CASPIR Armstrong Whitworth Whitley

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley

Source: Harold A Skaarup Web Page (RAF Photo)

The Armstrong Whitworth AW 38 Whitley was one of three British twin-engined, front line bomber types that were in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) at the outbreak of the Second World War. Alongside the Vickers Wellington and the Handley Page Hampden, the Whitley was developed during the mid-1930s according to Air Ministry Specification B.3/34, which it was subsequently selected to meet. In 1937, the Whitley formally entered into RAF squadron service; it was the first of the three medium bombers to be introduced. Following the outbreak of war in September 1939, the Whitley participated in the first RAF bombing raid upon German territory and remained an integral part of the early British bomber offensive. In 1942 it was superseded as a bomber by the larger four-engined "heavies" such as the Avro Lancaster. Its front line service included maritime reconnaissance with Coastal Command and the second line roles of glider-tug, trainer and transport aircraft. The type was also procured by British Overseas Airways Corporation as a civilian freighter aircraft. The aircraft was named after Whitley, a suburb of Coventry, home of one of Armstrong Whitworth's plants.

John Lloyd, the Chief Designer of Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, selected the Armstrong Siddeley Tiger IX radial engine to power the Whitley, which was capable of generating 795 hp (593 kW). One of the more innovative features of the Whitley's design was the adoption of a three-bladed two-position variable-pitch propeller built by de Havilland; the Whitley was the first aircraft to fly with such an arrangement. Lloyd was unfamiliar with the use of flaps on a large heavy monoplane, they were initially omitted from the design. To compensate, the mid-set wings were set at a high angle of incidence (8.5°) to confer good take-off and landing performance. Although flaps were included late in the design stage, the wing remained unaltered; as a result, the Whitley flew with a pronounced nose-down attitude when at cruising speed, resulting in considerable drag. The Whitley holds the distinction of having been the first RAF aircraft with a semi-monocoque fuselage, which was built using a slab-sided structure to ease production. This replaced the tubular construction method traditionally employed by Armstrong Whitworth, who instead constructed the airframe from light-alloy rolled sections, pressings and corrugated sheets.

The Whitley had a crew of five: a pilot, co-pilot/navigator, a bomb aimer, a wireless operator and a rear gunner. The pilot and second pilot/navigator sat side by side in the cockpit, with the wireless operator further back. The navigator, his seat mounted on rails and able to pivot, slid backwards and rotated to the left to use the chart table behind him after takeoff. The bomb aimer position was in the nose with a gun turret located directly above. The fuselage aft of the wireless operator was divided horizontally by the bomb bay; behind the bomb bay was the main entrance and aft of that the rear turret. The offensive armaments were stowed in two bomb bays housed within the fuselage, along with a further 14 smaller cells in the wing. Other sources state there were 16 "cells" total: two groups of 2 in the fuselage, and four groups of 3 in the wings, plus two smaller cells for parachute flares in the rear fuselage. Bomb racks capable of holding larger bombs were installed on the Whitley Mk III variant. Wikipedia

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Armstrong Whitworth Whitley

CASPIR Aircraft Groups:

Whitley AD671

Whitley AD675

Whitley AD685

Whitley AD689

Whitley AD697

Whitley AD701

Whitley AD712

Whitley AD714

Whitley BD195

Whitley BD210

Whitley BD212

Whitley BD213

Whitley BD232

Whitley BD257

Whitley BD266

Whitley BD267

Whitley BD276

Whitley BD281

Whitley BD282

Whitley BD290

Whitley BD293

Whitley BD349

Whitley BD358

Whitley BD359

Whitley BD368

Whitley BD378

Whitley BD414

Whitley BD420

Whitley BD428

Whitley BD438

Whitley BD442

Whitley BD536

Whitley BD538

Whitley BD543

Whitley BD564

Whitley BD627

Whitley BD681

Whitley BD683

Whitley EB338

Whitley EB347

Whitley EB348

Whitley EB349

Whitley EB384

Whitley EB387

Whitley EB404

Whitley K7255

Whitley K8950

Whitley K8957

Whitley K9048

Whitley LA766

Whitley LA784

Whitley LA814

Whitley LA831

Whitley LA836

Whitley LA841

Whitley LA853

Whitley LA877

Whitley LA879

Whitley LA882

Whitley LA937

Whitley N1357

Whitley N1361

Whitley N1376

Whitley N1379

Whitley N1390

Whitley N1393

Whitley N1405

Whitley N1426

Whitley N1430

Whitley N1434

Whitley N1439

Whitley N1442

Whitley N1460

Whitley N1470

Whitley N1474