Whirlwind fans, prepare yourselve's…

Of course you all know that the Miles P6.36 Kestrel Trainer c/n 330 with its 745 hp R-R Kestrel engine and built at Woodley had excellent performance. It was first flown on June 3, 1937 and was the precurser of the Miles Master. It was later registered as G-AEOC but flew as U-5. Transferred to the RAF and given serial N3300 in May 1938, it was finally dismantled at Woodley in 1943.
But everybody knows that, don’t they!

I did say it “may be” the Hotspur . . .

Thanks PL 🙂 A quick google for hawker hotspur revealed a few more clearer pictures, it’s a lovely looking ac… why was it ever dropped???

Now… i wonder if i can find a nice kit of it 🙂
And yes.. the ‘gunbus’ is indeed a horace farman…. whata mistaka de maka! :p

I think you’ll find the “Hotspur” is the Kestrel; and the Kestrel was a beautiful aeroplane with that distinctive gentle inverted gull wing – as can be clearly seen in the image in question. (Also undercarriage geometry, canopy panels, “sit” of the aircraft etc.)

There were 2 main reasons for abandoning the Hotspur:
1. The Boulton Paul Defiant, also designed to meet Spec. F.9/35 had flown by the time the Hotspur, after somewhat slow building, was ready, and
2. All the factories in the newly-formed Hawker Siddeley Group were fully committed to designs for which production contracts had been issued.
Note that the turret on the Hotspur was only ever a wooden mock-up and in fact was later removed, the gunner’s position being faired over , before this one and only prototype was used for Henley light bomber development trials at the RAE, where it remained from 1939 to 1942.

It may be the one and only Hawker Hotspur, K8309, first flown by Philip Lucas on 14 June 1938.

Thanks PL 🙂 A quick google for hawker hotspur revealed a few more clearer pictures, it’s a lovely looking ac… why was it ever dropped???

Now… i wonder if i can find a nice kit of it 🙂
And yes.. the ‘gunbus’ is indeed a horace farman…. whata mistaka de maka! :p

Super web site !!! Has anybody found an index page or able to search be aircraft type ? , guess its more fun just starting a No 1.

Try this…. http://www.flightglobal.com/StaticPages/images.html

It allows you to view the whole gallery in groups of thumbnails instead of having to flick thro each image 🙂

Kenb’o

In the Hamlyn Guide to British Aircraft of WW2, there is an excellent double page colour photo of P7048.
In that publication it also states that it’s high landing speed restricted the number of airfields it could use.
Presumably, had the type been fitted with Merlins instead, it would have been a real winner, though I expect that there was a shortage of engines at the time as they were being frantically fitted to Hurricanes and Spitfires.
I remember the Whirlwind being one of the first kits produced by Airfix, which was surprising considering it’s small production run.

Super web site !!! Has anybody found an index page or able to search be aircraft type ? , guess its more fun just starting a No 1.

wow ……! A fantastic collection of pictures 😀 😀 But one a/c particularly caught my eye in picture 16, can somebody shed any light as to it’s ID?? It’s next to the Gunbus to the rear right of the lineup, a low wing monoplane, natural silver, with a 3bladed VP prop’ and a prominent chin radiator/intake, you can see it again in picture 23 to the rear left of the image.
Would love to know what it is

Any takers???

Kenb’o

My guess would be the Miles Kestrel- if you mean the one alongside the Horace Farman

It may be the one and only Hawker Hotspur, K8309, first flown by Philip Lucas on 14 June 1938.

wow ……! A fantastic collection of pictures 😀 😀 But one a/c particularly caught my eye in picture 16, can somebody shed any light as to it’s ID?? It’s next to the Gunbus to the rear right of the lineup, a low wing monoplane, natural silver, with a 3bladed VP prop’ and a prominent chin radiator/intake, you can see it again in picture 23 to the rear left of the image.
Would love to know what it is

Any takers???

Kenb’o

Yes, it’s a superb archive, we discussed it recently on Wings Over New Zealand Forum and then PlaneTalk. Good to see the link is getting around for everyone to see.

http://forum.planetalk.net/viewtopic.php?t=2003&highlight=whitley

I wonder if any blueprints excist for the venerable British Fighter? Hey, if they can build brand new Me-262’s why not new Whirlwinds……….. :rolleyes:

Airacobra AH579

Would this be close enough, BigVern?
From page 13 of “The Concise Guide to American Aircraft of World War II” by David Mondey

One word – Engines

Er No! One other word: Lysanders. And a rapidly expanding (and demanding)army

NiallC

It could be off a Beaufighter II, however its most likely off a Lanc (the non black cammo on the upper panel is a bit of a giveaway).

York or Lanc. Pic 335 show sections of Lancaster/York wing and outer engine mounting frames.

Cheers

Cees

I wont try imagining the pics in colours….will propably make me have an orgasm. 😀

There really are some awesome pics on there, stuff like early Definat in bare metal finish………mmmmmmmmmm…sweeeet candy.

Look at these:

http://www.flightglobal.com/ImageArchive/PhotoArchive/1939-1945/fa_18161s.aspx

Granted them’s lovely Whirlwinds … but the archive as a whole is magnificent. I have now “wasted” probably an hour and half of precious work-time pressing on through the archive. All sorts of things in their. A wonderful, wonderful resource. Thank you MrBlueSky.

Poor performance above 15,000 ft. Superb performance below. Range was hampered by the inability to transfer fuel from one tank to the other.

I believe it was one of if not the RAF’s first twin engined single seat fighters.