Fairey Hendon

The Story of Fairey Hendon

1927 Department of Aviation Specification B. 19/27 was finally (more or less) satisfied by two competing products - Handley Page Heyford and Fairey Hendon. The requirement called for a heavy twin-engine night bomber capable of flying at 115 miles per hour while carrying a wartime load of 1,546 pounds to 920 miles.

While Hendon was officially declared the winner (beating out entries from Avro, Bristol and Vickers), delays in production forced the Air Department to also accept the Handley Page Heyford - Heyford produced more numbers than the winning Hendon.

Fairey Hendon supplied the RAF with their first all-metal low-wing bomber (Heyford was a biplane, the last of its kind in service). Engineering work has resulted in a true interwar design that blends modern qualities with those of a bygone aviation era - open-air cockpit, fixed main landing gear struts painted and more. Each wing is fitted with a motor and the tail uses a dual rudder method. Inside, a tubular steel frame was built and covered with fabric.

The fifth crew consisted of a pilot, a radio operator/navigator and three dedicated machine gunners - single 7.7mm cannon mounted in nose, dorsal and stern positions. The bomb load totaled 1,660 pounds and was placed in a centrally located bay.

The prototype was named "K1695" and ran under the internal designation "Fairey Night Bomber" for partial development. The first flight took place over Heathrow Airport on November 25, 1930, with Bristol "Jupiter VIII" series air-cooled radial piston engines producing 460 hp each. However, a prototype crashed during a test flight in March 1931, severely hampering development - prompting officials to consider rival Handley Page Heyford.

The badly damaged prototype was rebuilt and now flies with 2 Rolls-Royce Kestrel VI engines instead of the Bristol modification seen earlier.

In this form, the bomber passed the test phase and 14 examples of this type were ordered. As the prototype was recognized as the "Hendon Mk. I", the production model became the "Hendon Mk. II" and appeared in 1936-1937 (these eventually had enclosed crew positions). At this point, attention turned to the more modern Armstrong Whitworth Whitley heavy bomber, which was in development at the time, which would take over the roles of Hunton and Hayford.

As a result, the order for 60 Hendons was cancelled and the purchase of Heyfords instead was made as an interim measure.

No. In November 1936, the 38th Squadron became the sole operator of Hendons, taking over from Heyford's stock. Like Hayford, the Hendon was declared obsolete before World War II and was replaced by the Vickers Wellington bomber in late 1938.

Formal retirement began in early 1939, when Hendons joined Heyfords as a training/teaching tool.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes