Hampden Special.

London: Ian Allen Ltd., (1976). Quarto, full-color photo. illus. boards (hardcover), 64 pp. Former-owner bookplate; otherwise, Fine. From Introduction: In September 1939 RAF Bomber Command was in a transitional stage of development. Though merely three years old as an entity, the command was already seeking a massive bomber potential. Existing first-line aircraft in its squadrons were all twin-engined, medium range bombers awaiting eventual replacement by promised four-engined heavy bombers, such as the Short Stirling and Handley Page Halifax. Three major designs represented the RAF’s bomber spearhead then -- the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley, Vickers Armstrong Wellington, and the subject of this book, the Handley Page Hampden. All were at least six years old in concept; none was fully capable of delivering a sifnificant bomb load over any worthwile range of operations across Europe. And each was conceived originally in a contemporary climate of higher Service opinion that defensively-armed bombers could carry out daylight sorties without any need forr ancillary protection by escort fighters. When it first appeared the Hampden marked a considerable advance on existing RAF bomber designs. Long experienced in the manufacture of heavy bombers, the firm of Handley Page had finally rejected the biplane era in favour of all-metal monoplane projects. However, unlike its contemporary the immortal WEllington, the Hampden for all its bold unorthodoxy had -- to use a modernism -- built-in obslescence. Its fuselage construction and general layout left no room (literally) for further development. At the time this was not too important because plans for heavier replacement types of bomber were already in being. Unfortunately for the RAF, the Bomber Command in particular, World War 2 began before such replacements were anywhere near ready for issue to the squadrons. Thus the Hampden and its contemporaries, despite their age and near-obsolence, became vital weapons in the command’s armoury. That they ‘held the fort’ for the first two years of war operations until the arrival of the next generation of bombers, and then continued to give stalwart service in other spheres of operations is a remarkable tribute to their basic designs. IT was no less a tribute to te crews who had to implement out-dated tactical and strategic policies in aircraft mainly unsuited to their given tasks. It should never be fortotten that the finest aircraft design is little more than a neat, expensive heap of sophisticated metallugy without the vital spark of the men who fly and operate it. If this survey of the Hampden is of any value in paying an overdue accolade to the Hampden crews, it will have served its chief purpose. For this reason the bulk of my text is deliberately biased towards the operational use of the Hampden, the deeds it accomplished -- and most especially, the men who performed those deeds. With the wealth of pure technical data already published and/or readily available to the aviation archivist, I have included here simply the more important basic dat=a of production and flying performance. The few published accounts of Hapdens and their operational usage which have appeared to date have been, in the main, condensed versions. Perhaps this broader account will help to balance the record.