File:Halifax-mk3.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Handley Page Halifax
Sign in to saveAlso known as HP Halifax
four-engine bomber aircraft family by Handley Page
Key facts
- Type
- Heavy bomber
- National origin
- United Kingdom
- Manufacturer
- Handley Page
- Status
- Retired
- Primary users
- Royal Air Force RCAF , RAAF , Free French Air Force
- Number built
- 6,178 including 2 H.P.57 prototypes
- Manufactured
- 1940–1946
- Introduction date
- 13 November 1940
- First flight
- 25 October 1939
- Retired
- 1961 ( Pakistan Air Force )
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- bomber
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Operator
- French Air Force
- Developer
- Handley Page
- Manufacturer
- English Electric
- Image
- Halifax Bomber 6 ExCC.jpg
- Height
- 6.32
- Length
- 21.82
Show 9 more facts
- Commons category
- Handley Page Halifax
- Commons gallery
- Handley Page Halifax
- first flight
- 1939-10-25
- service entry
- 1940-11-00
- total produced
- 6178
- service retirement
- 1961-00-00
- vehicle range
- 3000
- wingspan
- 31.75
- maximum operating altitude
- 7315
Sources (8)
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester.
The Halifax has its origins in the twin-engine H.P.56 proposal of the late 1930s, produced in response to the British Air Ministry's Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use." The H.P.56 was ordered as a backup to the Avro 679, both aircraft being designed to use the Rolls-Royce Vulture engine. The Handley Page design was altered to use four Rolls-Royce Merlin engines while the rival Avro 679 was produced as the twin-engine Avro Manchester which, while regarded as unsuccessful mainly due to the Vulture engine, was a direct predecessor of the Avro Lancaster. Both the Lancaster and the Halifax emerged as capable four-engine strategic bombers, thousands of which were used during the War.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Handley Page Halifax” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.