V/1500

The Handley Page V/1500 was a British four‑engine long‑range bomber developed during the First World War. Conceived in 1917 by the pioneering aircraft builder Handley Page, the type was intended to strike strategic targets deep inside Germany, a capability that far exceeded the range of existing bombers such as the Handley Page O/400. The V/1500 featured a high‑wing, wooden–fabric airframe powered by four 260‑hp Sunbeam Maori or later 375‑hp Rolls‑Royce Eagle VIII engines, giving it a maximum speed of about 115 mph and a service ceiling of 15 000 ft. Its impressive payload capacity of up to 2,000 lb of bombs and a cruising range of roughly 1,200 mi made it the first aircraft capable of a round‑trip flight from England to Berlin without refuelling. Only ten production machines were completed before the Armistice, and the type saw limited post‑war service with the Royal Air Force, including experimental long‑distance flights to India and Australia. Although it never entered combat, the V/1500 demonstrated the feasibility of strategic heavy bombing and influenced later interwar designs such as the Vickers Vimy and the RAF’s 1930s bomber force, securing its place as a milestone in aviation history.