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Handley Page Hampden

1938 WORLD WAR 2

History of Handley Page Hampden

In 1932, the British Air Force issued specification B.9/32, requiring the use of medium-range, high-performance twin-engine bombers. This resulted in three main entries being censored - Bristol Type 131, Vickers Crecy (which would become Vickers Wellington) and Handley Page HP. 52 (Hampden).

Handlery Page's design was ordered as a prototype, and upon completion, the first flight took place on June 21, 1935. The design was well received and a production contract for the Hampden Mk was subsequently signed. The I model and development culminated in the 1938 trial.

Production spanned from 1936 to 1941, with a total of 1,430 built (some sources say 1,532).

The finished Hampden features a smooth and deep fuselage with a stepped single-seat cockpit and heavily glazed nose section. The crew consisted of four people, including a pilot, a navigator/bombardier, and a dedicated gunner (one of whom also doubled as a radio operator). The cockpit features a greenhouse-style canopy, while additional glass locations are found in the dorsal and ventral sections of the rear fuselage for defending machine gun emplacements.

The Hampden was given a rather unique shape, like the bombers of the interwar period, with a thin tail that extended back and a twin vertical tail at the very end of the design. This stock allows dorsal and ventral gun placement along the rear of the fuselage, providing a good view of the gun. The wing main planes were mounted in the middle, and the leading edge of each plane was fitted with a radial piston engine that simultaneously drove a three-bladed propeller.

The landing gear is wheeled and fully retractable, while being arranged in a trailing configuration (giving the aircraft a distinct "nose up" attitude on the ground).

Power comes from 2 Bristol Pegasus XVIII 9-cylinder radial piston engines, 1,000 hp each. This gives the airframe a top speed of 250 mph, a cruise speed of about 200 mph, a range of up to 1,720 miles and a service ceiling of up to 19,000 feet.

The original B. 9/32 specification was at one point revised to include the use of the Rolls-Royce "Goshawk" V12 engine, but this requirement was later dropped and only 20 engines were produced in total.

Defensive armament is entirely based on machine guns: 1 x 7.7mm Browning M1919 machine gun is mounted above the nose in a fixed forward firing position, while another 7.7mm machine gun is mounted on a trainable base from which Look down at the lower bow window. The dorsal and ventral rear positions each manage one 7.7mm Vickers-K machine gun - also mounted on trainable mounts. All in all, this should provide maximum cover for intercepting enemy fighters, although wartime experience has shown that this aircraft is indeed under-equipped for day work.

Their machine guns are also manually guided without any power assistance.

Internally, the bomb bay can store up to 4,000 pounds of conventionally dropped bombs or a single 18-inch torpedo (the latter for anti-ship work). Bombers can also disperse mines instead of traditional bomb-dropping.

A batch of Hampden Mk I bombers were designed for use as torpedo bombers under the designation "TB. Mk I".

By the end of 1938, several Royal Air Force (RAF) squadrons had formed around Hampden Mk I. This meant that when Britain declared war on Germany in September 1939, Hampden was already in service. Allied air raids. At the time of the announcement, additional squadrons were also formed using the bomber to further strengthen Hampden.

However, the ensuing battle soon showed that the Hampden was a very limited weapons platform, especially in daytime operations without fighter jets. Increased losses to intercept German artillery-armed fighters and heavy fighters. It was this result that prompted the RAF to move its bombing operations to night, when the German response was somewhat limited.

Hampden was an integral part of the RAF night bomber force, while other heavy aircraft were used to maintain pressure during the day. The Hampden, while inferior to a traditional day bomber, still deploys a viable bomb load and excels in the night bomber role when pressed.

Handley Page built around 500 Hampdens, with additional numbers coming from English Electric (770 more aircraft) and the Civil Aviation Authority of Canada (160 more). In addition to the main Mk I model, there was the short-lived Mk II (HP.

62), which attempted to improve the range by introducing the 1,000 hp Wright "Cyclone" engine. However, only two Mk I models were converted to the Mk II standard, and no more from the series. Another engine installation project - involving the Napier "Dagger" VIII 1,000hp 24-cylinder in-line engine - produced 100 Handley Page "Hereford" prototypes.

However, ongoing engine cooling problems resulted in this stock being converted back to Hampden Mk I standard and used as a bomber.

By August 1942, the Hampden Line had passed its heyday and was relegated to second line. The final form - these are tuberculosis. Mk I Torpedo Bomber - Decommissioned in December 1943, completely ending Hampden's wartime service.

In addition to serving in the RAF, this route also carries stocks from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the Soviet Union. An Australian and New Zealand Hampden Squadron (Nos. 455 and 489, respectively) was formed, along with three Canadian units (Nos. 408, 415, 420 and 32 (Training)).

Soviet Naval Aviation operates bombers through 24th Squadron MTAP. The Swedish Air Force purchased a Hampden (model HP.53, operating as a P.5) for evaluation, but no further orders followed. This airframe ended its days as a SAAB avionics text platform.