Jane's Encyclopedia of Aviation

Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley (UK)
   Most extensively built of all Armstrong Whit­worth aircraft was the Whitley heavy bomber, designed to meet the British Air Ministry specification B.3/34. More than 1,800 were produced. Selected for production off the drawing board in 1935 the prototype flew for the first time on 17 March 1936. The second prototype and 34 Mk I production aircraft which followed were all powered by two 592.5 kW (795 hp) Armstrong Siddeley Tiger IX radial engines. Mk IV, V and VII Whitleys, which followed later, had Rolls-Royce Merlin engines - these conferring considerably improved performance.
   Whitleys began to enter RAF service in the early months of 1937 and by the outbreak of war in 1939 were well established in the bomber squadrons. Being slower than the contemporary Handley Page Hampden and Vickers Wellington they were classed as night bombers. They were a vital component of Bomber Command operations until their withdrawal from front-line service in 1941. Achieving some of the major milestones of the war, the Whitley was responsible for the first widespread leaflet raids over Germany, in September 1939; the first bombing raid on Germany, in May 1940; the first bombing raid on Italy, in June 1940; and the first paratroop operation over Southern Italy, in February 1941. After its withdrawal from front-line service with Bomber Command the Whitley was converted for use as a general reconnaissance bomber and put into ser­vice by Coastal Command. In another converted form it was used to train the first British airborne troops and to take them into action for the first time, in a flight from England to Southern Italy. At the end of the war the type was still in service for training and other miscellaneous duties. (A full description of the type appears in the 1945-46 Jane's.)
   Data (Whitley V): Engines two 801.5 kW (1,075 hp) Merlin Xs Wingspan 25.6 m (84ft 0in) Length 22.10 m (72 ft 6 in) Max T-O weight 12,790 kg (28,200 lb) Max level .speed 367 km/h (228 mph) Combat range 2,414 km (1,500 miles) Armament five 0.303 in machine-guns, plus up to 3,175 kg (7,000 lb) of bombs

Flight, November 1939

Britain's Military Aircraft
A Survey of Our Service Machines

ARMSTRONG WHITWORTH

   FOR some time the extensive production facilities of the Armstrong Whitworth works have been used for the large-scale production of Whitley twin-engined bombers.
   From the original Mark I version with Siddeley Tiger IX radial engines this type has been developed into the Whitley V, which, like the Mark IV, mounts liquid-cooled Rolls-Royce Merlins.
   The cantilever wing of the Whitley is built round a box spar which has vertical corrugated walls and, top and bottom, span-wise corrugations. The outer panels are slightly tapered and have a marked dihedral angle. Extending from aileron to fuselage on each side are hydraulically operated trailing-edge flaps. The ailerons are of the Frise type.
   Unusual in that it tapers little in depth, the fuselage, like the wing, is constructed in three sections. Structurally, it is a metal monocoque with smooth sheet covering riveted to the stringers, the latter being supported by hoops.
   The tailplane is set low on idle fuselage and carries two braced fins set well inboard from the tips.
   In both Merlin and Tiger versions the undercarriage retracts forward into the engine nacelles. There are three main fuel tanks, two in the wing and one in the fuselage.
   The crew is normally five and there are power-operated gun turrets in the nose, amidships and in the tail. The midships position takes the form of a retractable "dustbin" which is rotatable through 360 deg. Bombs are stowed in the centre section of the wing and in the fuselage, the doors to the bomb cells being retained in the closed position during flight by spring loading.
   Marks II and III are fitted with a pair of two-speed supercharged Armstrong Siddeley Tiger VIII fourteen-cylinder air-cooled engines on welded steel-tube mountings.
   Performance, figures for the Whitley V may not be quoted, but the Mark IV version has a top speed of 245 m.p.h. The Whitley III with Tiger VIII engines, which deliver 1,610 h.p. (combined) for level flight at 15,000ft., is capable of 215 m.p.h. at that height, the cruising speed at the same altitude being 177 m.p.h. on 66 percent, power. Dimensions are: Span. 84ft.; length, 69ft. 3in.; height, 15ft.; and wing area, 1,323 sq. ft. Empty the machine weighs 15,750 lb., the gross weight being 24,000 lb. The good handling characteristics and the low stalling speed of 59 m.p.h. makes the Whitley very suitable for night (lying.

Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, Ltd.. Whitley, Coventry.