Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Aircraft – Early Heavy Bomber


The first prototype of Whitley aircraft models had straight wings, but the second prototype and all production aircraft had a small amount of dihedral on the outer wing panels.

Problems with the change to Merlin engines included a drop in the efficiency of the cabin heater. This had to be rectified for long-range, high-altitude night missions.

Rolls-Royce worked with the Royal Aircraft Establishment to solve the problem of noisy engines. Investigation of the propellers and exhausts was necessary.

When retracted, the main wheels protruded below the level of the undercarriage doors. This minimized damage in the event of a wheels-up landing.

Unsure of the effect of flaps, the manufacturer fitted the wing at a high angle to the fuselage. This gave a low landing speed and distinctive node down flying attitude.

A bombardier and nose-gunner occupied the extreme end of the nose, which contained a single 7.7-mm (.303 cal.) Browning machine gun.

The power-operated Nash and Thompson rear turret, introduced on the Mk IV, relieved the gunner from having to manually turn the turret when tracking a target.

A limited field of fire was presented to the rear gunner by the twin tailfins. From the Mk V onward the rear fuselage was extended to solve this problem.

No comments:

Post a Comment