The Handley Page Type S, or HPS-1 was a prototype
British carrier
Carrier may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Carrier'' (album), a 2013 album by The Dodos
* ''Carrier'' (board game), a South Pacific World War II board game
* ''Carrier'' (TV series), a ten-part documentary miniseries that aired on PBS in April 20 ...
-based fighter developed for the
United States Navy in the early 1920s. A low-wing
monoplane, it was unsuccessful, only two being built and flown.
Development and design
In 1921 the United States Navy drew up a specification for a single-seat fighter aircraft capable of operating either as a landplane from its aircraft carriers or from the water as a
seaplane, seeking designs from both American and European companies. The British aircraft manufacturer
Handley Page
Handley Page Limited was a British aerospace manufacturer. Founded by Frederick Handley Page (later Sir Frederick) in 1909, it was the United Kingdom's first publicly traded aircraft manufacturing company. It went into voluntary liquidation a ...
, which had recently developed the
leading edge slot, realised use of slots and
flaps could allow a high-speed monoplane to fly at the low speeds needed for carrier operations with a much higher
wing loading than a normal
biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
, and decided to develop an aircraft to meet this requirement. The resulting design, given the Handley Page designation Type S (and later retrospectively known as the H.P.21) was a small, low-wing
cantilever monoplane, with full-span leading edge slots and full-span slotted flaps. The airframe was a
plywood
Plywood is a material manufactured from thin layers or "plies" of wood veneer that are glued together with adjacent layers having their wood grain rotated up to 90 degrees to one another. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured ...
monocoque, with the fuselage capable of being broken into two sections for storage on board ship. It had a
tailwheel undercarriage that could be replaced by two floats. Although designed to use engines of up to 400 hp (298 kW), the prototypes were fitted with a much less powerful surplus
Bentley BR2 rotary engine.
[Barnes 1976, pp.230-232.][Mason 1992, p.170.]
The US Navy placed an order for three prototypes, designated HPS-1 (Handley Page Scout) in the contemporary US Navy designation system.
[Swanborough and Bowers 1976, p.485.] The first prototype flew on 7 September 1923, but proved to have poor handling, with the rudder proving to be ineffective.
[Barnes 1976, p.232.] The second prototype was built with its wings fitted with six degrees of
dihedral, flying in February 1924. It had much improved handling, and showed good speed at low level.
[Barnes 1976, p.237.] However, when undergoing full load trials for the US Navy at
Martlesham Heath, it was wrecked when its undercarriage collapsed on landing, and the US Navy cancelled the contract, with the third prototype, intended to be a
floatplane
A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...
, not completed.
Operators
;
*
United States Navy
Specifications (Type S)
See also
Notes
References
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{{USN scout aircraft
1920s British fighter aircraft
Type S
Rotary-engined aircraft
Low-wing aircraft