THE LAST FLIGHT OF HORATIUS

摘要

Handley page H.P.42W G-AAXD was one of eight four-engined biplane airliners ordered from the company by Imperial Airways Ltd (IAL) in 1928 and delivered during 1931. it set new standards m luxury travel. It was one of the four "Western" types for European routes, seating 38 passengers in two luxurious cabins. The other four, 24-seat "Eastern" examples, served the longer Empire routes from Cairo out to India and Africa.rnThe sixth H.P.42, G-AAXD, delivered on November 13, 1931 was used mainly on the busy route from London's Croydon Airport, in Surrey, to Le Bourget m Paris. Like all H.P.42s, it was named after a hero or heroine from classical history, in this case Horatius, the probably mythical soldier who single-handedly held the Pons Sublicius the only bridge across the river Tiber to Rome, against the Etruscan army, saving the city.