Handley Page V/1500

We also have a few relics of the even larger, 38m (126ft) span, Handley Page V/1500. This Rolls-Royce Eagle powered, long-range bomber of 1918 was the first British bomber with four engines, but was short-lived.

At the time of the Armistice, three V/1500s were operational, with No.166 Squadron at Bircham Newton in Norfolk, and were standing by to bomb Berlin, from the United Kingdom. This was possible due to their 2,092km (1,300 mile) range, and this just 15 years after the Wright Brothers first managed a few hundred feet! As ever, War had proved a great incentive for aeronautical development.

The last RAF V/1500 served at Martlesham Heath until mid 1921.