British WWII's bombers

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Handley Page H.P.57 Halifax

Heavy bomber, less known than the Lancaster but almost as important. It was built both with Rolls-Royce Merlin liquid-cooled and Bristol Hercules radial engines. The Halifax was a mid-wing aircraft with twin fins and rudders and a fuselage of rectangular cross-section. Halifaxes flew 75532 missions during WWII. They were also used as glider tug and transport. A nickname was "Halibag".

General characteristics Halifax B Mk. III
Primary function	Heavy bomber
Power plant	Four Bristol Hercules XVI 14cylinder tworadial engines
Thrust	4x 1,650 HP		4x 1,230 kW
Wingspan	104 ft		31.75 m
Length	71.6 ft		21.82 m
Height	20.7 ft		6.32 m
Wingarea	1,275 sq ft		118.45 sq m
Weight	empty	38,240 lb	17,345 kg
	max.	65,000 lb	29,484 kg
Speed max.	311 mph		501 km/h
Initial climb rate	751 ft/min		229 m/min
Ceiling	24,000 ft		7,315 m
Range	1,261 mi		2,030 km
Armament	9x 7.7mm machine gun; 5,890 kg bombs
Crew	Seven
First flight	Prototype 25.3.1939
Date deployed	Halifax I		11.10.1940
	Halifax III		July 1943
Number built	6,176
Users	GB, Australia, France (FFL), Canada, New Zealand

Jirka Wagner