4] The rival Avro 679 proceeded into service as the Avro Manchester powered by a pair of Vulture engines, but was only built in limited quantities after suffering substantially from engine-related difficulties. Itali. It had been converted by Handley Page at Radlett to a civil transport with seating for 15 but retained its camouflage. While the Halifax was relegated into second place as a . Contents 1 Design and development 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. The Halifax Mark V were manufactured by Rootes Group at Speke and Fairey at Stockport; operationally, these were generally used by Coastal Command and for training purposes. [4], Series production of the Halifax began at Handley Page's factory at Cricklewood and at English Electric's site in Samlesbury, Lancashire. Aft of the pilot and set lower than the pilot was the flight engineer's compartment with controls on the bulkhead. The Halifax was also flown in large numbers by other Allied and Commonwealth nations, such as the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), Free French Air Force and Polish forces.
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