Handley Page H.P.54 Harrow

what is it?

The Handley Page H.P.54 Harrow was a heavy bomber designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Handley Page. It was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and used during the Second World War, although not as a bomber. The Harrow was developed during the 1930s as a derivative of the Handley Page H.P.51, an unsuccessful monoplane bomber-transport hybrid.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · 27 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 322 km/htop speed
• size 10.4 tmax take-off weight
• built 100made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 90 years ago, in 1936.
• 🏎️Top speed is 2.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 27 m: about 6 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1936-10-10

introduced

1937

retired

1945

status

retired

number built

100

role

heavy bomber

makers

Handley Page

engines

2× Bristol Pegasus XX

crew

5

length

25 m

wingspan

27 m

height

5.9 m

max take-off weight

10.4 t

top speed

322 km/h

cruise speed

262 km/h

range

—

ceiling

6,949 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.