[10] Different models of the Halifax used different numbers and combinations of turrets, effectively trading speed for firepower and vice versa. [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. A rare colour photograph of a 405 Squadron Handley Page Halifax II being serviced and "bombed-up" prior to a raid. The very front where the cowl is will be balsa sheeted and ABS will form into it. The bomb aimer's position was in the extreme nose with the navigator's table behind it, both posts being fulfilled by the same crew member. A number were converted for use as freighters, and as passenger transports, initially by the Royal Air Force (RAF), and after the war by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). 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). One of the two is located at the Yorkshire Air Museum, on the site of the Second World War airfield, RAF Elvington. A third Halifax is a B.Mk.II, serial W1048, 'S' for Sugar of No. The maximum bomb load was 14,500lb (6,600kg), which was primarily carried in a bomb bay housed within the fuselage, divided into six separate bomb compartments, with three bomb compartments in the inboard sections of each wing; this division of the payload between multiple compartments limited the maximum size of the individual bombs which could be completely enclosed to 2,000lb (910kg); when carrying the 4,000lb and 8,000lb high capacity (HC) bombs the bomb bay doors could not close fully. It was then offered, because of its war record with an RAAF squadron, to the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, ACT as a gift to be preserved alongside the Avro Lancaster, which was later preserved, but the offer was not accepted. The wireless (radio) operator was behind the navigator's position, separated by a half-width partition. The Halifax was designed by Handley Page, Ltd., in response to a 1936 Royal Air Force (RAF) requirement for a bomber powered by two 24-cylinder Rolls-Royce Vulture engines. There was and still is no better symbol to Canada, and the world, of a mighty Sword of Freedom wielded by young warriors who defeated tyranny and it is the HANDLEY PAGE HALIFAX. 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. 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. It was shot down on the night 45 August 1944 while returning from the "air-drop-action" during the Warsaw Uprising. The tail gunner occupied a four-gun turret at the extreme aft end of the aircraft. The Germans captured the Norwegian survivors; they were executed, even though they . 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. Handley Page realised that the Vulture was going to be problematic so changed their design very early on to take four Merlins. Handley Page were initially disappointed with the performance of the Halifax which was below their predictions,[14] much of this was because they had under estimated the aircraft's drag. 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. The Halifax Mk.I was quickly followed by 25 of the Mk I Series II; these featured an increased gross weight from 58,000lb (26t) to 60,000lb (27t) but with maximum landing weight unchanged at 50,000lb (23t). As it was incompatible with the Messier equipment this gave Halifaxes with new designations: a Mark II built with Dowty gear was the Mark V. The use of castings rather than forgings in the Dowty undercarriage speeded production but resulted in a reduced landing weight of 40,000lb (18,000kg). ], Halifax 57 Rescue is working to recover two aircraft. Gender:Male. The final bomber version, the Mk VII, reverted to the less powerful Hercules XVI. Its operational debut occurred on the night of 1011 March 1941, when six Halifax bombers flew a bombing raid against Le Havre, targeting the area around the docks and any shipping that might be present. Aft of the pilot and set lower than the pilot was the flight engineer's compartment with controls on the bulkhead. The Lancaster was faster, could fly higher with a larger bomb load, and was adaptable to carry a variety of weapons. [4], The Halifax was powered by four engines, two spaced evenly on each wing. item 4 Modelcraft/Matchbox 1/72 Scale Handley Page Halifax Model Kit - READ DESCRIPTION Modelcraft/Matchbox 1/72 Scale Handley Page Halifax Model Kit - READ DESCRIPTION. The crew compartment in a Handley Page Halifax consisted of an upper deck to accommodate the Pilot, 2nd Pilot and Fitter II [Flight Engineer] and a lower deck for the Wireless Operator, Observer / Navigator and Air Bomber. The last mission took place in March 1952 from Gibraltar. Handley Page Halifax VH-BDT Waltzing Matilda at Cloncurry, QLD in 1947 (via Ben Dannecker), Four 1,205 kw (1,615 hp) Bristol Hercules VI fourteen-cylinder two-row sleeve-valve radial engines, One 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Vickers K machine gun on flexible mount in nose; four 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Browning machine guns in Boulton & Paul A Mk III dorsal turret; four 7.7 mm (0.303 in) Browning machine guns in Boulton & Paul E turret in tail; max bomb load 5,897 kg (13,000 lb). ; TG511 (T5) on display at the RAF Museum Cosford, England. Like the Avro Lancaster, the original plan was for a twin-engine aircraft. It was shot down on the night 45 August 1944 while returning from the "air-drop-action" during the Warsaw Uprising. No thought was given at the time to preserving examples for future generations. When production ended in Nov 1946, 6,176 were built. Invasion stripes look good! 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. 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 It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester . The Halifax was also operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Free French Air Force and Polish forces. Development led to the HP.57, an order for 100 of which was placed on 1 January 1938. [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. 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 [10], In the second half of 1942, No. Aircraft of the first batch of fifty Mk I Halifaxes were designated Mk I Series I. Halifax, also called Handley Page Halifax, British heavy bomber used during World War II. During the excavation, the bodies of three crew members were recovered and later given proper burial. However, before it could reach prototype stage the Vulture project began to run into problems. [33], Large numbers of Halifax bombers were also operated by Coastal Command, which used it to conduct anti submarine warfare, reconnaissance and meteorological operations. 100 Group and to conduct special operations, such as parachuting agents and arms into occupied Europe, for the Special Operations Executive (SOE). It was hit by anti-aircraft fire after releasing the four 1,000-pound (450 kg) mines it carried and the pilot made a successful belly landing on the frozen surface of Lake Hoklingen. 644 Squadron RAF, then based at RAF Tarrant Rushton, is a transport/special duties version, and was retrieved from the bottom of Lake Mjsa in Norway in 1995 after being shot down in April 1945. On the night of the 27/28 April 1942, this aircraft was taking part in a raid on the Tirpitz - its first operational flight. It made a round-the-world flight commencing on 23 April 1947 from Elstree. It is displayed in its "as recovered" condition in the Bomber Command display at the Royal Air Force Museum at Hendon in London, apart from the nose turret which had already been restored prior to the decision. This page was last edited on 19 April 2019, at 12:46. 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. [10] Surface panels were flush-riveted, although the application of the matt black night bomber camouflage probably negated its benefit.[11]. Crash landed near. They dont know how to handle their parents. I (Serial No. On every street, in every town of our nation, are families whose fathers, grandfathers, and uncles flew in bombers. Handley Page Halifax Registry - A Warbirds Resource Group Site PREVIOUS PAGE HALIFAX/HR792 Serial #: HR792 Construction #: History: Delivered to RAF as HR792, 19??. 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. - Ground instructional airfame for radio trials. For quicker delivery Avro and HP56 designs were ordered "off the drawing board" in mid-1937. During the Second World War, it served with No. The majority of these engines were under development at this point; while four-engined bomber designs were considered for specification B.12/36 for a heavy bomber, wings mounting two pairs of engines were still in the experimental stage and required additional testing at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE). It was salvaged from the Norwegian lake Mjsa and fully restored by 2005. 148 Squadron RAF, which was found in southern Poland, near the city of Dbrowa Tarnowska. A further compartment aft of the flight engineer contained two bunks originally intended for resting crew members, but almost always used for treating and berthing injured crew. The first is HR871, located off the coast of Sweden. Handley Page produced the HP56 design to meet Air Ministry Specification P.13/36 for a twin-engine medium bomber for "world-wide use". 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. 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. NA337, 2P-X 1945 - RAF Tarrant Rushton Dark Earth, Dark Green, Night. 6 Group, formed of Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) squadrons, also adopted the Halifax around the same time, and would go on to operate it in each of its 14 squadrons, although it was never solely equipped with the type. One of the two is located at the Yorkshire Air Museum, on the site of the Second World War airfield, RAF Elvington. Nicknamed the 'Halibag' the Handley Page Halifax would serve with distinction until the end of the Second World War, and post-war would play a role in the Berlin Airlift. The inboard may be in 2 pieces. Accordingly, in 1936, the RAF decided to investigate the feasibility of a four-engined bomber. [58] Their second project was the 1997 recovery of Halifax LW682 from a bog near Geraardsbergen, Belgium. The type also entered commercial service for a number of years, used mainly as a freighter. [3] These designs put significant demands on engine production and maintenance, both of which were already stretched with the introduction of many new types of aircraft into service. 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." [10] The first English Electric-built aircraft was flown from Samlesbury on 15 August 1941. To install the nacelles I first draw a nacelle doubler and that is glued the inside of the ribs in the proper location. The two-gun dorsal turret was replaced by a four-gun Boulton Paul turret. [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. [16] This was answered by the Halifax Mk III, which was powered by Bristol Hercules radial engines in place of the Merlins. 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