Handley Page Gugnunc

Infobox Aircraft
name = H.P.39 "Gugnunc"
type = Experimental Utility
manufacturer = Handley Page



caption =
designer =
first flight = 1929
introduced =
retired = 1934
status =
primary user =
more users =
produced =
number built = 1
unit cost =
variants with their own articles = The Handley Page H.P.39 was a wooden biplane design of the late 1920s. 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. 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 [ [http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0750expats/nostalgia/tm_objectid=14526120&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=cartoon-originals-coming-up-for-sale-name_page.html cartoon originals coming up for sale] ] ) but it later became official.

Only one example of the type was constructed, 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 safety 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.

While there, the HP 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 HP aircraft) were prohibited from being imported into the US.

On return to the UK, the aircraft continued experimental flying, and was ultimately purchased by the Air Ministry, given registration K1908, and allocated to the Royal Aircraft Establishment for further testing. The aircraft was struck off in 1934, and is currently displayed in the Science Museum annex at Wroughton.

pecifications (H.P.39)

aircraft specifications
plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref=
crew=2
capacity=
payload main=
payload alt=
length main= 25 ft 9 in
length alt= 7.85 m
span main= 40 ft
span alt= 12.2 m
height main=
height alt=
area main= 293 ft²
area alt= 27.2 m²
airfoil=
empty weight main= 1,362 lb
empty weight alt= 619 kg
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main= 2,180 lb
max takeoff weight alt= 989 kg
more general=
engine (jet)=
type of jet=
number of jets=
thrust main=
thrust alt=
thrust original=
afterburning thrust main=
afterburning thrust alt=
engine (prop)= Armstrong Siddeley Mongoose I
type of prop=
number of props=1
power main= 150 hp
power alt= 112 kW
power original=
max speed main= 112 mph
max speed alt= 180 km/h
cruise speed main= 97 mph
cruise speed alt= 156 km/h
stall speed main= 33 mph
stall speed alt= 53 km/h
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
range main=
range alt=
ceiling main=
ceiling alt=
climb rate main= 730 fpm
climb rate alt= 222.5 mpm
loading main=
loading alt=
thrust/weight=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
more performance=
armament=
avionics=

ee also

aircontent
related=

similar aircraft=

sequence=
Handley Page Hare -
Handley Page Hinaidi - Handley Page Gugnunc -
HP.38 -
Handley Page H.P.42 (H.P.45)

lists=
* List of experimental aircraft

References

Notes

Bibliography

* 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.

External links

* [http://aeroflt.users.netlink.co.uk/mus/uk/u-z/wroughton.htm Science Museum (includes a picture of the aircraft)]
* [http://www.britishaircraft.co.uk/aircraftpage.php?ID=227 British Aircraft Directory entry]
* [http://www.handleypage.com/Aircraft_hp39.html HP Gugnunc]