Air Weapons

Fighter (1940)

Westland

Whirlwind

Whirlwind
Whirlwind

A number of aircraft were designed as possible successors to the Spitfire and Hurricane, the least successful of which was the Westland Whirlwind, a rather unconventional twin-engine day fighter which was the first of such configuration to be fielded by the RAF. In spite of a fairly decent top speed and packing a very powerful punch with four nose-mounted cannon, the Whirlwind suffered from inadecuate engines which hampered its performance overall as well as difficult maintenance and high landing speeds which proved highly inconvenient in early-war airfields. Only two squadrons received the Whirlwind, and it was in service only up to 1941 although later it was used as a fighter-bomber (nicknamed the "Whirlybomber") in cross-Channel strikes against occupied Europe. These would serve until 1943 upon which they were retired from front-line duties.

The prototype Whirlwind first flew on 11 October 1939 and entered service in June of the following year. The Mk. I variant was the original fighter version while its conversion to a fighter-bomber was designated Mk. IA with underwing bomb racks. No other variants besides these were produced.

Preceded by:

None

Succeeded by:

None

Datafile

DesignWhirlwind Mk. IA
TypeFighter-Bomber
Year1940
Crew1
Dimensions
Length32 ft 9 in
Height11 ft 7 in
Wing Span44 ft 12 in
Wing Arean/a
Weight
Empty8,310 lbs
Maximum11,410 lbs
Wing Loading45.6 lb/ft²
Performance
Speed360 mph
Ceiling30,300 ft
Range800 mi
Powerplant
Engine2 x Peregrine I
Rolls-Royce
885 hp
Thrust/Weight0.43
Armament
Guns4 x 20-mm
Hispano Mk. I
Payload1,000 lbs
Production
Built112
Total114