Development and Subsequent Flying Career
The Manx was not a pretty aircraft by any measure but it's utilitarian appearance was born from the fact that it was developed exclusively to collect data on tailless flight. Its design was attributed to Gustav Lachmann (1896-1966) who was born in Germany but eventually settled in the United Kingdom - he was interred for the duration of the war which did the Manx project no favors (he became a citizen in 1949). Data on this special aircraft type was being pulled together as early as 1936 and a special research arm of Handley Page was arranged in 1938 with Lachmann as its lead. The project gained steam into 1939 but the original firm tagged with construction of the new aircraft, Dart Aircraft, could not pull together the needed resources so Handley Page regained control - leading to the completed aircraft becoming available in 1940.
By this time, Handley Page was fully-committed to the British war effort and production of its Halifax heavy bombers so the Manx was left to develop along a much slower timeline than originally planned. Taxi trials were had in late-February of 1940 and more intense ground-maneuvers were seen into March of that year. The aircraft then languished until March 1941 but, even at this point, deterioration of the wing members were noted, resulting in a lengthy period of repair and refurbishment.
Trials resumed in September of 1942 though one run resulted in a damaged nose wheel and nose section - adding to the delays; it was not made available again until May of 1943. A first-flight was finally had on June 25th, 1943 as the flying wing completed a ten minute jaunt before landing successfully. Additional test flights followed that summer into the fall but, again, the project languished until making its fourth flight the following in June of 1944 (by this time the fairing over the nose wheel was added). Another fourteen flights were completed heading into December of 1944.
In September of 1945, with the war in Europe now over, the Manx was put on public display for the first time. The last test flights of the now-improved, streamlined aircraft were recorded in early April of 1946 and, in total, the prototype completed thirty-one. The sole flyable example was put into storage thereafter and ultimately burned in 1952.
For its time in the air, the Manx was noted for poor performance blamed on the increased gross weight, low-powered engines, vibration issues, and the generally low operating ceiling required of the early testing phase. On-the-whole, the flying wing concept was more-or-less sound though a steady hand at the controls was still a requirement in a time when Fly-by-Wire technology was a topic of science fiction. Thought was given to adding a foreplane element to the aircraft to add longitudinal stability and additional maneuverability but this initiative fell to naught - the component was, in fact, completed by the woodworkers of Percival Aircraft but never installed on the flyable aircraft.
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