The Handley Page Type F was a two-seat, single-engined monoplane designed to compete for a War Office prize for a specified military machine in 1912. It crashed before the trials got under way and, although it flew well later, only one was built.
| Type F (H.P.6) | |
|---|---|
| |
| Over Hendon, 17 November 1912 | |
| Role | Military two seater |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Handley Page |
| Designer | Frederick Handley Page |
| First flight | 21 August 1912 |
| Number built | 1 |
Design and development
editIn layout and general appearance the Type F was similar to the earlier Type D and its contemporary, the Type E. Like them, the wings of the Type F had a strongly curved leading edge and a straight but swept-back trailing edge. They were wire braced above and below with the upper wires attached to a four-strut pyramidal pylon above the cockpit and below to the undercarriage structure, which was very similar to that of the Type E. Lateral control was by wing warping; the outer 40% of each wing was relatively flexible and could be twisted by wires running from the cockpit via the pylon to kingposts at 60% span. The Type F did not have the chord extensions seen on the outer parts of the Type E's wings.[1]
The Type F had a deep rectangular cross-section fuselage, narrowing to the rear, with fairings above and below for streamlining.[1] The 70 hp (52 kW) Gnome rotary engine was completely enclosed in a snub-nosed cowling. The two crew sat side by side, as the military specification required, in an open cockpit at mid-wing. The observer, sitting on the left had a downward view through a windowed hatch. Elsewhere the aircraft was fabric-covered. The tailplane had a circular leading edge curving though a little more than 180° and carried split elevators with scalloped trailing edges. There was no fixed fin, only a rudder of irregular six-sided (five of them concave) shape. It had a tailskid formed from a pair of cane hoops.[1]
In August 1912 it was taken, untested, from the factory at Barking (it was the last Handley Page aircraft built there) to the military trials at Larkhill.[1] It flew there for the first time on 21 August, coping with the windy conditions quite well though showing the side-to-side wallowing that had also been experienced with the Type E before its wing warping lateral control was replaced by ailerons. The next day the engine failed soon after takeoff and a wing and the undercarriage were seriously damaged in the resulting crosswind landing. The Type F was withdrawn from the trials and returned to the new factory at Cricklewood for repairs. It was in the air again in early November, flown with enthusiasm with a variety of passengers by Wilfred Parke on most days.[1] The Type F was lost on 15 December 1912 when engine failure led to the death of Parke and his passenger, Alfred Arkell Hardwick.[2] In the retrospective type redesignation of 1924, the Type F became the H.P.6.[3]
Specifications
editData from Barnes & James 1987, pp. 63
General characteristics
- Crew: two
- Length: 30 ft 2 in (9.2 m)
- Wingspan: 43 ft 6 in (13.7 m)
- Height: 10 ft 6 in (3.2 m) [4]
- Wing area: 250 sq ft (23.2 m2)
- Empty weight: 850 lb (386 kg)
- Gross weight: 1,450 lb (657 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Gnome rotary , 70 hp (52 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 55 mph (88 km/h, 48 kn)
References
editNotes
edit- ^ a b c d e Barnes & James 1987, pp. 54, 59–63
- ^ Barnes & James 1987, pp. 13, 63
- ^ Barnes & James 1987, pp. 599
- ^ Bruce 1992, pp. 26
External links
editDescription in Flight magazine, 26 October 1912
Bibliography
edit- Barnes, C.H.; James, D. N. (1987). Handley Page Aircraft since 1907. London: Putnam Publishing. ISBN 0-85177-803-8.
- Bruce, J.M. (1992). The Aeroplanes of the Royal Flying Corps (2nd ed.). London: Putnam Publishing. ISBN 0-85177-854-2.