title: Handley Page Hendon
text: # Handley Page Hendon
  
  The Handley Page Hendon was a British torpedo bomber of the 1920s. A two-seat development of Handley Page's earlier single-seat Hanley, the Hendon was a single-engine biplane. While six aircraft were purchased by the British Air Ministry for evaluation and trials purposes, no further production ensued and the Hendon did not enter squadron service.
  
  ## Development and design
  
  While the single-seat Handley Page Hanley had lost to the similar Blackburn Dart in fulfilling the requirements for a carrier-based torpedo bomber to equip Britain's Fleet Air Arm, it was recognised by both Handley Page and the Air Ministry that a two-seat aircraft would be more useful both for operational purposes and for experimental work. An order was therefore placed on 27 November 1923 for six two-seat derivatives of the Hanley III, designated the Type Ta (later known as the H.P.25) or Handley Page Hendon to meet the requirements of Air Ministry Specification 25/23 for an interim torpedo bomber.
  
  The first of the six aircraft to fly, (serial N9724) flew on 7 July 1924, with the remaining five flying by September. It had a longer fuselage to accommodate the observer, who was provided with a .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Gun on a Scarff ring mounting, but initially, was similar to the Hanley III. Tests showed that it was tailheavy when carrying a torpedo, the outer wings being swept back by six degrees to avoid this.
  
  ## Operational history
  
  The six Hendons were used for extensive trials to investigate various configurations of leading edge slots/slats. These allowed one aircraft to successfully land on HMS Furious while carrying a torpedo and without using arrestor gear. No further production occurred, the development of automatic slots in October 1927 making the Hendon obsolete.
  
  ## Variants
  
  ### Hendon I
  
      Initial configuration. Leading edge slots as Hanley III. Six built.
  
  ### Hendon II
  
      Improved slot gear. Three converted.
  
  ### Hendon III
  
      Slotted Flaps. One converted from Hendon II.
  
  ## Specifications (Hendon)
  
  Data from Handley Page Aircraft since 1907.
  
  General characteristics
  
  * Crew: 2
  * Length: 36 ft 6 in (11.13 m)
  * Wingspan: 46 ft 0 in (14.02 m)
  * Height: 13 ft 8 in (4.17 m)
  * Wing area: 562 sq ft (52.2 $m^2)$
  * Empty weight: 4,350 lb (1,973 kg)
  * Gross weight: 6,970 lb (3,162 kg)
  * Powerplant: 2 × Napier Lion IIB W-12 water-cooled piston engine, 450 hp (340 kW) each
  * Propellers: 2-bladed fixed-pitch propeller
  
  Performance
  
  * Maximum speed: 110 mph (180 km/h, 96 kn)
  * Stall speed: 55 mph (89 km/h, 48 kn)
  * Service ceiling: 9,500 ft (2,900 m)
  * Wing loading: 12.4 lb/sq ft (61 $kg/m^2)$
  * Power/mass: 0.065 hp/lb (0.107 kW/kg)
  
  Armament
  
  * Guns: 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) forward firing Vickers machine gun and 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun in rear cockpit
  * Bombs: 1 × 18 in (457 mm) torpedo or 2 × 230 lb (105 kg) bombs
  