- Handley Page Ltd
Aircraft manufacturers
Location:
- Cricklewood, London and Radlett, Hertfordshire
History:
- Handley Page Ltd was formed in Barking in 1909 as a private company by aircraft builder Frederick Handley Page. It was the first British company to be established as an aircraft manufacturer. Four experimental monoplanes, the Handley Page A, C, D and E were constructed at Barking. The field beside the factory soon proved too rough and small for testing and in 1911 the company rented a field at Fairlop. In 1912 Handley Page transferred its offices and works to Cricklewood and flying operations to nearby Hendon. By 1913 the company's monoplanes began to fall out of favour and Handley Page responded by producing a derivative and successful biplane. During the First World War the company designed and built a large number of heavy bombers for the Admiralty and War Office and as production increased the firm manufactured additionally at a nearby Rolls-Royce repair depot and at Cricklewood Broadway skating rink. A large number of Handley Page aircraft were also built by contractors. In 1919 the company was made public and after the war Handley Page began to design commercial aircraft and rebuilt a number of AirCo DH9A aircraft. It modified a number of its O type aircraft for passenger use on the London-Paris route as Handley Page Transport. In 1924 this airline business merged with two other airlines to create Imperial Airways, the UK's first national airline service. Handley Page later developed several large airliners, including HP42, for use on routes to Africa and India. The company also developed the Handley Page Slat, patented in 1919, an auxiliary airfoil which improved airflow over the wing. The device was so successful that licensing fees to became the company's principal income source in the late 1920s and 1930s. In 1930 the company moved to a new 154-acre aerodrome and works site at Radlett, Hertfordshire, where aircraft were constructed, although the manufacture of aircraft components and sub-assemblies continued at Cricklewood until 1964. During the Second World War the company refocussed on bomber design and production. In 1947 Handley Page bought some of the assets of the bankrupt Miles Aircraft Ltd and Handley Page (Reading) Ltd was formed in July 1948 to manage operations at that company's Woodley site near Reading. The new subsidiary built the Miles Marathon, Herald and HPR2 trainer. Herald production later transferred to Radlett and Cricklewood and the Woodley site closed in 1963. In the post-war years Handley Page produced a successful V bomber design for the government. The company resisted government pressure to merge with other aircraft manufacturers, but by the late 1960s the British aviation industry was dominated by two companies Hawker-Siddeley Group Ltd and British Aircraft Corporation. An inability to compete effectively for government orders and performance and production difficulties forced Handley Page Ltd into voluntary liquidation in 1969. Handley Page Aircraft Ltd was set up to administer the company's affairs in receivership, but also failed in 1970.
Principal and significant aircraft manufactured:
- Type A/HP1 (1910); Type B/HP2 (1910); Type D/HP4 (1911); Type E/HP5 (1912); Type F/HP6 (1912); Type G/HP7 (1913); HP14 (1917); Type O (1916); Type W (1921); V1500/HP15 (1918); HP20 (1921); Type T/HP19 Hanley (1922); Type S/HP21 (1923); HP22 (1923); HP23 (1923); HP24 Hyderabad (1925); HP25 Hendon (1924); HP28 Handcross (1924); HP31 Harrow (1926); HP32 Hamlet (1926); HP33/HP35/HP36 Hinaidi (1927); HP34 Hare (1928); HP38/HP50 Heyford (1930); HP39 Gugnunc (1929); HP42 (1930); HP43 (1932); HP45 (1930); HP46 (1932); HP47 (1934); HP51 (1935); HP52 Hampden (1938); HP54 Harrow (1937); HP55 (1939); HP56 (1939); HP67 Halifax (1939); HP75 Manx (1943); Hermes (1945); Hastings (1946); HPR2 Basic Trainer (1950); HPR1 Marathon (1951); HP80 Victor (1952); HPR3 Herald (1955); HPR1 Dart Head (1955); HP115 (1961); HP137 Jetstream (1967).
Publications:
- C H Barnes, Handley Page aircraft since 1909 (1990); A Dowsett, Handley Page: a history (2003).
Records 1:
General arrangement plans 1956-60; plans of laminar flow fins 1958-60; project reports 1957-58; brochures and marketing materials 1909-69; publications: Handley Page Bulletin 1935-39, 1948-58.
Records 2:
Various company files 1909-70 [HP series]; papers of Sir Frederick Handley Page's private office n.d. [AC70/10]; papers of G.C.D. Russell, chairman and managing director 1962-65 [AC71/21]; Halifax drawings (microfilm copies) n.d. [MAC11242-11278]; drawings for various aircraft types n.d.
Records 3:
Manufacturing memoranda and weekly reports 1948-58 [PA1716/4]; photographs, aircraft in action 1930-60 [PA1716/7/1/14].
Records 4:
Marketing brochures, catalogues, specification booklets and bulletins 1930s-50s [Trade Literature Collection].
Records 5:
Museum of Berkshire Aviation Trust
Handley Page (Reading) Ltd: various records n.d.
Records 6:
Various records 1909-70.
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