View source for Handley Page Marathon

{|{{Infobox Aircraft Begin
  |name = Marathon
  |image =Image:Marathon-i.jpg
  |caption = RAF Marathon 1953–1958
}}{{Infobox Aircraft Type
  |type = light transport
  |manufacturer = [[Handley Page]]
  |designer = 
  |first flight = 19 May 1946
  |introduced = 1951
  |retired = 1960
  |status = 
  |primary user = [[Royal Air Force]]
  |more users = [[West African Airways Corporation]]
  |produced = 1946–1951
  |number built = 43
  |unit cost = 
  |developed from = 
  |variants with their own articles = 
}}
|}

The '''Handley Page (Reading) H.P.R.1 Marathon''' was a [[United Kingdom|British]] civil 20-passenger light transport produced by [[Handley Page|Handley Page (Reading) Limited]] of Woodley Aerodrome, Reading, England.

==Design and development==
The Marathon originated as a design to meet the requirements of the [[Brabazon Committee]]. It was designed by [[Miles Aircraft|Miles Aircraft Limited]] as a high-wing [[Cantilever#In aircraft|cantilever]] [[monoplane]] with four engines and all-metal construction. It was capable of carrying two crew and up to 20 passengers. The aircraft was designated the '''Miles M.60 Marathon''' with the first of three prototypes (registered U-10) flying on 19 May 1946. A total of 25 aircraft were ordered by the Ministry of Supply and 25 by [[British European Airways]], but Miles had financial problems and needed orders for over 100, not helped when the prototype aircraft crashed and the power shortages led to the loss of components already produced. When the Miles company went bankrupt, [[Handley Page]] bought the assets, including the factory at Woodley near [[Reading, Berkshire]] and design rights to the Marathon.

The new company, known as '''Handley Page (Reading) Limited''', started producing the Marathon with 40 aircraft built over the next three years with the new designation '''Handley Page (Reading) H.P.R.1 Marathon 1'''. A twin-engine prototype [[turboprop]]-powered version (using the [[Armstrong Siddeley Mamba]]) was flown in 1949.

==Operational history==
The first production Marathon 1 aircraft (registered ''G-ALUB'') left Woodley on 14 January 1950 for a sales tour of Australia and New Zealand. The aircraft was painted in BEA markings as "Rob Roy" in September 1951 and was demonstrated to the airline at Heathrow. During acceptance tests for [[British European Airways]] it was decided that the Marathon was not suitable to replace the [[de Havilland Dragon Rapide]] and the order was reduced to seven aircraft, none of which were accepted by BEA.<ref>Jackson 1973, pp. 253–254.</ref>

Six Marathons were delivered to the [[West African Airways Corporation]] in late 1952 for operation in and between the British colonies in that region. They were replaced in 1954 by [[de Havilland Heron]]s. The last three production aircraft were given increased tankage and sold to [[Union of Burma Airways]] which operated them in the region for several years.<ref>Jackson 1973, pp. 254–255.</ref>  
[[File:HPR.1 Marathon 1A XJ831 RAE BLA 06.09.56 edited-3.jpg|thumb|right|Marathon 1A of the [[Royal Aircraft Establishment]] in September 1956]]
Most of the returned and unsold aircraft were then diverted for use by the [[Royal Air Force]] as navigation trainers with the designation '''Marathon T.11'''. After internal modifications, most of the 28 aircraft taken on charge from early 1953 were used by No. 2 Air Navigation School at [[RAF Thorney Island]], Hants. A total of 16 aircraft were transferred to RAF Topcliffe, Yorks in June 1958 when No.1 Air Navigation School relocated there. By February 1969, only eight were airworthy. Apart from mechanical unreliability, the main problem was tail heavy trim, an absolute ceiling of 9,500 feet and a rate of climb of only 300 ft a minute. The navigational trainers were retired in April 1959 and most were quickly scrapped. <ref>Thetford 1976, p. 307.</ref> A few Marathons were operated by other UK military users including the [[Royal Aircraft Establishment]].

[[File:Derby Aviation Marathon 1956.jpg|thumb|right|Derby Aviation H.P.R.1 Marathon at [[Manchester Airport]] in October 1956.]]
Three Marathons were acquired in 1955 by Derby Aviation, based at Burnaston airport near Derby and predecessor of [[British Midland Airways]]. The aircraft were used on scheduled services within the UK and to the Channel Islands until their withdrawal in December 1960. One aircraft was delivered to Jordan in September 1954 for the personal use of [[King Hussein]].

The Mamba-powered Marathon testbed was later fitted with the [[Alvis Leonides Major]] radial engines and used as a testbed for the projected [[Handley Page Herald|Herald]].
 
No surviving airframes are known to exist but the upper fuselage section of Marathon M.60 HPR 118/G-AMEW/XA265 was stored at Woodley, United Kingdom as part of the Miles Collection c. 2000.<ref>[http://members.aol.com/warwicaero/milesaircraft/aircraft/M.60.html M.60 Marathon 1 and T.Mk.11]</ref>

==Variants==
;M.60 Marathon
:Miles-built prototypes, two built.
;Miles M.69 Marathon II
:Miles-built version powered by Mamba engines created for [[British European Airways]], only one prototype built.
;Marathon
:Miles M.69 re-engined by Handley Page and used as an engine testbed.
;Marathon I
:Handley Page-built production aircraft, 40 built.
;Marathon T.11
:Military navigation trainer version, 28 modified.

==Operators==
===Civil operators===
;{{BIR}}
*[[Union of Burma Airways]]<ref name="piston" />
;{{JPN}}
*[[All Nippon Airways|Far East Airlines]]<ref name="piston" />
;{{NGA}}
*[[West African Airways Corporation]] <ref name="piston" />
;{{UK}}
*[[British European Airways]] (not operated on passenger services)<ref name="piston" />
*[[British Midland Airways|Derby Aviation]]<ref name="piston" />

===Military and government operators===
;{{GER}}
*West German Government<ref name="piston" />
;{{JOR}}
*[[Royal Jordanian Air Force|Arab Legion Air Force]]<ref name="piston" />
;{{UK}}
*[[Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment]]<ref name="xa100" />
*[[Empire Test Pilot School]]<ref name="xa100" />
*[[Royal Air Force]]
**No. 1 Air Navigation School<ref name="xa100" />
**No. 2 Air Navigation School<ref name="xa100" />
**No. 8 Flying Training School<ref name="xa100" />

==Accidents and incidents==
*10 May 1948 - Prototype G-AGPD being operated by the [[Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment]] crashed near Amesbury, Wiltshire, United Kingdom.<ref name="piston">Eastwood and Roach 1991, pp. 277–278.</ref>
*4 August 1953 - XY-ACX a [[Union of Burma Airways]] Marathon 1A was damaged beyond repair at Myaungmya, Burma.<ref name="piston" />
*30 September 1954 - XA271 a [[Royal Air Force]] Marathon T11 crashed after inflight structural failure near Calne, Wiltshire, United Kingdom.<ref name="piston" /><ref name="xa100" />
*9 January 1956 - XA254 a Royal Air Force Marathon T11 was damaged beyond repair when it overran the runway at [[RAF Topcliffe]], the landing gear was retracted in an attempt to stop the aircraft.<ref name="xa100" />
*30 October 1957 - XA256 a Royal Air Force Marathon T11 was damaged beyond repair after the landing gear collapsed in a hangar at RAF Thorney Island.<ref name="piston" /><ref name="xa100" />
*16 November 1957 - XA251 a Royal Air Force Marathon T11 was damaged beyond repair.<ref name="piston" />
*10 December 1957 - XA250 a Royal Air Force Marathon T11 was damaged beyond repair when a landing accident, landing gear leg jammed and collapsed on landing at [[RAF Topcliffe]], Yorkshire, United Kingdom.<ref name="piston" /><ref name="xa100">Halley 2001, pp. 5-6.</ref>
*11 February 1958 - XA268 a Royal Air Force Marathon T11 was damaged beyond repair landing at RAF Topcliffe when the nosewheel became detached.<ref name="piston" /><ref name="xa100" />
*22 April 1958 - XA273 a Royal Air Force Marathon T11 was damaged beyond repair after the landing gear collapsed at RAF Topcliffe.<ref name="piston" />
*5 May 1958 - XA253 a Royal Air Force Marathon T11 was damaged beyond repair when the landing gear was retracted in error for the flaps on the ground at RAF Topcliffe.<ref name="piston" /><ref name="xa100" />

==Specifications (Marathon 1)==
[[File:Marathon T11.jpg|thumb|right| Handley Page (Reading) Marathon T.11]]
{{aircraft specifications
<!-- if you do not understand how to use this template, please ask at [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Aircraft]] -->
<!-- please answer the following questions -->
|ref=British Civil Aircraft since 1919: Volume 2 <ref name="Jackson v2 p256">Jackson 1973, p. 256.</ref>
|plane or copter?=plane
|jet or prop?=prop
<!-- Now, fill out the specs. Please include units where appropriate (main comes first, alt in parentheses). If an item doesn't apply, like capacity, leave it blank. For additional lines, end your alt units with )</li> and start a new, fully-formatted line with <li> -->
|crew=
|length main= 52 ft 1½ in 
|length alt=  15.89 m
|span main= 65 ft 0 in
|span alt= 19.81 m 
|height main= 14 ft 1 in
|height alt= 4.29 m
|area main= 468 ft²
|area alt= 46.3 m²
|empty weight main= 11,688 lb
|empty weight alt=  5,313 kg
|loaded weight main= 
|loaded weight alt= 
|max takeoff weight main= 18,250 lb
|max takeoff weight alt= 8,295 kg
|engine (prop)=[[de Havilland Gipsy Queen|de Havilland Gipsy Queen 70-3]] 
|type of prop= inline piston
|number of props=4
|power main= 340 hp
|power alt= 254 kw
|max speed main= 233 mph 
|max speed alt= 202 kn, 374 km/h
|cruise speed main=201 mph
|cruise speed alt=175 kn, 324 km/h
|range main= 935 mi
|range alt= 813 [[nautical mile|nmi]], 1505 km
|ceiling main= 18,000 ft
|ceiling alt= 5,490 m
|climb rate main= 595 ft/min
|climb rate alt=3.0 m/s
|loading main=
|loading alt=
|power/mass main=
|power/mass alt=
|armament= 
}}

==See also==
{{aircontent
|related=
|similar aircraft=
|sequence=
|lists=
*[[List of aircraft of the RAF]]
|see also=
}}

==References==
;Notes
{{reflist}}

;Bibliographys
{{refbegin}}
* Amos, Peter. and Don Lambert Brown. ''Miles Aircraft Since 1925, Volume 1''. London: Putnam Aeronautical, 2000. ISBN 0-85177-787-2.
* Brown, Don Lambert. ''Miles Aircraft Since 1925''. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1970. ISBN 0-370-00127-3.
* Eastwood, Tony. and Roach, John ''Piston Engine Airliner Production List''. West Drayton, UK: Aviation Hobby Shop, 1991. ISBN 0-907178-37-5.
* Hailey, James J. (compiler). ''Royal Air Force Aircraft XA100 to ZA999''. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air Britain (Historians) Ltd., 2001. ISBN 0-85130-311-0
* ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985)''. London: Orbis Publishing, 1985.
* Jackson, A.J. ''British Civil Aircraft since 1919, Volume 2''. London: Putnam & Company Ltd., 1973. ISBN 0-370-10010-7.
* Temple, Julian C. ''Wings Over Woodley: The Story of Miles Aircraft and the Adwest Group''. Bourne End, Bucks, UK: Aston Publications, 1987. ISBN 0-946627-12-6.
* Thetford, Owen. ''Aircraft of the Royal Air Force since 1918''. London: Putnam & Company Limited, 1976. ISBN 0-370-10056-5.
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://members.aol.com/warwicaero/milesaircraft/aircraft/M.60.html M.60 Marathon 1 and T.Mk.11]

{{Miles aircraft}}
{{Aviation lists}}

[[Category:British airliners 1940–1949]]
[[Category:British military trainer aircraft 1940–1949]]
[[Category:Handley Page aircraft|Marathon]]
[[Category:Miles aircraft|Marathon]]

[[de:Handley Page Marathon]]
[[ja:ハンドレページ マラソン]]