Flight, June 1929

BRITISH AIRCRAFT AT OLYMPIA

HANDLEY PAGE, LIMITED

   CONCERNING the the Handley Page exhibits at Olympia we are not, unfortunately, able to give our readers any very detailed account, as one of the machines to be shown is a recent production and may only be referred to rather vaguely, while of the other machine, the new large four-engined passenger carrier, the saloon portion only will be shown.
   By far the largest commercial machine ever produced in this country for regular use as a passenger carrier on air routes, the new four-engined Handley Page will have seating accommodation for no less than 40 passengers. The saloon is divided into two separate ones, with a lavatory and a large luggage compartment in between them. The reason, or one of the reasons, for this arrangement is, we understand, that in this manner there is no passenger sitting in line with the propellers, so that should one of the airscrews burst, the pieces might be flung through the fuselage but would not be likely to injure anyone.
   The four-engined Handley Page will be of all-metal construction, and the fuselage portion to be shown at Olympia will have not only its main framework but also the covering of metal. The tail portion of the fuselage, which will not be shown, will have a tubular framework and fabric covering.
   Many unusual features will be found in the general layout of the machine. For example, the attachment of the lower wings to the fuselage is near the top instead of on the lower longerons. This does not mean that the entire lower wing is placed high in relation to the fuselage, as, for example the lower wing in relation to the hull of a flying-boat, but that there is a distinct break in the lower planes as viewed from in front. From the lower engines, which are placed a considerable distance outboard, the lower wings slope upwards considerably until they meet the fuselage, forming, as it were, an anhedral angle, while the outer portions of the wings are set at a dihedral angle. The reason for this unusual arrangement is not, we believe, an aerodynamic but a practical one, the object being to provide a better view for the passengers, who will be able actually to look under the inner portions of the lower wing.
   Apart from the arrangement of the lower plane, the wing bracing will be unusual in that no streamline wires will be employed. The entire structure will be strut braced, the struts forming, with the spars, a Warren girder. "Once rigged always rigged" is the motto which the Handley Page firm uses in this connection.
   The engine arrangement is unorthodox in that all four engines drive tractor airscrews, i.e., no tandem placing of engines is employed. This is achieved by placing two of the as engines immediately under the top plane, as close together as the airscrew clearance will permit, while the two lower engines are mounted on the lower plane, far enough outboard for their propellers to clear the fuselage sides. It may be remembered that the French Bleriot firm produced one or two commercial aeroplanes of this type some years ago, so that there is precedent for such an engine arrangement. The petrol tank will be carried in the top centre-section, and will be high enough above the two top engines to give direct gravity feed to them as well as to the lower engines.
   At the moment it is not, we learn, definitely decided which type of engines will be fitted in the new Handley-Page 40-passenger machine, but they will at any rate be radial air-cooled, and either Bristol “Jupiters” or Armstrong Whitworth “Jaguars.” The new machine, if successful, will be operated by Imperial Airways, Ltd.
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Flight, November 1932

British Aircraft

Handley Page, Limited
Cricklewood, London, N.W.2

   FOR a great number of years the name of Handley Page has been associated in the public mind at home and abroad with two things: Large aircraft and slots. The first large Handley Page machine made its appearance during the war, and was known as the type O/400. Since those early days the Handley Page firm has rather made a speciality of large aircraft, of which considerable numbers and many types have been in service, commercial as well as military' aircraft. Space does not permit of referring here to more than one representative of each class.

H.P. 42

   When Imperial Airways, Ltd., made the decision to concentrate on large aircraft as the most economical type to operate, and the type which promised the greatest degree of comfort for the passengers, Handley Page, Ltd., were awarded the order. The design was for a large four-engined biplane, and showed considerable originality, not only in the aerodynamic layout but in the structural methods adopted. The first order was for eight machines, and it was a bold step for all concerned to embark upon such an ambitious scheme with an as yet untried design. However, the work went forward, and, apart from certain "teething troubles" with the first machine, the "Hannibal," the H.P. 42 class proved a success, and is now one of the most popular types of civil aircraft in Europe.
   Several forms of construction are used in the H.P. 42. The forward and middle portion of the fuselage is a metal-covered structure, while the rear portion is of tubular construction. The wings have Duralumin spars with stainless steel fittings, and are fabric covered. The pilots' cabin is in the extreme nose of the fuselage, whence the view is quite exceptionally good. The cabin is divided into two compartments, and has seating accommodation for 38 or 18 passengers, according to whether the machine is of the "Western" or "Eastern" type. The former is used in Europe, the latter between Egypt and Karachi.
   All who have travelled in the H.P. 42 class of aeroplane are unanimous that the. comfort, and particularly the absence of noise, is far greater than has been achieved before in a similar type of machine. The two cabins are so arranged, with a space between them, that no passenger is in line with the propellers. This has helped materially in reducing noise, as has also, of course, the actual dimensions of the machine, which remove the engines a considerable distance from the cabins.
   The power plant of the H.P. 42 consists of four Bristol Jupiters, of which two are placed close together in the centre of the top plane, while the other two are placed fairly far outboard on the lower wing.
   Some idea of the size of the H.P. 42 can be formed from the following data :-
   Length o.a. 89 ft. 9 in. (27,36 m.)
   Wine span (upper) 130 ft. (39,62 m.)
   Wing area 3,000 sq. ft. (279 m!.)
   Gross weight ("Western") 29,500 lb. (13 400 kg.)
   Pay load ("Western") 8,500 lb. (3 860 kg.)
   Gross weight ("Eastern") 28,000 1b. (12 800 kg.)
   Pay load ("Eastern") 7,000 lb. (3 180 kg.)
   Max speed ("Western") 127 m.p.h. (205 km./h.)
   Cruising speed ("Western") 100 m.p.h. (161 km./h.)
   Max. speed ("Eastern") 120 m.p.h. (191 km./h.)
   Cruising speed ("Eastern") 100 m.p.h. (161 km. h.)
   The "Western" type has Jupiter X.F. BM engines and the "Eastern" Jupiter XI F.

Flight, July 1933

THE HANDLEY PAGE "HEYFORD"
2 Rolls-Royce "Kestrel" Engines

   SINCE the original Handley Page H.P.38 was designed, built and flown, there has been a change in load factors, etc., and the new "Heyford" night bomber, which is in effect the production version of the H.P.38, therefore differs considerably in some respects from the prototype; so much so that it has been given a new works series number, and is identified as the H.P.50. Before the construction of the "Heyfords" ordered by the Air Ministry was undertaken, the Handley Page works at Cricklewood were thoroughly overhauled and reequipped with new and improved machinery. Very extensive use has been made of jigs, and the result of all these improvements, which one suspects to be largely due to Mr. Hamilton, who joined the firm as works manager about the time when the work on the "Heyfords" was begun, is at once evident in the form of vastly improved workmanship and finish. An interesting article could be written on the workshop methods used in producing the "Heyfords," but that would be outside the scope of these notes, which are intended to deal with the finished machine rather than with the methods by which it has been produced. As it is, we have not the space this week to describe the "Heyford" completely, and we have, therefore, decided to divide the article into two instalments, the first, which follows, dealing with the structural aspects of the "Heyford," and the second, which we hope to publish later, to describe the finished machine, its lay-out and general equipment.
   In the notes which follow it is advisable to bear in mind that the "Heyford" is an unorthodox aeroplane in the arrangement of its large components. The fuselage and two engine nacelles are placed immediately under the upper plane, while the lower centre section is uninterrupted by any such large bodies, and is, in fact, used as a receptacle for the bombs. This arrangement has introduced certain changes in structural policy.

The Fuselage

   Structurally speaking, the fuselage is built in four separate sections joined together by bolted joints. Beginning at the nose, there is a forward portion which is of metal monocoque construction. Then follows a single-bay portion, with very stout diagonal strut bracing in the side panels, which is in line with the wings. Aft of that is the main rear fuselage portion, with vertical and horizontal struts and tie rod cross bracing. Finally, the fuselage terminates at the stern in a small unit which carries the tail and castering tail wheel.
   The front, monocoque, portion of the fuselage is of very neat and simple construction. It carries no very heavy weights (crew and their equipment only) and therefore a heavy primary structure has not been necessary. The longerons are built up of an outer curved corner strip and an inner strip of “Omega" section. In the forward half of the monocoque the lower longeron "omegas" are fairly shallow, while in the rear half they are deeper, to meet conveniently the tubular longeron of the rear fuselage portion. The "omegas" of the top longerons are shallow and of uniform depth throughout.
   Top and bottom longerons are connected by vertical formers of small, light-gauge strip of "omega" section. Like the longeron strips they are of Duralumin. The covering is "Alclad," riveted on in fairly large panels. The skin is reinforced by external stringers of shallow channel section, and the side of the rear half of the monocoque is reinforced by an internal diagonal member riveted to the skin and to the vertical formers. The deck and bottom of the monocoque are of a construction similar to that of the sides.
   Two half-bulkheads divide the monocoque into three compartments. The bulkheads are composed of vertical channels from floor to roof, double walls attached to the side skin by L-section strips, and internal channel stiffeners. The front bulkhead, which forms the forward wall of the pilot's cockpit, has a two-fold door which, when closed, keeps the draught from the forward gunner's cockpit from entering the pilot's compartment.
   Aft of the monocoque is the single-bay fuselage portion which carries the wings. This has steel tubular longerons and diagonal struts in the side panels, while the top horizontal panel is braced by swaged rods and the floor panel by streamline wires.
   The rear fuselage main portion, which is really typical of the general construction, has steel tube longerons and struts, with tie rod cross bracing. The joints combine welding, bolting and riveting in a somewhat unusual manner. Welding is used solely as a means of locating the strut fittings on the longerons. Two flat plates have their edges welded to the longeron, or to a sleeve over the longeron, and between the free edges of these plates are inserted the strut ends, secured to the plates by tubular rivets.
   Extensive use is made of sleeve joints for struts and longerons. The ends of struts or longerons are inserted in the sleeve, at the other end of which may be another tube or a fitting. In either case the attachment is by thin studs through tube and sleeve, a large number of studs being used, radially disposed to clear each other. If a damaged strut or longeron is to be replaced, all that has to be done is to undo the nuts of these "spoke studs," when the sleeve can be slid along and the tube removed from the structure.

The Wings

   Owing to the unusual arrangement of the fuselage, engines and bombs, the wing structure of the "Heyford" shows local variations in the type of structure used. The top centre section, upper and lower end portions, are, generally speaking, of one type, while the bottom centre section is of quite different construction owing to the need for accommodating the bomb load.
   Duralumin is the material used in the main wing spars and ribs. The spars are of built-up box section, as shown in our sketches. The ribs are of tubular construction, joints being made by flat plates and tubular rivets. The compression or drag struts are of a section similar to that of the spars, but of slightly smaller overall dimensions.
   In the bottom centre section the spars have bulb-section booms joined by a single thin flat web, reinforced by channel-section stiffeners on front and back. Both booms of the front spar, and the upper boom of the rear spar, are of heavy gauge, and are formed on the draw-bench. The bottom boom on the rear spar is of much lighter gauge, and has its free edges curved for stiffness.
   The ribs of the lower centre section are somewhat more elaborate than those used generally in the wings. The wing section used is fairly deep, to accommodate the bombs, and the concentrated loads are, of course, very much greater. The ribs, therefore, have channel-section flanges of fairly large dimensions, and the tubes of the rib wab are of much larger diameter than those of the normal ribs.
   The engine mountings of the "Heyford" are steel tube structures, using partly welded joints and partly "spoke stud" joints similar to those in the fuselage. The engine mountings are made as complete units, even including the interplane struts, and are built in elaborate jigs. The undercarriage telescopic struts are hinged to the front interplane strut inside the engine mounting. Each wheel is carried on a fork, and the single telescopic strut allows the wheel to rise and fall inside its "spat." A castering tail wheel is fitted.