Handley Page Hastings
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| Hastings | |
|---|---|
 Hastings TG582, Christmas Island August 1956 |
|
| Type | transport |
| Manufacturer | Handley Page |
| Maiden flight | May 23 1946 |
| Introduced | September 1948 |
| Retired | 1977 (RAF) |
| Primary users | RAF RNZAF |
| Number built | 151 |
| Variants | Handley Page Hermes |
The Handley Page H.P.67 Hastings was a British troop-carrier and freight transport aircraft designed and built by Handley Page for the Royal Air Force. At the time it was the largest transport plane ever designed for the RAF, and it replaced the Avro York as the standard long-range transport.
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[edit] Design and development
Handley Page answer to meet an Air Staff Specification C.3/44 for a long-range general purpose transport was the H.P.67 Hastings. It was an all-metal low-wing cantilever monoplane with conventional tail unit. It had all-metal tapering dihedral wings and a circular fuselage suitable for pressurisation up to 5.5 lbf/in² (38 kPa). It had a retractable landing-gear and tailwheel. The Hastings was powered by four wing-mounted Bristol Hercules 101 radial piston engines. The Hastings prototype (TE580) first flew on the 7 May 1946. The first production aircraft (designated Hastings C1) entered service in October 1948. In-service the aircraft was operated by a crew of five and could accommodate either 30 paratroopers, 32 stretchers and 28 sitting casualties, 50 fully equipped troops or troops. A total of 147 aircraft were built for the Royal Air Force and four for the Royal New Zealand Air Force, a total of 151.
The RAF initial ordered 100 Hastings C1s but the last 6 were built as weather reconnaissance versions as the Hastings Met. Mk 1. Eight C1 aircraft were later converted to Hastings T5 trainers which were used for training the V-bomber crews; 3 at a time.
A civilian version of the Hastings was developed as the Handley Page Hermes. It was designed before the Hastings but the program was put on hold when the prototype crashed in 1945 and the company concentrated on the military Hastings variant.
[edit] Operational history
The two squadrons equipped with Hastings flew intensively during the Berlin Airlift, and a Hastings made the last sortie of the airlift on October 6, 1949. 100 Hastings C.Mk 1 and 41 Hastings C.Mk 2 were built, and they served on Transport Command's long-range routes until well after the arrival of the Bristol Britannia in 1959.
Hastings were also operated in New Zealand, where the Royal New Zealand Air Force's 40 Squadron flew the type until replaced by C130 Hercules in 1965. Four Hastings C.Mk 3 transport aircraft were built and supplied to the RNZAF. One crashed at RAAF Base Darwin and caused considerable damage to a water main, a railway and the road into the city. The other three were broken up at RNZAF Base Ohakea. During the period that the engines were having problems with their sleeve valves (lubricating oil difficulties) RNZAF personnel joked that the Hastings was the best three-engined aircraft in the world.
The Hastings was retired from Royal Air Force Transport Command in early 1968 when it was replaced by the Lockheed Hercules.
[edit] Variants
- HP.67 Hastings
- Prototype, two built.
- HP.67 Hastings C1
- Production aircraft with four Bristol Hercules 101 engines, 94 built all later converted to C1A and T5.
- HP. 67 Hastings C1A
- C1 rebuilt to C2 standard
- HP.67 Hastings Met.1
- Weather reconnaissance version for Coastal Command, six built.
- HP.67 Hastings C2
- Improved version with larger-area tailplane mounted lower on fuselage, increased fuel capacity and powered by Bristol Hercules 106 engines, 43 built and C1s were modified to the this standard as C1As.
- HP.95 Hastings C3
- Transport aircraft for the RNZAF, similar to C2 but had Bristol Hercules 737 engines, 4 built.
- HP.94 Hastings C4
- VIP transport version for four VIPs and staff, four built.
- HP.67 Hastings T5
- Eight C1s converted for RAF Bomber Command with ventral radome to train V bomber crews on the Navigation Bombing System
[edit] Operators
The only other nation to order the Hastings
- Royal New Zealand Air Force.
- No. 40 Squadron RNZAF
- No. 41 Squadron RNZAF
- Royal Air Force.
- No. 24 Squadron RAF
- No. 36 Squadron RAF
- No. 47 Squadron RAF
- No. 48 squadron RAF
- No. 51 Squadron RAF
- No. 53 squadron RAF
- No. 59 Squadron RAF
- No. 70 Squadron RAF
- No. 97 Squadron RAF
- No. 99 Squadron RAF
- No. 114 Squadron RAF
- No. 115 Squadron RAF
- No. 116 Squadron RAF
- No. 151 Squadron RAF
- No. 202 Squadron RAF
- No. 242 Squadron RAF
- No. 297 Squadron RAF
- No. 511 Squadron RAF
[edit] Survivors
Four Hastings are preserved in the UK and Germany:
- TG503 (T5) on display at the Alliiertenmuseum (Allied Museum), Berlin, Germany.
- TG511 (T5) on display at the RAF Museum Cosford, England.
- TG517 (T5) on display at the Newark Air Museum, Newark, England.
- TG528 (C1A) on display at the Imperial War Museum, Duxford, England.
The nose of a Hastings is preserved at Auckland's Museum of Transport and Technology.
[edit] Accidents and incidents
- 16 July 1949 Hastings TG611 lost control during takeoff at Berlin-Tegel Airport and dived into the ground due to incorrect tail trim, all five crew died.[1]
- 26 September 1949 Hastings TG499 lost the belly pannier which hit the tail causing the aircraft to crash, all three crew died.[2]
- 20 December 1950 Hastings TG574 lost a propeller in flight which hit the fuselage killing the co-pilot, the aircraft diverted to Benina, Libya and the aircraft flipped on to its back, total of five out of the seven crew killed but the 27 passengers (all "slip" crews returning)survived.[3]
- 19 March 1951 Hastings WD478 stalled on takeoff at RAF Strubby, 3 crew died.[4]
- 16 September 1952 Hastings WD492 had a Whiteout and crashed at Northice, Greenland. All the crew rescued by USAF Rescue at Thule,
- 12 January 1953 Hastings C1 TG602 crashed after takeoff when both elevator and the tailplane broke away, all 5 crew and 4 passengers died.[5]
- 22 June 1953 Hasting WJ335 stalled and crashed on takeoff at RAF Abingdon, the elevator control locks had been left engaged, all six crew died.[6]
- 2 March 1955 Hasting WD484 stalled and crashed on takeoff at RAF Boscombe Down due to the elevator controls being locked, all 4 crew died.[7]
- 13 September 1955 Hastings TG584 lost control attempting to overshoot at RAF Dishforth and crashed, 5 died.
- 29 May 1959 Hastings TG522 stalled and crashed on approach to Khartoum Airport, Sudan, after engine failure, all 5 crew died, 25 passengers survived.[8]
- 29 May 1961 Hastings WD497 stalled and crashed in Singapore after an engine lost power, 13 died.[9]
- 10 October 1961 Hastings WD498 stalled and crashed on takeoff from RAF El Adem, Libya after the pilot's seat slid back, 17 of the 37 occupants died.[10]
- 6 July 1965 Hastings C1A TG577, departing from RAF Abingdon on a Parachute Drop , crashed at Little Baldon, Oxfordshire, with the loss of 41 lives. The cause was metal fatigue of two of the elevator bolts.[1]
- All Hastings aircraft accidents
[edit] Specifications (C1)
General characteristics
- Crew: 5-6
- Capacity: 50 troops
- Length: 81 ft 3 in (24.8 m)
- Wingspan: 113 ft 0 in (34.5 m)
- Height: 22 ft 6 in (6.9 m)
- Wing area: 1,408 ft² (130.8 m²)
- Empty weight: 41,689 lb (18,910 kg)
- Loaded weight: 75,000 lb (34,010 kg)
- Powerplant: 4× Bristol Hercules 101, 1,675 hp (1,250 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 343 mph (at 21,500 ft) (552 km/h (at 6,550 m))
- Range: 2,850 miles (4,590 km)
- Service ceiling 26,700 ft (8,140 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,010 ft/min (310 m/min)
- Wing loading: 53.3 lb/ft² (260 kg/m²)
- Power/mass: 0.089 hp/lb (0.147 kW/kg)
[edit] Popular culture
TG602 appeared in the film "Paratroopers" starring Allan Ladd
[edit] See also
Related development Handley Page Hermes
Related lists List of aircraft of the RAF
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
[edit] Bibliography
- Barnes, C. H. Handley Page Aircraft Since 1907. London: Putnam & Company, Ltd., 1987.
- Clayton, Donald C. Handley Page, an Aircraft Album. Shepperton, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Ltd., 1969. ISBN 0-7110-0094-8.
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.
[edit] External links
- Hastings at British Aircraft Directory
- Hermes
- Berlin's Alliierten Museum, or Allied Museum, where a Hastings which served on the Berlin Airlift is preserved.
- The history of all the Handley Page Hastings Serial Numbers
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