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==History== {{Unreferenced section|date=December 2021}} Frederick Handley Page first experimented with and built several [[biplane]]s and [[monoplane]]s at premises in [[Woolwich]], [[South Fambridge|Fambridge]] and [[Barking Creek]]. His company, founded on 17 June 1909, became the first British public company to build aircraft. In 1912, Handley Page established an aircraft factory at [[Cricklewood]] after moving from [[Barking, London|Barking]].<ref name="Graces">{{cite web |title=Handley Page - Graces Guide |url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Handley_Page |website=www.gracesguide.co.uk}}</ref> Aircraft were built there, and flown from the company's adjacent airfield known as [[Cricklewood Aerodrome]], which was later used by [[Handley Page Transport]]. The factory was later sold off to [[Oswald Stoll]] and converted into Britain's largest film studio, [[Cricklewood Studios]]. ===World War I=== During the [[First World War]], Handley Page produced a series of [[heavy bomber]]s for the [[Royal Navy]] to bomb the German [[Zeppelin]] yards, with the ultimate intent of bombing Berlin in revenge for the Zeppelin attacks on London.<ref name="Graces" /> Handley Page had been asked by the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] to produce a "bloody paralyser of an aeroplane".{{citation needed|date=August 2023}} These aircraft included the [[Handley Page O/100|O/100]] of 1915, the [[Handley Page O/400|O/400]] of 1918 and the four-engined [[Handley Page V/1500|V/1500]] with the range to reach Berlin. The V/1500 had only just entered operational service as the war ended in 1918.<ref name="Graces" /> The Handley Page factory at [[Radlett Aerodrome]] employed women as part of the war effort, and was visited by royalty. ===Interwar period=== In early 1919, a Handley Page V/1500 aircraft, dubbed ''Atlantic'', was shipped to [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]] to attempt the world's first non-stop [[Transatlantic flight]];<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kaisersbunker.com/rfc/rfc13.htm|title=HP_fabric|website=www.kaisersbunker.com|accessdate=15 October 2022}}</ref> only to be beaten by a [[Vickers Vimy#Operational history|Vickers Vimy]] piloted by [[Alcock and Brown]] in June of that year. The ''Atlantic'' flew into [[New York City]] via [[Canada]] on 9 October 1919, carrying the first [[airmail]] from Canada to the [[United States|United States of America]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.town.parrsboro.ns.ca/history.html |title=Town of Parrsboro |access-date=20 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071221043948/http://www.town.parrsboro.ns.ca/history.html |archive-date=21 December 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the immediate postwar years, Handley Page modified some O/400's for passenger use, which they flew on the London-Paris route as [[Handley Page Transport]]. The V/1500 was considered too large to be practical at the time, but many design features of the V/1500 were later incorporated into an O/400 airframe to produce their first dedicated passenger design, the [[Handley Page W.8|W.8]]<ref name="Graces" /> that led to a series of similar airliners, fitted with two or three engines, which, aside from being used by Handley Page Transport, were also exported to Belgium.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}} In 1924 Handley Page Transport merged with two other airlines to create [[Imperial Airways]], as the UK's national airline service, which continued to use a number of the W.8, W.9 and W.10 series of airliners. Handley Page continued to develop large [[biplane]] airliners, including the luxurious [[Handley Page H.P.42]], for use on [[British Empire|Imperial]] routes to Africa and India.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}} Handley Page developed the [[Leading edge slats|Handley Page Slat]] (or slot), an auxiliary airfoil mounted ahead and above the wing, which formed a narrow gap which improved airflow at high [[angle of attack|angles of attack]] and improved low-speed handling.<ref>F. Handley Page [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1921/1921%20-%200844.html "Developments In Aircraft Design By The Use Of Slotted Wings"] ''FLIGHT'', 22 December 1921, page 844 and page 845</ref> The leading edge slat was simultaneously designed by the German aerodynamicist [[Gustav Lachmann]], who was later employed by Handley Page. The design was so successful that licensing fees to other companies were their main source of income in the early 1920s. [[File:Handley page.jpg|thumb|HP [[preference share]] certificate, 1927]] In 1929, Cricklewood Aerodrome was closed and Handley Page moved the aircraft final assembly to [[Radlett Aerodrome]]. Cricklewood Aerodrome was taken over by [[Cricklewood Studios]], the largest film studio in the UK at that time. Manufacture of aircraft parts and sub-assemblies continued until 1964 at Cricklewood when the remainder of the site was sold off and a [[Wickes]] home renovation store currently occupies the site.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}} ===World War II=== With the [[Second World War]] looming, Handley Page designed and produced the [[Handley Page Hampden|HP.52 Hampden]] bomber, which took part in the first British raid on Berlin. In response to a 1936 government request for heavier, longer ranged aircraft, Handley Page tendered the HP.56 design powered by twin [[Rolls-Royce Vulture]]s and this was ordered, along with what became the [[Avro Manchester]]. However the Vulture proved so troublesome that β years before the engine was abandoned by [[Rolls-Royce Limited|Rolls-Royce]] in 1940 β the Air Staff decided that the HP.56 should be fitted with four engines instead. Therefore, before reaching the prototype stage, the HP.56 design was reworked into the four-engined [[Handley-Page Halifax|HP.57 Halifax]].<ref>Buttler p102-104</ref> The Halifax became the second most-prolific British heavy bomber of the war after the [[Avro Lancaster]] (itself essentially a four-engine development of the Manchester). Although in some respects (such as crew survivability) better than the Lancaster, the Halifax suffered in terms of altitude performance<ref>Buttler p129</ref> and was redeployed toward the end of the war as a heavy transport and glider tug, with several variants being specifically built as such, including the HP.70 Halton. ===Postwar=== {{Unreferenced section|date=December 2021}} After the war, the British Government sought tenders for jet bombers to carry the nation's [[nuclear deterrent]]. The three types produced were known as the [[V bomber|V-Bomber]]s, and Handley Page's contribution was the [[Handley Page Victor|HP.80 Victor]], a four-engined, crescent-winged design. This aircraft remained in service (as a [[tanker aircraft]]) well beyond the demise of the company which created it. In 1947 Handley Page bought some of the assets of the bankrupt [[Miles Aircraft]] company. These assets include existing designs, tools and jigs, most notably for the [[Miles M.52]] supersonic research aircraft, and the Miles site at [[Woodley, Berkshire|Woodley]], near Reading. The operation was named '''Handley Page (Reading) Ltd''', a company constituted to buy and operate the assets formed out of the inactive [[Handley Page Transport]] Ltd. The most significant of the inherited designs became the [[Handley Page Herald|Herald]] airliner. Designs from the Reading site used the initials HPR ("Handley Page (Reading)"). ===Demise=== Unlike other large British aircraft manufacturers, Handley Page resisted the government's pressure to merge into larger entities. By the late 1960s, the British aviation industry was dominated by two companies: [[Hawker Siddeley]] and the [[British Aircraft Corporation]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}} Unable to compete for government orders or build large commercial aircraft, Handley Page produced its final notable Handley Page design, the [[Handley Page Jetstream|Jetstream]]. This was a small [[turboprop]]-powered commuter aircraft, with a [[cabin pressurisation|pressurised cabin]] and a passenger capacity of 12 to 18. It was designed primarily for the United States "[[feederliner]]" market.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}} Although successful, Jetstream was too late to save Handley Page, and the company went into [[voluntary liquidation]] in March 1970 and was wound up after 61 years trading under the same name. The Jetstream lived on, the design being purchased and produced by [[Scottish Aviation]] at [[Prestwick]], continuing after the company was bought by [[British Aerospace]] in 1977.{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}}
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