They held the distinction of being the largest airliners in regular use in the world upon the type's introduction in 1931. The H.P.42/45 were designed in response to a specification issued during 1928 by British airline Imperial Airways; the two models share considerable similarities, the H.P.42 being optimised towards greater range at the expense of payload while the H.P.45 had these priorities inverted, allowing the latter to carry more passengers over shorter distances. Imperial Airways approved of Handley Page's proposals and ordered four aircraft of the two variants to serve as the new land-based long-distance flagships of its fleet. On 14 November 1930, the prototype, named Hannibal, conducted its maiden flight. Following their introduction into Imperial Airways, they formed the backbone of the airliner's land-based fleet through most of the 1930s and, along with the company's numerous flying boats, have been considered to be icons of their era. A total of eight aircraft were built, four of each type; all were named, with names beginning with the letter "H". Three of the survivors were pressed into Royal Air Force (RAF) service at the outbreak of the Second World War. By the end of 1940, all of the aircraft had been destroyed as a result of several accidents. In total, four H.P.42 and four H.P.45 aircraft were delivered, but two of the HP45s were later converted into HP42s. The H.P.45 carried more passengers with a reduced range and baggage capacity, and was intended for Imperial Airways' European routes. For details of the development, design, operational history and individual histories of each of the eight aircraft, click here. The specifications below are for the H.P.42 variant.
