Handley Page Type O Aircraft History
When the twin engine Handley Page Type O biplane heavy bomber entered service with the British RFC in 1916, it was one of the largest aircraft ever built, and certainly the largest that had been built in the either the United Kingdom or the United States of America. Part of the design requirement was that the aircraft was to be a "bloody paralyser of an aircraft".

Handley Page Type O Production
A total of 600 Handley Page Type O bombers were built and, once they entered service with the RFC during WW1, led to the American forces requesting that their own aircraft manufacturers produce something similar for strategic bombing, Martin responded with their MB-1 heavy bomber, but most orders for the aircraft were cancelled once it became clear that WW1 was coming to an end.

Handley Page Type O RFC and RAF Service
The Handley Page Type O bomber served with the RFC and then the RAF from 1916 until 1922, when it was replaced by the famous Vickers Vimy heavy bomber, which had far greater effective range.

Handley Page Type O Bomber Storage
The Type O bomber was a very large aircraft by the standards of the day so existing aircraft hangers were just to small! Handley Page's solution was to design the Type O bomber so that their wings could be folded back parallel to the fuselage (the hinge was placed just outboard of the engines), this resulted in it being no wider than existing fixed wing designs.

US Built Handley Page Type O Bombers
Of the 600 Handley Page Type O heavy bombers built, over a hundred were built by the Standard Aircraft Corporation in the USA. These were basically the same as the British built aircraft apart from being powered by American Liberty L-12 engines.

Various scale models, model kits and plans of this aircraft have been available in the market place.

Handley Page Type O Biplane Specifications:

Handley Page Type O Crew: 4 or 5
Handley Page Type O Length: 62 ft 10¼ in (19.16 m)
Handley Page Type O Wingspan: 100 ft (30.48 m)
Handley Page Type O Height: 22 ft (6.71 m)
Handley Page Type O Empty weight: 8,502 lb (3,856 kg)
Handley Page Type O Maximum takeoff weight: 13,360 lb (6,060 kg)
Handley Page Type O Engines: Twin 360 hp (268 kW) Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII inline piston engines
Handley Page Type O Maximum speed: 97.5 mph (157 km/h)
Handley Page Type O Range: 700 mi (1,120 km)
Handley Page Type O Service ceiling: 8,500 ft (2,600 m)
Handley Page Type O Endurance: 8 hours

Handley Page Type O Bomber Armament:

Bombs:
Up to a maximum of 2,000 lb (907 kg)

Guns:
5 x 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Guns (Two on Scarff rings mounted in the nose , two on dorsal positions and one at the ventral hatch)