The Handley Page Type O, with folding wings, was a biplane bomber used by Britain during the First World War. When built, the Type O was the largest aircraft that had been built in the UK and one of the largest in the world.

The Handley Page Type O, with folding wings, was a biplane bomber used by Britain during the First World War. When built, the Type O was the largest aircraft that had been built in the UK and one of the largest in the world.

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Source: https://youtu.be/jAh462AOoto

First flight: 17 December 1915

Number built: 600

The aircraft were used in France for tactical night attacks on targets in German-occupied France and Belgium and for strategic bombing of industrial and transport targets in the Rhineland. Some aircraft were temporarily diverted to anti-submarine reconnaissance and bombing in the Tees estuary in 1917 and two aircraft operated in the eastern Mediterranean. The Type O made such an impression that for many years after the war any large aircraft in Britain was referred to as a "Handley Page", even getting a dictionary entry.

The O/100 was an unequal-span three-bay biplane, with the overhanging part of the upper wing braced by kingposts, a rectangular section fuselage and a biplane tail with twin balanced rudders, between the horizontal surfaces. Balanced ailerons were fitted to the upper wing only and extended beyond the wing trailing edge and wing tips. The engines drove four-bladed propellers, rotating in opposite directions to cancel the torque, and were enclosed in armoured nacelles mounted between the wings on tubular steel struts. The nacelles had a long tapered fairing to reduce drag. To clear the wing rigging wires when the wings were folded, the rear portions of the fairings were hinged to fold inward. The structure of the fuselage and flying surfaces was primarily spruce, with the spars routed into I-beams to reduce weight.

After the war, O/400s remained in squadron service until replaced by the Vickers Vimy toward the end of 1919. War-surplus aircraft were converted for civilian use in the UK and nine were used by Handley Page Transport. Eight O/400s were fitted to carry passengers and operated by 86 (Communication) Wing from Hendon, to provide transport between London and Paris for the officials negotiating the Treaty of Versailles. Two were fitted as VIP transports and finished in silver dope, named Great Britain and Silver Star and the others, seating eight, retained their dark green finish.

No complete example of any Type O aircraft remains, however, the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford has several relics, including pieces of fabric from an O/100 and various small O/400 components and five O/400 wing sections which had been used as part of a shed roof in Flintshire until their recovery in late 2013.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handley_Page_Type_O?wprov=sfla1