Handley Page HP.14

HP.14 / Type R/200
Role	Carrier Based Reconnaissance Aircraft
Manufacturer	Handley Page
First flight	1917
Status	Prototype
Number built	3

The Handley Page HP.14, also designated Handley Page R/200 was a prototype British naval reconnaissance aircraft of World War I, capable of operating from the decks of the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers or as a floatplane. Only three were built, the Parnall Panther being preferred.

Design and development

The R/200 was designed in 1917 to meet an Admiralty requirement for a two-seat reconnaissance fighter capable of operating either as a floatplane or from the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers, the flush deck HMS Argus and the partly converted cruiser HMS Furious. The R/200 was a small single-bay biplane powered by a 200 hp (149 kW) geared Hispano-Suiza 8 V-8 engine with a frontal radiator. Handley Page received an order for six prototypes in summer 1917.^[1]

The first two prototypes, fitted with floats were flown in December 1917, with the third prototype, fitted with a wheeled undercarriage flying in February 1918. Test results were poorer than the competing Parnall Panther, and as Handley Page was concentrating on production and development of the O/400 and V/1500 heavy bombers, the remaining three prototypes, together with a prospective production order for 20 aircraft were cancelled in March 1918.^[2]

Specifications (R/200) (landplane)

Data from Handley Page Aircraft Since 1907 ^[3]

General characteristics

• Length: 25 ft 6 in (7.74 m)
• Wingspan: 36 ft 0 in (10.98 m)
• Height: 10 ft 9½ in^[4] (3.29 m)
• Wing area: 390 ft² (36.2 m²)
• Empty weight: 1,882 lb (855 kg)
• Max. takeoff weight: 2,990 lb (1,360 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Hispano-Suiza 8 water-cooled V-8, 200 hp (149 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 83 knots (95 mph,^[4] 153 km/h) at 6,500 ft (1,980 m)
• Service ceiling: 12,000 ft (3,660 m)
• Wing loading: 7.67 lb/ft² (37.6 kg/m²)
• Power/mass: 0.067 hp/lb (0.11 kW/kg)
  
• Clomb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 29 min 30 s^[4]

Armament

• Guns: one .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Parnall Panther
• Port Victoria Grain Griffin

References

1. Barnes 1976, pp. 117-118.
2. Barnes 1976, pp. 120-121.
3. Barnes 1976, p.121.
4. Bruce 1957, p. 280.

• Barnes, C. H. Handley Page Aircraft Since 1907. London: Putnam, 1976. ISBN 0-370-00030-7.
• Bruce, J.M. British Aeroplanes 1914–18. London:Putnam, 1957.

External links

• British Aircraft Directory R/200