westland whirlwind

[jolly22]

Dimensions:
Length: 32.74ft (9.98m)
Width: 45.01ft (13.72m)
Height: 11.55ft (3.52m)

 
Performance: About MACH
Max Speed: 360mph (580kmh; 313kts)
Max Range: 802miles (1,290km)
Rate-of-Climb:3,000ft/min (914m/min)
Service Ceiling: 30,000ft (9,144m; 5.7miles)

 
 Structure:
Accommodation: 1
Hardpoints: 2
Empty Weight: 7,840lbs (3,556kg)
MTOW: 10,269lbs (4,658kg)

 
Powerplant:
Engine(s): 2 x Rolls-Royce Peregrine liquid-cooled piston engines developing 885hp each.
 
Armament Suite:
4 x 20mm cannons in nose

Mk IA:
Up to 1,000lbs of external stores in addition to 4 x cannon armament. 
 
Designation: Westland Whirlwind
Classification Type: Escort / Fighter-Bomber / Nightfighter
Contractor: Westland - UK
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Initial Year of Service: 1940
Number Built: 116
 
 

Operators: the United Kingdom
 





TOO little built might be the only problem

[Enker]

All I see are statistics. Why should it be included in the game?

[AWwrgwy]

All I see are statistics. Why should it be included in the game?

Cheer!!!

Thank you Enker!!!!


wrongway

[Enker]

Cheer!!!

Thank you Enker!!!!


wrongway

No problem, just trying to ease your load of being a voice of reason.

[AirFlyer]

From the specs alone it reminds me of a Mossie.

(No offense to mossie buffs.)

[Rino]

     At least it saw squadron service..although I think only 2 squadrons 

[Bino]

The "search" button is your friend:

http://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,237815.15.html

[bozon]

The question begs:
So why wasn't it used extensively if it was such a good plane for its time?

There must be some catch.

[OOZ662]

There seems to have been extensive problems with the proprietary engines.

[RTHolmes]

All I see are statistics. Why should it be included in the game?

Max Speed: 360mph (580kmh; 313kts)
Rate-of-Climb:3,000ft/min (914m/min)
Hardpoints: 2
Empty Weight: 7,840lbs (3,556kg)
4 x 20mm cannons in nose

fast, light, quad hispano EW killer. whats not to like? pilots loved em, only RR engine problems killed its development

[bozon]

There seems to have been extensive problems with the proprietary engines.

only RR engine problems killed its development

I find it hard to believe that this is the only reason. Unless Westland was for some reason compelled to use these engines, they could have switch to another. The Mosquito came about no much after that and had Merlins and they were even evaluated for the potential of a single seat fighter version - big wooden whirlwind? Could it be the victim of the "all critical resources go to build more contemporary fighters and not development" 1940 attitude, that the wooden mosquito was able to slip through?

If the airframe and design was that good and did not rely on this specific engine, it was silly to just scrap it.

[Jing0]

Ive done some readin up on this little chappie after I saw this thread.  Looks like a rather nice little plane. Barely bigger than a hurricane apparently..  

http://users.atw.hu/priskos/Alakulatok-Hadseregek/Legiero/Angol/wwhirlwind/Westland_whirlwind.jpg

Cant help feelin that the only thing that might result in this not seein much use LW is the ammo at a mere 60rpg and its apparent lack of performance at high alt. But it'll probably find followers amongst the lowlevel furballers looking for a little extra speed to catch the runners.  

There doesnt seem to be much reason for it not to have seen more use in RL:  It seems mostly that the british aircraft makers would have to choose between having to tool up to make parts for lots of different types of aircraft or cocentrate on large amounts of parts for a smaller number of types.   Production efficiency seems to have been the main factor.

We dont have these problems or concerns in ah2 so we'll probably get more use out of it  


Airflyer said it reminded him of a mossie: I reckon its closer to an early p38.  


Bozon:  Apparently it was trialed with numerous improvements including merlin xx's , but the air ministry chaps didnt think it brought anything to the table that they didnt have already.  I spose theres not much it could do the spitfire couldnt, and they were already in production and required half as many engines.   

[Karnak]

I find it hard to believe that this is the only reason. Unless Westland was for some reason compelled to use these engines, they could have switch to another. The Mosquito came about no much after that and had Merlins and they were even evaluated for the potential of a single seat fighter version - big wooden whirlwind? Could it be the victim of the "all critical resources go to build more contemporary fighters and not development" 1940 attitude, that the wooden mosquito was able to slip through?

If the airframe and design was that good and did not rely on this specific engine, it was silly to just scrap it.

Merlins are much larger than Peregrines and it would have required a major redesign of the aircraft to fit them, the RAF decided it wasn't worth it.  This may have been influenced by the RAF's then idea that long ranged fighters needed two crew at least, pilot plus navigator, or the workload would be too heavy.

If the aircraft had been unusable they would have taken it off combat duty, as with the Battle, or out of service entirely, as with the Manchester.  Instead they used them as low altitude fighter-bombers into 1943.

[jolly22]

[Ack-Ack]

What pretty much doomed the Whirlwind were the problems that could not be overcome with the Peregrine engines.  The delays in design and production from the engines further hurt the Whirlwind because other planes that were coming out were meeting the requirements that the Whirlwind was supposed to meet.  By 1940, the Spitfire was mounting the 20mm cannon, so the RAF's requirement of a cannon equipped fighter was being met.  The role of escort was becoming less important as the RAF was shifting away from daylight bombing missions to night time bombing missions, in addition the Whirlwind only had a 300 mile combat radius, hardly suitable for bomber escort duties.  Another requirement of the RAF for twin engine fighters was the ability to carry large radar apparatus, something that Beaufighter could carry just as well, if not far better than the Whirlwind could.

Basically, it was techinical issues (engines) and when those caused delays in the development, like Karnak said, other planes coming out were able to do the job just as good, if not better than the Whirlwind.


ack-ack