Handley Page H.P.31 Harrow

The Handley Page H.P.31 Harrow, first known as the Type E, was a two-seat single-engined biplane built to a British specification for a carrier-based torpedo bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. Handley Page tendered it to Air Ministry specification 21/23, which asked for a replacement for the Blackburn Dart, and won an order for two prototypes. It was essentially a single-bay biplane with full-length leading edge slats linked to the ailerons and flaps, wings that folded at the centre section, and a water-cooled Napier Lion engine set low in the nose for a clear view in carrier landings, leaving clear space below the fuselage for a torpedo. It deck-landed on HMS Furious in the trials, but by spring 1927 the Blackburn Ripon was preferred and the Harrow suffered persistent engine overheating. It nonetheless played a significant part in the development of automatic slots, and the first prototype was written off charge in August 1928.