page_title: Handley Page Halifax
section_title: Specifications (Mk III)
hierarchical_section_title: Handley Page Halifax / Specifications (Mk III)
caption_attribution_description: Photo ref; Nikon-D80-2013-DSC_0283 (Edited)
context_page_description: The Handley Page Halifax is a British Royal Air Force 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 HP56 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 HP56 was ordered as a backup to the Avro 679, both aircraft being designed to use the underperforming Rolls-Royce Vulture engine. The Handley Page design was altered at the Ministry to a four-engine arrangement powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine; the rival Avro 679 was produced as the twin-engine Avro Manchester which, while regarded as unsuccessful mainly due to the Vulture engine, was a direct predecessor of the famed Avro Lancaster. Both the Lancaster and the Halifax would emerge as capable four-engined strategic bombers, thousands of which would be built and operated by the RAF and several other services during the War.
  On 25 October 1939, the Halifax performed its maiden flight, and it entered service with the RAF on 13 November 1940.
context_section_description: Data from Halifax, Second to None, The Handley Page Halifax B.III, VI, VII
  General characteristics
  Crew: 7 (pilot, co-pilot/flight engineer, navigator, bomb aimer, radio operator/gunner, two gunners)
  Length: 71 ft 7 in (21.82 m)
  Wingspan: 104 ft 2 in (31.75 m)
  Height: 20 ft 9 in (6.32 m)
  Wing area: 1,190 sq ft (111 m²)
  Airfoil: root: NACA 23021; tip: NACA 23007
  Empty weight: 37,870 lb (17,178 kg)
  Gross weight: 54,400 lb (24,675 kg)
  Max takeoff weight: 65,000 lb (29,484 kg)
  Powerplant: 4 × Bristol Hercules XVI 14-cylinder air-cooled sleeve-valve radial piston engines, 1,615 hp (1,204 kW)  each
  Propellers: 3-bladed constant-speed propellers
  Performance
  Maximum speed: 282 mph (454 km/h, 245 kn) at 13,500 ft (4,100 m)
  Combat range: 1,860 mi (2,990 km, 1,620 nmi)
  Service ceiling: 24,000 ft (7,300 m)
  Rate of climb: 750 ft/min (3.8 m/s)
  Wing loading: 45.7 lb/sq ft (223 kg/m²)
  Power/mass: 0.12 hp/lb (0.20 kW/kg)
  Armament
  Guns: 8 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns (4 in dorsal turret, 4 in tail turret) and 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers K machine gun in the nose.
  Bombs: 13,000 lb (5,897 kg) of bombs
  Avionics
  H₂S PPI radar
caption: Fuselage section of a Halifax
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