Handley Page HP42
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Handley Page HP42
Having a look for photos of these old HP airliners I came across this:
"One aircraft was destroyed in an airship hanger fire in 1937, the rest were all destroyed while in Royal Air Force service mainly due to them not being secured down in the wind"
Does anyone know if they were they actually used by the RAF or simply handed over as a matter of course? Do any photos exist of them in RAF uniform?
"One aircraft was destroyed in an airship hanger fire in 1937, the rest were all destroyed while in Royal Air Force service mainly due to them not being secured down in the wind"
Does anyone know if they were they actually used by the RAF or simply handed over as a matter of course? Do any photos exist of them in RAF uniform?
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I have a photograph, taken by my late father C1940, of a HP42 sitting on Khartoum aerodrome. It is not the best quality, but there is no evidence of RAF markings on the fuselage and the aircraft seems to be still in it's bare metal and silver dope finish. The name on the nose seems to be 'Hengist'. He told me that shortly after taking the photo an Italian aircraft dropped a stick of bombs which caused shrapnel injuries to his legs and damaged his eardrums. He did not remember if the 42 was damaged or not, but thought it must have had a pretty severe shaking at the very least!
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History of the individual aircraft can be found here Handley Page H.P.42 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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HP42 Replica
There is a 2008 PPRuNe thread about the planned building of a replica - much secrecy but they apparently had the correct engines. The project website is:
Team Merlin - Projects - Imperial 42 - Page 1
It all seems to have gone very quiet for some years and an e-mail request, some time ago, for an update was unanswered so it may have come to a grinding halt...! Unless, of course, it has been quietly building up to a spectacular first flight from 'an airfield somewhere in Britain'!
DS
Team Merlin - Projects - Imperial 42 - Page 1
It all seems to have gone very quiet for some years and an e-mail request, some time ago, for an update was unanswered so it may have come to a grinding halt...! Unless, of course, it has been quietly building up to a spectacular first flight from 'an airfield somewhere in Britain'!
DS
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There's some nice footage of Heracles in the 1934 documentary film 'Airport' by Roy Lockwood - engine starting, brief cockpit view, passengers boarding, takeoff, & also servicing, with an engine stripdown & rebuild (with somewhat lower levels of Health & Safety regarding climbing towers & solvents than would be appropriate today).
