Driftless
Donor
This thread inspired by one current thread (WI the Grumman FF designed.....)by Tomo Pauk, and one old thread (Handley Page Fighter) by the late Just Leo.
What if the 1922 Handley Page fighter prototype were built with a sturdier undercarriage from the get-go? Either the USN, or the RN pick it up on a limited run basis for either of their fledgeling carrier fleets
What if the 1922 Handley Page fighter prototype were built with a sturdier undercarriage from the get-go? Either the USN, or the RN pick it up on a limited run basis for either of their fledgeling carrier fleets
I am quite enamored of a forgotten prototype made by Handley Page for a US Navy contract, a cantilever monoplane naval fighter, from 1922. Two examples were built. The first had no dihedral and a poor, ineffective tail. The second model added the dihedral, and had a more effective, but very ugly tail. This aircraft achieved 146 mph with a 44 mph stall speed with a 230 hp. Bentley BR2 rotary engine, on a 29 foot and something wing span. That wing had full span slats and dlotted flaps. The undercarriage failed on a full weight landing test, and the US Navy backed off. What if they didn't, or someone else stepped in, like the Air Ministry, or the Admiralty? Could the monoplane have come 10 years or more sooner?
There also remains the question of names. So far, I seem to have Harpy.
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