Handley Page Hastings

The Handley Page Hastings, designated HP.67, was a British four-engined troop-carrier and freight transport designed and built by Handley Page for the Royal Air Force. It grew out of Air Staff Specification C.3/44 and, when it entered service in September 1948, it was the largest transport the RAF had operated. The first of two prototypes made its maiden flight from RAF Wittering on 7 May 1946, and the type was rushed into service in time to join the Berlin Airlift. The Hastings became the standard long-range aircraft of RAF Transport Command, took part in the Suez Crisis and the Indonesian Confrontation, and was also bought by the Royal New Zealand Air Force. A few were converted for weather forecasting, training and VIP flights. The fleet was withdrawn from RAF service in 1977, and a civil sister aircraft, the Hermes, sold only in limited numbers.