Copyright 2009 by Brandon Cope
 
 

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Handley Page H.P. 52 Hampden medium bomber

The Hampden was a twin-engine, twin-rudder medium bomber of somewhat fragile appearance, due to the pencil-thin tail section and very narrow fuselage (giving it the nickname of "the flying suitcase" due to the cramped crew conditions). The Hampden entered service with the RAF in 1938 and remained on the front line until mid-1942. Over 1,400 Mark I's were built. Aside from the RAF, they were also used by Canada and Australia.

The Hampden has a crew of four: Pilot (who also fired the fixed nose Browning), bombardier (who also operated the Vickers nose gun), navigator/dorsal gunner, and radio operator/ventral gunner. The Hampden uses 66 gallons of aviation fuel per hour at routine usage.

Subassemblies: Medium Fighter-Bomber chassis +4, Heavy Fighter-Bomber Wings +3, 2xLarge Weapon Engine Pods +2, three retractable wheels +1.
Powertrain: 2x731-kW aerial HP gasoline engines [Pods] with 2x731-kW props, and 785-gallon standard fuel tanks [Body and Wings], 8,000-kw batteries
Occupancy: 4 CS  Cargo: none.

Armor
All: 2/3

Weaponry
Aircraft LMG/Browning [Body:F] (500)
Aircraft LMG/Vickers "K" [Body:F] (480)
Aircraft LMG/Vickers "K" [Body:T] (480)
Aircraft LMG/Vickers "K" [Body:B] (480)
4x500-lb bombs [Body:U].

Equipment
Body: Large radio receiver and transmitter, navigation instruments, autopilot., bombsight, 4,000-lb bomb bay.

Statistics
Size: 69'x54'x15' Payload: 4.1 tons Lwt: 9.3 tons
Volume: 448
 Maint.: 34 hours Price: $31,000

HT: 9.
HP: 420 [body], 225 [each wing], 120 [each pod], 40 [each wheel]
 
aSpeed: 254
 aAccel: 5
 aDecel: 15
 aMR: 4
 aSR: 2
 Stall: 74

Design Notes
Design speed was 244 mph. The historical speed has been used, as well as the actual wing area (668 square feet). Wing cost, wt and HP were divided by two, while these chassis values were multiplied by two.

The plane could carry 4,000 lbs of bombs by reducing fuel to 485 gallons..

Some were fitted with a 500-lb hardpoint under each wing, but this required a light fuel loading.

The arc of fire for the dorsal and ventral guns was straight back and 45 degrees up (or down).

Variants
Starting in 1940, the number of "K" guns in the dorsal and ventral positions were doubled.

The Hampden TB Mk I was 141 Hampden Mk I's adapted to carry 18" torpedoes under the body and were used by Coastal Command until late 1943.

The two Mk II's used 820-kW engines.

The 100 Hereeford were basically the same as the Hampden, but built with unreliable 745-kW engines (aSpeed 265). They were used only for training.