Handley Page Dart Herald

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HPR.7 Dart Herald

HPR 7 Herald G-ASKK preserved at the City of Norwich Aviation Museum
Type	airliner
Manufacturer	Handley Page, Reading
Maiden flight	August 25 1955

The Handley Page Herald was a 1950s British turboprop passenger aircraft.

1 Development
2 Variants
3 Specifications (Dart Herald 200)
4 Operators
- 4.1 Civil operators
- 4.2 Military Operators
5 References
6 External links
7 Related content

[edit] Development

In the early 1950s, Handley Page designed a new short-range passenger aircraft to replace the venerable Douglas DC-3. Known as the H.P.R.3 Herald, from Handley Page Reading - the former Miles Aircraft factory site which developed the design, the airplane was powered by four Alvis Leonides Major piston engines of 870 hp (650 kW) each, and its pressurized cabin could seat up to 44 passengers. The first "Herald" prototype, G-AODE, flew on August 25, 1955. Although Queensland Airlines, Australian National Airways, and Lloyd Aereo Colombiano had initially placed 29 orders, these were later cancelled with only the first prototype completed.

To recover the investment, Handley Page redesigned the airplane to use Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops. They also lengthened the fuselage by 20 inches (50.8 cm). With the first prototype flying in 1958. Now designated the H.P.R.7 Dart Herald, the new aircraft entered production in 1959. The first order being placed by BEA.

Only four of the Series 100 were built. Series 200 production, which featured a further 40 inch (1.07 m) stretch of the fuselage and corresponding increased weights, began in 1961. The first production model was delivered to Jersey Airlines in January 1962. However, by this point all sales momentum had been lost, and only 36 examples of this major production model were built. The Herald 400 "tactical transport" with side loading doors and a strengthened cabin floor was built only for the Royal Malaysian Air Force. A 60-seater series 700, powered by Dart 532's and having increased fuel and weights was cancelled and partially completed airframes were scrapped. The 50th, and last, Herald (a series 200 for Israel's Arkia) was flown and delivered in August 1968. Handley Page went into bankruptcy the following year.

The Herald's last ever passenger flight was operated by Air UK in 1985. Many continued on as freighters, but by 1999 only one remained in service, a series 400 with Channel Express, it was retired during that year.

[edit] Variants

Series 100 - first production version, 47 passenger capacity
Series 200 - 3 ft 7 in (1.09 m) fuselage extension to increase capacity to 56 passengers
Series 400 - military transport version of Series 200 for Royal Malaysian Air Force