AP 118 · No. 10 Section II · Aircraft 1936

Aircraft hub · 1936 · Second World War

Handley Page Hampden

‘The Flying Suitcase’ — a fuselage three feet wide, crews measured before boarding. The gazetteer currently lists it at 3 UK museums.

1936
First flight
1,430
Built
254 mph
Top speed
3
Museums

Last verified 2026-10-11 against the gazetteer Compendium. Airframes move — confirm on museum pages before travel.

On charge

Where to see the Handley Page Hampden in the UK

The gazetteer records 3 Handley Page Hampden airframes (including cockpit sections and replicas where noted) across 3 UK collections, in 3 regions: London & Around, Midlands & Lincolnshire, South East England.

MuseumCityRegionAirframes recorded
Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage CentreChecked 2026-10-08 Spilsby Midlands & Lincolnshire Handley Page Hampden I (under restoration) AE436 Under restoration
Royal Air Force Museum LondonChecked 2026-10-08 London London & Around Handley Page Hampden TB.1 fuselage (with Hereford L6012 tail boom) P1344 Cockpit or section
Wings Aviation MuseumChecked 2026-10-08 Haywards Heath South East England Handley Page Hampden B.1 wreckage P1273 Wreckage

3D model

The TB.I in 3D

A procedural model built in Blender from the type’s published dimensions, painted as P1344, a Handley Page Hampden built by Handley Page at Cricklewood in 1939 with two Bristol Pegasus radials, converted to a TB.I torpedo bomber and lost near Murmansk in September 1942 while flying out with No. 144 Squadron to protect the Arctic convoys, recovered in 1991, restored at Cosford and now displayed at RAF Museum London, shown complete as it was in service: Dark Earth and Dark Green upper surfaces over black sides and undersides, a yellow-ringed roundel where the narrow fuselage pod meets the tail boom, ‘PL-K’ codes in dull red, ‘P1344’ in red on the boom, fin flashes on the twin fins, the glazed nose, the pilot’s hood and the dorsal and ventral gun positions with their twin Vickers K guns, and black three-blade propellers with yellow tips; the museum’s airframe has no outer wings or engines, so those are built from drawings and wartime photographs. Drag to orbit, scroll or pinch to zoom · all 215 models · download .glb (1.4 MB) · Plate 75 in The Hangar

Computed from the survey

Collection context

Types you’ll see alongside

Avro Lancaster, English Electric Canberra, Bristol Beaufighter, Bristol Beaufort, de Havilland Canada Chipmunk.

Where the type is thickest

London & Around has 1 collection recording the type.

Marks and variants recorded

Handley Page Hampden B.1 wreckage; Handley Page Hampden TB.1 fuselage (with Hereford L6012 tail boom).

Type notes

The Handley Page Hampden in brief

TypeHandley Page Hampden (+ Hereford)
UK museums holding one3
Airframes recorded in this survey3

Serials are the gazetteer's survey snapshot of what each collection records on charge — restorations move between workshops and reserve hangars, so check the museum page for opening times and current display status before travelling. Every type across 119 museums is indexed in the Compendium.

Aircraft questions

Frequently asked

How many Handley Page Hampden airframes are left in the UK?

The Aviation Gazetteer records 3 Handley Page Hampden airframes in UK collections.

Which museum has the most Handley Page Hampden airframes?

Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre has the most in this survey, with 1 recorded airframe.