G-ALDS Handley Page HP.71 Hermes IV
(c/n HP.81/19)
The Handley Page Hermes was a civilian
development of the RAF's HP.67 Hastings, although
the tricycle undercarriage
gave it somewhat the appearance of a DC-4. It was an interim,
stop-
gap type, operated in
the 1950's while waiting for the turbo-prop Britannia. G-ALDS was
one
of two dozen such machines
operated by the Corporation, this one being named "Hesperides".
It was purchased by Skyways Ltd in 1955 and broken up at Stanstead in
1959.