HPH | Air-Britain Books | Handley Page Hermes - A Very British Airliner Tony Merton-Jones

Handley Page Hermes - A Very British Airliner
Tony Merton-Jones

Developed to ply the world’s post-war air routes, the Hermes was a handsome challenger that suffered from a number of problems that would plague its success. Loss of the prototype on its maiden flight in 1945 slowed the programme, and when the production version emerged, a change of undercarriage to nosewheel configuration and Sir Frederick Handley Page’s insistence that every component should be of British origin led to further delays. Nevertheless, in July 1950 BOAC unveiled the airliner to take over African routes from Short Solent flying-boats. Twenty-five aircraft were ordered by BOAC, although several heavy aircraft were rejected by the Corporation. Detailed research at the British Airways Heritage Centre has revealed the extraordinary efforts made by BOAC to improve the performance of the aircraft. Withdrawn from service as early as 1954, a handful of Hermes were granted a brief reprieve by BOAC following the Comet grounding, but by the end of that year the entire fleet was offered for sale. Airwork, which took delivery of several heavy airframes in 1952, was joined by Britavia and Skyways on the trooping runs for which the Hermes became famous. Later operators included Silver City, Air Safaris, Falcon Airways and Air Links, and overseas leases to Kuwait Airways and Middle East Airlines. There is extensive consideration of all these airlines’ services.

The author has secured a remarkable number of superb photographs, many not seen in print before, and correspondence between BOAC, Handley Page and the Government over the problems with the Hermes. There are six evocative colour side views of Hermes’ operators from the 1950s. As usual with Air-Britain books, there is a full production history, a comprehensive bibliography and a detailed analysis of the accidents suffered by the type. This book features all variants, including the turboprop-powered Hermes 5 and the development work undertaken by the Hermes 2, which became the last Hermes to fly.

A4 softback, 134 pages, 213 images in both black & white and colour, 6 colour side views, and general arrangement drawing.