Handley Page Type W
airliner
The Handley Page W.8, W.9 and W.10 were British two- and three-engine medium-range biplane airliners designed and built by Handley Page.
The W.8 (also known as the H.P.18) was the company's first purpose-built civil airliner although it was a development of the wartime Handley Page Type O/400 bomber via the O/7, O/10 and O/11 transports. It had an enclosed cabin for (in most versions) 12 passengers, along with two crew in an open cockpit, and has the distinction of being the world's first airliner to be designed with an on-board lavatory. The prototype first flew on 4 December 1919, shortly after it was displayed at the 1919 Paris Air Show at Le Bourget. The W.8 was subsequently revised to give the W.8b, W.8e (H.P.26), W.9 (H.P.27) and W.10 (H.P.30). It was also the basis for the W.8d (H.P.24), the Handley Page Hyderabad bomber.
Developments
W.8
Prototype, holding 15 passengers, powered by two 450 hp (336 kW) Napier Lion engines. The original company designation was to have been Handley Page W/400.
W.8b
To meet an Air Ministry ruling, the capacity was reduced to 12 passengers and the fuel tanks were moved from the engine nacelles to above the top wing. The engines were changed from the Napier Lion to the less powerful but more economical Rolls-Royce Eagle IX. In 1921 the Air Ministry ordered three aircraft, built as the W.8b, for use by Handley Page Transport, and later by Imperial Airways, on services to Paris and Brussels.
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