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Handley Page Halifax

🇬🇧 United Kingdom ·first flew 1939· heavy bomber

🎖️ military 4× piston retired
10 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
  1. 1. Halifax Bomber 6 ExCC: Wikimedia Commons· Public domain
  2. 2. 15 Handley Page Halifax (15833937961): San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives· Public domain
  3. 3. H.P. Halifax VIII G-AKEC LAC Ringway 18.02.50 edited-2: RuthAS· CC BY 3.0
  4. 4. Halifax-mk3: British official photographer· Public domain
  5. 5. Halifax HR792 at Yorkshire Air Museum Flickr 2554069651: Flickr user Chris Robertshaw : https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisrobertshaw· CC BY 2.0
  6. 6. Halifax NA337 at NAFMC 2015 above: JustSomePics· CC BY-SA 4.0
  7. 7. Halifax W1048 at RAF Museum London Flickr 2225201864: Daniel Perez Sutil : https://www.flickr.com/photos/danielhope· CC BY-SA 2.0
  8. 8. Halifax and Horsa take off from Cornwall for North Africa 1943: No. 295 Squadron RAF· Public domain
  9. 9. Halifax fuselage section, Newark Air Museum. (12154753934): Roland Turner from Birmingham, Great Britain· CC BY-SA 2.0
  10. 10. 15 Handley Page Halifax (15650664017): San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives· Public domain
Read about it on Wikipedia ↗
Handley Page Halifax, photo 1 of 10
1/10 Wikimedia Commons· Public domain

what is it?

The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force (RAF) four-engined heavy bomber of the Second World War. It was developed by Handley Page to the same specification as the contemporary twin-engine Avro Manchester. The Halifax has its origins in the twin-engine H.P.56 proposal of the late 1930s, produced in response to the British Air Ministry's Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use." The H.P.56 was ordered as a backup to the Avro 679, both aircraft being designed to use the Rolls-Royce Vulture engine.

How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · 31.8 m wingspan

base stats

  • speed 454 km/htop speed
  • range 3,000 kmwithout refuelling
  • size 29.5 tmax take-off weight
  • built 6,178made 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 87 years ago, in 1939.
  • Top speed is 3.5× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
  • Wingspan of 31.8 m: about 7 cars parked nose to tail.
  • Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 5 African elephants (~6 t each).
  • Range of 3,000 km: 17× Amsterdam to Brussels.

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

spec sheet

first flight
1939-10-25
introduced
1940
retired
1961
status
retired
number built
6,178
role
heavy bomber
origin
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
makers
English Electric, Handley Page
engines
4× Bristol Hercules XVI
crew
7
length
21.8 m
wingspan
31.8 m
height
6.3 m
max take-off weight
29.5 t
top speed
454 km/h
range
3,000 km
ceiling
7,315 m

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

Sources: Wikidata Q502034, Wikipedia: Handley Page Halifax (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.

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