Fly Past

32 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION BOMBERS

FAIREY HENDON

Right

A crew boarding a

Hendon at Marham

in May 1938 for the

benefi t of the press.

Below right

Identifi able by the

stepped-up rear

glazing, dual-control

Hendon K5094 was

delivered to 38

Squadron in February

1937. This aircraft
      was wrecked in an
      unauthorised take-off
      in November 1938. KEC

1936 TO 1938

HENDON

FAIREY

1918 2018

A

bit of ‘float’ on approach

• easily done with that
  big cantilever monoplane
  wing – and the prototype Fairey
  Night Bomber overran on landing.
  Nobody was hurt and the big, all-
  metal, airframe would repair. Tests
  up to that point on March 15, 1931
  had revealed several shortcomings
  and the opportunity was taken to
  include several major changes.
  This was a gamble, the prototype
  Handley Page Heyford had flown
  for the first time in June 1930 and
  the lead Fairey had established over
  its rival was being eroded.
  Fairey chief test pilot Norman
  Macmillan had taken the prototype,
  K1695, for its maiden flight on
  November 25, 1930. With him was
  David Hollis Williams, the bomber’s
  chief designer, acting as observer. No
  matter how ‘safe’ a new aircraft might
  appear, test flying was never without
  danger. Should something have gone
  drastically wrong, losing the prototype
  would have been bad enough, but to
  be left without its designer and a very
  experienced pilot might have been
  catastrophic for Fairey.
  From the factory at Hayes in
  Middlesex, Fairey’s products had
  previously been taken by road to
  Northolt for test flying. In 1929
  the RAF requested the company
  found somewhere else and land was
  acquired at Harmondsworth and
  London’s Great West Aerodrome
  was created. Today, the site is lost
  within the vast concrete jungle that
  is Heathrow Airport.

REBUILD AND RETHINK

In terms of design it was a major

departure for Fairey, and turned

out to be the largest original design

ever built by the company. The

Air Ministry was hoping to place

three-figure orders for what would

be the RAF’s first monoplane heavy

bomber, so the risk was worth it.

A new factory at Heaton Chapel,

Stockport was opened to help

with the likely expansion. Maiden

flights took place from Manchester’s

municipal airport, Barton.

The Fairey Night Bomber (it

was not until October 1934 that

it adopted the name Hendon) set

the format of all the monoplane

‘heavies’ that served with the RAF

through World War Two. The

fuselage was deep enough for a large

bomb bay that could accommodate

two of the RAF’s latest weapon, the

1,000-pounder.

There were three turrets, manually

operated in the Hendon’s case, in

nose, dorsal and tail positions. The

cockpit was off-set to port to allow

access to the front gun and the bomb

aiming position in the extreme nose.

The rethink of the prototype was

comprehensive and costly. The 525hp

(391kW) Bristol Jupiter radials were

replaced with Rolls-Royce Kestrels.

The wing’s aerofoil section was

changed and rods instead of cables

(which stretched) actuated the flying

controls. All of this involved major

re-engineering work.

A retrograde step removed the

original enclosed canopy for the

pilot and navigator, replacing it with

open cockpits. For the production

examples the canopy was reinstated.

A handful were finished as dual-

control trainers, recognisable by

the stepped-up rear portion of the

canopy.

The much-rebuilt prototype

took to the air again on November

13, 1931. Despite the changes,

evaluation at the Aeroplane

and Armament Experimental

Establishment at Martlesham Heath

favoured the Heyford. The Handley

The Fairey Night Bomber (it

was not until October 1934 that