Handley Page Gugnunc
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox aircraft
|name = H.P.39 "Gugnunc"
|image =H.P.39 "Gugnunc".gif
|caption =
|type = Experimental utility
|manufacturer = Handley Page
|designer =
|first_flight = 1929
|introduction =
|retired = 1934
|status =
|primary_user =
|more_users =
|produced =
|number_built = 1
|unit cost =
|variants =
}}
The Handley Page H.P.39 is a wooden biplane that was constructed in 1929. The aircraft was intended to compete in a competition proposed by the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics - the Guggenheim Safe Aircraft Competition.{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1927/1927%20-%200433.html |title=Daniel Guggenheim Flight Archive |publisher=Flightglobal.com |access-date=2014-01-22}} The original working name for the aircraft was the Guggenheim Competition Biplane. The name Gugnunc was at first unofficial, coming from the Pip, Squeak and Wilfred newspaper cartoon (in the Daily Mirror and later in silent films{{cite web|author=Updated 1:21am 22 January 2014 |url=http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0750expats/nostalgia/tm_objectid=14526120&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=cartoon-originals-coming-up-for-sale-name_page.html |title=Cartoon originals coming up for sale |publisher=Icwales.icnetwork.co.uk |date=2004-08-13 |access-date=2014-01-22}}), but it later became official.
Construction and operation
Only one example of the type was constructed, and it was allotted civil registration G-AACN.
It used slots and flaps to achieve the necessary low speed and short takeoff and landing distances for the various Guggenheim prizes.
The aircraft competed in the competition in 1929. Most of the competitors failed to enter due to mechanical problems or failure to satisfy the organizers' safety checks. The Gugnunc performed adequately but did not win any prizes.
File:HP Gugnunc Wroughton 05.07.92R.jpg airfield, Wiltshire, in July 1992]]
While at the competition, the Handley Page team noticed that the Curtiss competitors were using an unlicensed version of the Handley Page slot. In the following legal battles, the Curtiss lawyers brought up a postwar judgement that foreign aircraft (and particularly Handley Page aircraft) were prohibited from being imported into the US.{{cite web|url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1930/untitled0%20-%200098.html |title=Flight 1930 THE GUGGENHEIM SAFE AIRCRAFT COMPETITION |publisher=Flightglobal.com |date=1930-01-10 |access-date=2014-01-22}}
On return to the UK, the aircraft continued experimental flying, was ultimately purchased by the Air Ministry, given registration K1908, and was allocated to the Royal Aircraft Establishment for further testing. The aircraft was struck off in 1934 and presented to the Science Museum. In 2016 it was installed as the centrepiece of the Winton Gallery of the museum.{{citation |url=https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co536042/handley-page-h-p-39-gugnunc-aeroplane-aeroplane |title=Handley Page H.P. 39 "Gugnunc" Aeroplane |publisher=Science Museum Group |work=Collection}} The curved overhead structure and layout of the gallery, designed by Dame Zaha Hadid represents the airflow around the aircraft.
Specifications (H.P.39)
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=British civil aircraft since 1919 Volume II,{{cite book |last1=Jackson |first1=A. J. |title=British civil aircraft since 1919 Volume II |date=1973 |publisher=Putnam |location=London |isbn=9780370100104 |edition=2nd |page=321}} Handley Page aircraft since 1907{{cite book |last1=Barnes |first1=C.H. |title=Handley Page aircraft since 1907 |date=1976 |publisher=Putnam |location=London |isbn=0370000307 |pages=280–287 |edition=1st}}
|prime units?=imp
|crew=2
|length ft=26
|length in=9
|length note=
|span ft=40
|span in=
|span note=
|height ft=
|height in=
|height note=
|wing area sqft=293
|wing area note=
|aspect ratio=
|airfoil=RAF 28
|empty weight lb=1362
|empty weight note=
|gross weight lb=2180
|gross weight note=
|max takeoff weight lb=
|max takeoff weight note=
|fuel capacity={{cvt|32|impgal|USgal l|0}}
|more general=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose I
|eng1 type=5-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine
|eng1 hp=150
|eng1 note=
|prop blade number=2
|prop name=fixed-pitch propeller
|prop dia ft=
|prop dia in=
|prop dia note=
|max speed mph=112.5
|max speed note=
- Minimum speed: {{cvt|33.5|mph|kn km/h|1}}
|cruise speed mph=97
|cruise speed note={{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
|stall speed mph=
|stall speed note=
|never exceed speed mph=
|never exceed speed note=
|range miles=
|range note=
|ferry range miles=
|ferry range note=
|endurance=
|ceiling ft=
|ceiling note=
|g limits=
|roll rate=
|glide ratio=
|climb rate ftmin=730
|climb rate note={{citation needed|date=June 2020}}
|time to altitude=
|lift to drag=
|wing loading lb/sqft=
|wing loading note=
|fuel consumption lb/mi=
|power/mass=
|more performance=
}}
See also
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References
=Notes=
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
{{refbegin}}
- Barnes, C. H. Handley Page Aircraft Since 1907. London: Putnam & Company, Ltd., 1987. {{ISBN|0-85177-803-8}}.
- Clayton, Donald C. Handley Page, an Aircraft Album. Shepperton, Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Ltd., 1969. {{ISBN|0-7110-0094-8}}.
- {{cite magazine |url=http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1930/untitled0%20-%200283.html |work=Flight |date= 7 March 1930 |title=Handley Page Type 39 Guggenheim Competition Machine |p=267|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160305150224/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1930/untitled0%20-%200283.html |archive-date= 2016-03-05 }}
{{refend}}
External links
{{commons category|Handley Page Gugnunc}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20051105001259/http://aeroflt.users.netlink.co.uk/mus/uk/u-z/wroughton.htm Science Museum (includes a picture of the aircraft)]
- {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20040120121411/http://www.handleypage.com/Aircraft_hp39.html HP Gugnunc]}}
- [https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/mathematics-and-aviation-handley-page-gugnunc Mathematics And Aviation: The Handley Page ‘Gugnunc’] 6 December 2018
{{Handley Page aircraft}}
Category:1920s British experimental aircraft
Category:1920s British civil utility aircraft