I had this letter in from a Hastings pilot a couple of years ago and reproduce it here

> Thank you for that excellent feature on the Hastings. Yes the Mk1 was
> certainly a brute insofar as elevator control was concerned, excessively
> heavy and not always producing the expected results - indeed, it was
> said of one rather diminutive pilot that his first attempt at landing
> "....resulted in the control column remaining fixed in position while
> the pilot slid forward in his seat"! True or not, I think that just
> about sums up the Mk1.
>
> The Mk2 and other variants were certainly much better, with the lowered
> tailplane of much increased span providing more effective if arguably
> slightly spongy response to elevator inputs. Certainly it would appear
> that Handley Page went through a period of difficulty in tailplane
> design, from the early Halifax through the Hastings and right up to the
> prototype Victor, the tailplane of which detached in flight.
>
> Regarding sundry occurrences of elevator hinge bracket failure, I have
> always thought it possible that RAF training methods may have been a
> contributory factor; for it was a requirement that pilots demonstrated
> an ability to make sustained turns (both on full panel AND primary
> instruments!) at bank angles of 45 degrees, a practice hardly in accord
> with the injunction in Pilots' Notes concerning 'manoeuvres appropriate
> to a transport aircraft'. This practice was wisely terminated around
> 1958-60, but by then any fatigue damage had probably already been done.
>
> No mention was made as to the greatest Hastings mystery of all - why,
> unlike its brother the Hermes, did it have the third wheel at the wrong
> end? In any discussion on the matter, the army usually got the blame -
> something to do with making life easier when loading external stores or
> internal freight? - true or apocryphal I don't know, but the pilots sure
> earned their bread when coping with strong crosswinds.
>
> This task was rendered even more onerous by the dreadful braking
> system, which required differential rudder application to operate left
> or right brake as necessary. In really bad conditions, a combined effort
> by both pilots was necessary to ensure movement in the desired
> direction, and I used to pine for toe brakes as per the old Dakota of
> treasured memory. They were anyway none too powerful, and easily
> overheated; bad news as the air bags on which the brake shoes were
> mounted used to burn out, thus causing total brake failure.
>
> Sadly no proper description was given of the Mk4, which (even allowing
> for its lack of pressurisation) provided a standard of luxury for VIP
> travel that was unequalled at the time.