Handley Page Type A

Type A (HP.1) Bluebird

National origin: United Kingdom
Manufacturer: Handley Page
Designed by: Frederick Handley Page
First flight: 1910
Number built: 1

The Handley Page Type A sometimes called Bluebird (later designated HP.1) was the first powered aircraft designed and built by Frederick Handley Page.

Development

Following success in 1909 with an experimental glider Handley Page designed and built a single-seat monoplane. It was of wood construction with a tailskid landing gear and powered by a 20 hp (15 kW) Advance piston engine with a tractor propeller. It used a wing with a shape patented by José Weiss which was claimed to provide automatic lateral stability, so there were no ailerons or wing warping mechanisms. The Bluebird made a few straight hops on 26 May 1910, but crashed that day at the first attempt to make a turn. Handley Page improved the design to include lateral control via wing warping and fitted a 25 hp (18.6 kW) Alvaston piston engine. The rebuilt aircraft was designated Handley Page Type C but it refused to fly and was abandoned.

In 1924 the company retrospectively applied model numbers, the Type A became the HP.1 and the Type C the HP.3.

Variants

Type A (HP.1) Experimental monoplane powered by an Advance 4-cylinder engine, one built. Type C (HP.3) Type A improved and fitted with an Alvaston flat-twin engine.

Specifications

Data from Handley Page Aircraft since 1907

General characteristics

Crew: 1
Length: 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Wingspan: 32 ft 6 in (9.91 m)
Wing area: 150 ft² (13.9 m²)
Empty weight: 300 lb (136 kg)
Gross weight: 450 lb (205 kg)
Powerplant: 1 x— Advance air-cooled V4 engine, 20 hp (15 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed: 35 mph (56 km/h)

Bibliography

Barnes, C.H. (1976). Handley Page Aircraft since 1907. London: Putnam. ISBN 0 370 00030 7.
The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.

Handley Page Type A Pictures and Handley Page Type A for Sale.

Living Warbirds: The best warbirds DVD series.

Source: WikiPedia