Originally Posted by
Gary cw
Everything I have said I have documentary evidence off. That doesn't mean it is correct which is why I am asking questions on this forum.
Gary, I for one do not quite see where you are asking questions. You started out with a bold statement, continued to support this by further statements but to you it feels like you're asking questions. I think this thread could have gotten off to a very different start if you had opened with a question. "I get the impression that the Handley Page O/400 is quite an influential and important type... what do you think?" would have been an option.
Boldly stating that something is 'the most important' is always a bad idea, as you're measuring this against your own yardstick and unilaterally declaring a winner. I can think of several types, but also several different yardsticks, and discussing these would be interesting but no doubt we would not end up with the same result that you got. The history of aviation is a long one with several influential types in it, but also with many different paths that lead to where we are now. The O/400 played a part in this, many others have done their best to quantify this and evaluate this influence, discarding all that in one fell swoop is not really fair to those others. At least acknowledge these other views, it's better for the tone of the discussion.