Westland Whirlwind

[pangea]

I support adding the Westland Whirlwind to AH.  Thanks and <S> to all who have worked so hard to make this happen.

[blood_scout67]

westland whrilwind is amazing go westland !!!!!!!!!!!!

[JUGgler]

oops, I left the window open and this came back,  sorry




JUGgler

[Baggy]

Any news from the records office Martyn?

[Martyn]

I have been informed that the records 'should' be ready for me to collect by Tue 7th Feb.
They 'should' notify me by email - but they haven't.
As I needed to book a day off, I've given them a 2 day grace period and I'm going up on Thursday (provided the transport system doesn't collapse under the incredible weight of a quarter inch of snow!).

Once got, I'll then need to ascertain how to get the information up on the interweb. It depends on how much there is. Even the archive people aren't too sure. I might also take copies and snail-mail them to AH for their own records - but again, it depends on size.

I will let you guys know as it happens.

[Martyn]

(double post)

[nrshida]

Martyn, if it's possible please make these documents available to us also. The information is legally in the public domain. Given the work some of us have put into this thread and the spirit of sharing that exists here.

If you need help uploading it let me know, you can use The GFC file sharing service if it helps. 

[Martyn]

Let me make myself clear.
I have no intention of keeping this information to myself, despite the cost.
I shall come to you if I need help - but I do have access to technology.
The only limitations are my time and the quantity of material involved.
I'll keep you up to date as/when/if things happen.
So far its looking good - but still no word from the archives. I shall be ringing them Wednesday if they don't get in touch beforehand.
 

[Martyn]

OK, I've got a box of documentation from the Nat. Archives.

For all you UK-Type-People, the National Archives at Kew is a pretty nice place. It has an Internet Cafe, a proper Cafe/Restaurant and a shop that seems to sell some WW2 books (amongst others of course). Well worth a visit if you want to do some research - but check the website first JIC.

I have scanned all the AVIA 18/691 (Westland Whirlwind) documents. They were originally foolscap so they're now scanned into A3 mulitple page TIFF files. There are 8 files, sizes vary from 300KB to 3.5MB. Some of the pages are poor quality though.

I'm not sure if I can process these any different, I still need to check what my home scanner can do. Let's see if the current files are OK as a source first.

Also, I have AVIA 15/580 documentation - but there's an awful lot of it and it needs sorting first.

[Brownien]

cool plane +1

[nrshida]

Taken from: Air Ministry and successors: Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment: Reports and Notes AVIA 18/691 Whirlwind aircraft: performance and handling trials. - Date range: 1940 - 1942 - The National Archives, Kew.

This data courtesy of Martyn  for your efforts sir and thank you.

[Martyn]

If the 'Hitech Gods' need any specific information and/or clarification then let us know.

I also have the Fairey Firefly data but that's far more complicated. There's an awful lot of it.
I shall be working through that more slowly.

[Baggy]

Thanks for your efforts Martyn - we can expect this aircraft to be added in about 2 weeks! 

Re the Firefly. HTC would only need the Mk I stuff as this is the only version that saw combat in WWII. Is that easily sorted or do you have to trawl through loads of stuff to get the data for it?

[Volron]

I am having a lot of trouble trying to read a few of those pages.  When clicking to zoom in, it keeps it nice and tiny instead of coming into actual page size, so it makes it impossible to read some of them, especially the last one.  I believe that is something you can take care of though.  If it still readable in front of you but can't really make out things on screen, you will have to send either copies or the real deal to HTC.  In the end, I think they would prefer to receive the paper documentation vs an email but only they can really comment on their preferences at this point.

Regardless, very nice work!

[nrshida]

I'll upload bigger versions tomorrow.