 The Handley Page H.P.47 was the company's submission to Air Ministry specification G.4/31 which called for a single-engined general-purpose aircraft to replace the Vickers Vincent in its Imperial role, to act as a bomber flying from unprepared airstrips and to be a torpedo bomber in the Tropics, particularly Aden.Handley Page were awarded a contract for one prototype; its designer, Gustav Lachmann had monitored German monoplane progress on behalf of Handley Page, so it was not surprising that the H.P.47 used construction methods similar to those of companies like Junkers.He had also become interested in the use of thick wing sections such as RAF34 for which the centre of pressure moved little with angle of attack, making the design of a single-spar monoplane wing easier.