Handley Page, Frederick (1885-1962)

English aeronautical engineer who designed the first large bomber in 1915. His company produced a series of military aircraft, including the Halifax bomber in World War II. Knighted 1942.

Handley Page was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. By the age of 21 he was chief designer of an electrical company, but in 1908 he set up as an aeronautical engineer and a year later, with a capital of £10,000, he established the first private British company of this kind, in Barking, Essex.

The outbreak of World War I led to his design of the first two-engined bomber, enlarged before the end of the war into a four-engined bomber with a fully laden weight of 13 tonnes.

Handley Page then turned to civil aviation, but found this not to be viable without government subsidies, and these were only to be had when the Handley Page airline merged with Imperial Airways, the forerunner of BOAC (now part of British Airways).

In 1930, Handley Page produced the first 40-seat airliner, the Hercules, a four-engined plane.

During World War II Handley Page produced the Halifax, of which 7,000 were constructed. Work on the bomber continued after the end of the war, resulting in a four-engined jet of unusual design, the Victor, which made its first flight in 1952.