144125 Orient Express 1/144 Passenger aircraft HPR-7 Dart Herald

Additional Information

Handley Page Herald was another attempt to create an aircraft to replace the successful Douglas DC-3. The delay with turboprop engines was fatal for the company "Handley Page", a place in the market was occupied by Fokker F27.
having Inherited from the ruined company "Miles Aircraft" commercially unsuccessful light airliner Marathon, in the spring of 1952, the company "Handley Page Ltd" began designing another four-engine short-range airliner designed to replace the Douglas DC-3 market.
a Group of designers led by I. Gray began work on H. P. R. 3, which initially used developments on the Marathon: a high-wing and three-tailed plumage.
the Fuselage of the circular section with a sealed interior was designed anew. As a power plant, four piston engines Alvis Leonides Major 701/1 with a capacity of 600 HP were chosen. To test the power plant in flight, the existing Marathon aircraft was upgraded.
the Announcement by the Dutch company "Fokker" in September 1952 of its proposal to replace the DC-3 - twin-engine F27 Friendship, led to a change in the project "Handley Page" - it was decided to make H. P. R. 3 turboprop. But market research in Asia, Australia, Central and South America, where the British firm held a strong position, showed that the third world airlines are distrustful of new turboprop engines, preferring easy to maintain and operate piston engines.