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First flown in prototype form in mid-1930, the Heyford was the last of the RAF's long-range biplane night bombers. It was powered in Mk I form by two 391.2kW Rolls-Royce Kestrel III engines and in the Mk II and Mk III by 428.5kW Kestrel VI. The Heyford was an equal-span biplane with staggered wings: the upper wing centre-section rested on top of the fuselage, while the lower was positioned well below the fuselage, connected to the under-fuselage by N-type struts. The inner interplane struts supported the engine mountings. An interesting feature of the design was that bombs of various sizes were carried inside the thickened centre-section of the lower wing, each bomb being carried in a separate cell closed by spring doors. The fixed landing gear comprised two large wheels faired into the lower wing.
A total of 124 Heyfords were built, made up of 38 Mk I and IA, 1 intermediate Mk IA/II, 16 Mk II and 71 Mk Ill - these figures being adjusted to take into account changes made from the original production orders. Heyfords served with heavy-bomber squadrons from 1933 to 1939, giving way to more modern monoplanes of World War II-type.
| MODEL | Heyford Mk IA |
| ENGINE | 2 x Rolls-Royce Kestrel IIIS, 429kW |
| WEIGHTS |
| Take-off weight | 7610 kg | 16777 lb |
| Empty weight | 4580 kg | 10097 lb |
| DIMENSIONS |
| Wingspan | 22.9 m | 75 ft 2 in |
| Length | 17.7 m | 58 ft 1 in |
| Height | 5.3 m | 17 ft 5 in |
| Wing area | 136.6 m2 | 1470.35 sq ft |
| PERFORMANCE |
| Max. speed | 229 km/h | 142 mph |
| Ceiling | 6400 m | 21000 ft |
| Range | 1480 km | 920 miles |
| ARMAMENT | 3 x 7.7mm machine-guns, 1580kg of bombs |
 | A three-view drawing (690 x 684) |
| Richard James, France, myrtifi(@)yahoo.com, 13.11.2009 I believe that the Heyford was the first aircraft to leave a trace on the oscilloscopes of the experimental 'RDF', Radio Direction Finding (now Radar) test equipment. Mid 1930's? | | Chief ROK, rklk67(@)comcast.net, 11.02.2009 One bit of trivia. The Heyford is the only aircraft named after an air base: RAF Upper Heyford, Oxon. According to the museum that is on that now closed base, it was one of the bases the Heyford called home. I served at RAF UH 1965-67 (Dispersal base; then RF-101s) and again 1984-87 (F-111Es). | | WinstonBrittanica, Churchill77(@)gmail.com, 26.05.2008 Thanks for featuring this fascinating aircraft - particuarly for the 3-view - after some searching, this is the only site that has one. (If you know of a "blueprint" (sort of a 3-view with cross-section shapes, designed for modelling the aircraft) I would really appreciate it.)
An integuing aircraft - one that would have been good if WWI had continued into 1919, say. Also a really integuing appearance - a giant biplane bomber. | | bittu saxena, bittu.sexana2007(@)gmail.com, 14.05.2008 well this is an anicent plane and its a really good aircraft, with good range and good wepons which are enough good for that time war scenrio this aircraft must gave an edge to their army to enemy. | | john robson, jirobson(@)tesco.net, 19.01.2008 My uncle as a young officer flew in this aircraft in a training exercise on a bombing raid on london in February 1936, in atrocious weather conditions. He was killed when the plane struck Telegraph hill near Petersfield in Hampshire. | | Dave Moore, daviation.moore(@)btinternet.com, 27.08.2007 A good photo which clearly shows the ventral dustbin gun position not mentioned in the text. A defensive that later bombers gave up, except the well known American Fortress.
Great site have enjoyed looking through it |
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