A
s early as 1942 Sir Frederick
Handley Page, founder of Handley
Page at Radlett in Hertfordshire,
was considering a transport
version of the company’s Halifax bomber.
Despite lacking official support, the design
evolved by April 1944 to become the HP.67
Hastings with the new circular fuselage,
a lengthened version of the Halifax’s wing
and a single n. At the same time the Air
Ministry issued a speci cation for a new
transport which very closely matched the
HP.67 and Handley Page received a contract
to build it for the RAF.
A civilian counterpart, the HP.68 Hermes
based on the same design became an
obvious companion for the rm. Work
started on two Hermes prototypes in
February 1945, the rst, G-AGSS to be a
ying shell but the second, G-AGUB would
be a fully equipped airliner.
The Hermes’ wing span was 113ft (34.4m)
and the rst prototype’s length was 81ft 6in
(24.9m). It was powered by four Bristol
Hercules 100 engines. The maximum
fuel capacity was 2,570 gals (11,683 lits)giving a range of 2,000 miles (3,219km) at
an economical cruising speed of 240mph
(386km/h). There was provision for a crew of
ve: two pilots, a ight engineer, a wireless
operator and a navigator.
The Hermes had an inauspicious
entry into the world when the prototype
G-AGSS crashed during its maiden ight
on December 2, 1945. During taxiing runs
that day test pilot Jimmy Talbot complained
he was unable to raise the aircraft’s tail, so
some ballast was unloaded. Talbot and his
ight test observer set off again, the aircraft
bounced, the tail came up and the Hermes
took off, to the surprise of onlookers on the
ground, as it had not been intended for it to
make more than a few hops.
It then exhibited great instability
and began a series of worsening pitch
oscillations before stalling, reaching an
almost vertical attitude and crashing in a
eld, 3 miles (4.8km) south of Radlett. Both
crew were killed, and the aircraft destroyed.
It was considered that the accident was the
direct result of elevator overbalance, which
caused the pilot to lose control.SECOND PROTOTYPE
It had been the rm’s intention to develop
the Hermes ahead of the military Hastings,
but the loss of the G-AGSS led to a change
of plan. Work temporarily stopped on
the second prototype, G-AGUB, and was
concentrated on the Hastings which ew on
March 7, 1946. When the project restarted it
was decided to lengthen Uniform-Bravo by
13ft 4in (4m) equally fore and aft of the wing
and it was designated the HP.74 Hermes II
development aircraft.
The Hermes II took to the air at Radlett
on September 2, 1947 piloted by Handley
Page’s newly appointed chief test pilot, Sqn
Ldr Hedley ‘Hazel’ Hazelden. Initially powered
by Bristol Hercules 130 1,715hp (1,279kW)
powerplants, G-AGUB was exhibited in
September 1947 at the SBAC Air Show
held that year on its home air eld at Radlett.
Following initial trials, the Hermes II returned
to the factory to have its tailplane lowered (to
improve stability) and ew again on January
18, 1948. It served as a development aircraft
for the Hermes IV, testing the pressurisation,
air-conditioning and the sound-proo ng ofFROM HALIFAX
TO HERMES
Producing the Hermes propliner was a bold move by Handley Page
in war-torn 1940s Britain, but this important aircraft has largely
been overlooked by the history books. Stephen Skinner
gives an overview of a type that was ahead of its time.
78 Aviation News incorporating Jets July 201878-82_hermesDC.mfDCDC.indd 78 07/06/2018 12:16