Price: £85.00

Handley Page Halifax BVI

Developed to fulfil the same specification as the Avro Manchester, the HP57 Halifax was also intended to be powered by two Rolls Royce Vultures. Due to the obvious problems with the Vulture the decision was made in 1937 to switch to four Rolls Royce Merlins. The first prototype Halifax first flew in 1939 and the first production example the following year, with the first operational sortie in March 1941 against Le Havre.

Although the new bomber was superior to the RAF's other heavy bomber of the period, the Short Stirling, serious shortcomings began to manifest themselves. The Halifax from the outset was considered to be somewhat underpowered and as the weight increased according to operational circumstance Halifax losses started to rise alarmingly. An emergency weight and drag reduction programme was set in train, removing the nose turret and replacing it eventually with a streamlined clear perspex nose. The original bulbous two gun dorsal turret was replaced with a snug fitting four gun Boulton-Paul turret. The original triangular fins under certain circumstances would stall, producing a fatal spin, so rectangular fins were designed which cured this problem. These problems were highlighted by the entry into service of the Avro Lancaster in 1942 which was quite obviously a superior heavy bomber.

Matters really came to a head during the Battle of Berlin from August 1943 to March 1944 when Bomber Command set out to destroy the German capital as an administrative and industrial centre. In August Bomber commands front line strength consisted of Halifax's and Lancaster's, but with a significant number of Short Stirlings which were verging on obsolescence but were still considered front line equipment. Very soon the Stirling squadrons were removed from the line of battle which was not surprising. However, after the withdrawl of the Stirling the Halifax squadrons also began to suffer crippling loss rates, as high as 18% on occasion and the Halifax more often than not was pulled from the front line leaving the Lancaster force to take the war to Berlin alone.

AVM Arthur Harris wanted an all Lancaster bomber force but with production capacity only just keeping up with losses switching from Halifax production to Lancaster production was not possible in the short term so Harris had to accept the Halifax. During 1943 the decision was made to re-engine the Halifax with the far more powerful Bristol Hercules radial engine. The increased power available to the Halifax III restored the aircrafts performance to a large extent and the Halifax remained in front line service as a heavy bomber until the end of the second world war although in diminishing numbers. The final bomber variant was the Halifax BVI which had extended wingtips and more powerful Bristol Hercules, entering service with Bomber Command in late 1944. Unlike the Avro Lancaster, which due to it's excellence as a heavy bomber specialised in that role, the Halifax was far more versatile, being used for transport, "special operations", assault glider towing, maritime patrol, and it was the the only British heavy bomber to be used in the near and far east.

The Handley Page Halifax has, since 1945 always lived in the shadow of the Avro Lancaster. It's total bomb load was always less than the Avro Lancaster, nor could it carry the range of stores, and in spite of continual development its performance never really reached that of the Lancaster, (poor altitude performance relative to the Lancaster was the problem). Having said that, it was the first successful four engined heavy bomber of world war 2, and it seems to me that the Halifax was not a bad aeroplane at all, just not as good as a Lancaster and the Lancaster was a very special aeroplane indeed. All in all 6,178 Halifax's were produced and with the Avro Lancaster took the war to Germany in the heaviest and most sustained bombing offensive in history

Performance, Halifax BVI

A top speed of 309 mph at 19,500 ft
Weight: 65,000 lb's fully loaded.
Powerplant: Four Bristol Hercules 100's of of 1800 HP each
Armament: Max bomb load of 13,000 lb's