FR Handley Page Halifax WIP

[wells]

Awesome! I'll be all over this one!

 

[dhasdell]

The Halifax was supposed to be much easier for the pilot to get out of in an emergency than the Lancaster

Unfortunately I can't remember where it was, but somewhere I've seen a comparison of survival rates of crew members of shot down Lancasters and Halifaxes. All too often the rear gunner was the only survivor from a Lancaster.

 

[Paul K]

Actually Mike The Lancaster was a derivative of the Avro Manchester. Lack of power and performance forced Avro to redesign the Manchester by extending the wingspan to 102ft and adding 4 Rolls Royce Merlin engines although a mark of the Lancaster retained the Bristol Hercules engines.

Not to pre-empt Mike, ( and I'm sure he's as aware of the Manchester as any of us ) - I think what he means is that the Lancaster was a success from the day the prototype first flew, whereas the Halifax suffered from performance and aerodynamic problems, and was developed through a number of marks before it evolved into the B.Mk III. The latter was considered to be every bit as capable as the Lancaster ( more so, according to some ), but it took time to get there. The Lancaster, on the other hand, was a success from day one.

Just for info, it was the Mk. II Lancaster that was fitted with Hercules engines, though it was not something retained from an earlier version.

 

[SSI01]

I read somewhere those Mk IIs went mostly to No. 6 (Canadian) group.

In a biography of Harris I've got somewhere, I remember him writing the Halifax was what he termed "a typical Handley-Page product," whatever that meant. I know he had earlier experience with fixed-undercarriage HP bomber products so maybe he was transferring his opinion from the older to the new product. I know the earlier marks had stability problems with the smaller rudders plus the slightly shorter wing with the rounded tips.

Interestingly, the Manchester suffered from a rather poor power plant, the RR Vulture engine. Supposed to have been prone to running hot, and to fires. That's something that was a rarity, I suppose - a RR engine that wasn't up to snuff.

Gibson flew the aircraft for a while, but I can't remember if he wrote or said anything about it. "Enemy Coast Ahead" AFAIK covers only his operations flying HP Hampdens.

 

[dhasdell]

Gibson flew the aircraft for a while, but I can't remember if he wrote or said anything about it. "Enemy Coast Ahead" AFAIK covers only his operations flying HP Hampdens

No, It covers Hampdens, Beaufighters, Manchesters and Lancasters including the Dams Raid, but with little specific detail for security reasons.

 

[stiz]

few things to note - the Halifax had to make do engines it wasn't designed for, it was planned for it to have the same merlin engines as spitfires and hurricanes had, but due to being told "no chance" it had to make do with weaker engines, eventually leading to the dumping of the merlins altogether. The lanc got the engines it wanted and was designed for from day 1 because by then then we were making enough! Also from pilots accounts the issue with the tail depended on pilot experience, those who knew about it didnt think it was a problem, but it caught out the lesser experienced pilots. It was also easier to survive a halifax crash because it tended to break apart into sections and you could actually move about in it, unlike the lanc, where it was very tight inside.

The Manchester's were just an utter failure by all accounts, flew horribly and spent more time having its engines fixed than flying!

Also, the Halifax cockpit WAS roomier than the lanc, having been in one it is actually very spacious and very easy to move around in, you do step rather than crawl and can pretty much stand upright

As to harris .. he only liked the lanc because it could carry more bombs further, and thats all that mattered to him, he didnt give tuppence to anything else!

 

[BendyFlyer]

Heads up for those interested, latest pictures updating progress on the Halifax posted over on the Flight Replicas Facebook page. Looking very good at this stage.

 

[mike_cyul]

Thanks, Bendy.

And here are a few more new screenshots, as the dedicated BOAC version is now complete.

Keep in mind that everything is still a work in progress, however!

After this, it'll be on to making more textures for the wartime Mk.III's.

 

[mike_cyul]

Mike

 

[Roger]

Excellent Mike!

 

[WarHorse47]

Thanks, Mike.

I really appreciate the updates and screenshots. Beautiful work so far. Definitely on my "must get" list.

 

[thunderstreak]

Thanks for the updates. Really looking forward to flying this one!

 

[txnetcop]

Thanks for the update Mike...that is one beautiful cockpit!
Ted

 

[Seahawk72s]

Over the top detail.. As has been said a must have..!

 

[stiz]

she's a beauty all right !!

fancy sticking merlins on her so we can do MK2 Srs 1a schemes?

 

[YoYo]

Any news? Release date/status?
Will it work with P3Dv4?

 

[IanHenry]

Here's an interesting little film looking around the interior of the Halifax:

Rgards,
Ian

 

[IanP]

Mike: You mentioned you're getting on with wartime paints - is there any chance of an Elvington based one (Friday the 13th, for example) to go with the scenery I just updated, please?

Cheers,

Ian P.

 

[mike_cyul]

Any news? Release date/status?
Will it work with P3Dv4?

Sorry, I'm just being slow with things (plus it's summer and am trying to spend more time outdoors!). The Halifax is done except for one item, and I've started to build the website pages for the release. If all goes well, I expect it to be out within the next couple of weeks.

And yes, works in all versions of FSX and P3D.

 

[mike_cyul]

Mike: You mentioned you're getting on with wartime paints - is there any chance of an Elvington based one (Friday the 13th, for example) to go with the scenery I just updated, please?

Cheers,

Ian P.

Hi Ian. Looking forward to seeing your airfields. As for airfield-specific paint schemes, there's a paint kit with the Halifax and it should be a relatively easy job to make specific aircraft if there's not one that matches.