Handley Page Halifax – fotografie a videá

Komisia Handley Page Halifax was a Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its origins in the twin-engine HP56 proposal of the late 1930s, produced in response to the British Air Ministry’s Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for “world-wide use.” The HP56 was ordered as a backup to the Avro 679, both aircraft being designed to use the underperforming Rolls-Royce Vulture engine. The Handley Page design was altered at the Ministry to a four-engine arrangement powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine; the rival Avro 679 was produced as the twin-engine Avro Manchester which, while regarded as unsuccessful mainly due to the Vulture engine, was a direct predecessor of the famed Avro Lancaster. Both the Lancaster and the Halifax would emerge as capable four-engined strategic bombers, thousands of which would be built and operated by the RAF and several other services during the War.

Zdrojový: Handley Page Halifax na Wikipédii

Komisia Handley Page Halifax was a four-engined heavy bomber of the British Royal Air Force during the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to meet the same specification as the Avro Manchester, a twin-engine bomber that proved to be unreliable and underpowered. The Halifax used the more successful Rolls-Royce Merlin engines and had a larger wingspan and payload capacity than the Manchester. The Halifax made its first flight on 25 October 1939 and entered service with the RAF on 13 November 1940.
Halifax bol jedným z hlavných bombardérov Bomber Command, spolu s Lancasterom a Stirlingom. Vykonávala strategické bombardovacie misie proti Nemecku a okupovanej Európe, ako aj proti iným cieľom, ako sú ponorky, miesta zbraní V a ropné rafinérie. Halifax mal sedemčlennú posádku pozostávajúcu z pilota, letového inžiniera, navigátora, bombového aimera, bezdrôtového operátora a dvoch strelcov. Halifax bol vyzbrojený šiestimi alebo ôsmimi guľometmi .303 Browning v rôznych vežiach a mohol niesť až 5 897 kg bômb vo svojom vnútornom bombovom priestore.
Halifax prešiel počas svojej životnosti niekoľkými vylepšeniami a úpravami, ako sú výkonnejšie motory, lepšia obranná výzbroj, zvýšená kapacita paliva a zlepšená aerodynamika. Halifax okrem bombardovania vykonával aj iné úlohy, ako napríklad námornú hliadku, vlečenie klzákov, prepravu výsadkárov a zhadzovanie zásob. Halifax bol tiež používaný inými spojeneckými vzdušnými silami, ako sú Royal Canadian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force, Free French Air Force a Polish Air Force. Halifax bol vyradený zo služby RAF na konci vojny, potom, čo bol nahradený Avro Lincoln ako strategický bombardér. V rokoch 1940 až 1946 bolo postavených celkom 6 176 Halifaxov.