Flight testing at Boscombe Down was very critical of the Albemarle.
Performance was mediocre. (Speed and ceiling)
The twin rudders lacked sufficient travel, were too heavy to maintain straight flight on one engine and the aileron and rudder trimmers were poor.
The nose wheel brake was ineffective.
Trials of the upper turret revealed its draughtiness, and lowering the ventral turret at speeds up to 273mph caused snaking. Even when the turret was retracted flight characteristics were judged as unpleasant and distinctly uncomfortable at aft CG.
Poor crew heating-non existent aft of the spar, was expected to cause extreme discomfort for operational crews, especially in the cold upper turret.
Extremely poor performance at high weights.
Take-off distance was longer on concrete compared to grass.
Most damming of the comments following intensive flying was that the wooden structure of the wings warped in the rain when parked outside in spite of the use of a cover and liberal floor polish; the Albemarle was considered unsuitable for operational use.
Extremely difficult to load bombs. The hoisting winch was located outside the fuselage and the cable threaded tortuously down through the bay for each bomb, and it was found nearly impossible to reach around the bombs to make the necessary connections.
As a glider tug persistent overheating of the engines was the norm. Various shrouds, baffles, extra cooling holes in the nacelles and semi-flared propellers were all tried but the cylinders remained prone to overheating.
The Mk IV ceiling was even lower with Wright Cyclone engines and the mountings were too rigid, leading to structural breakages.
"The Secret Years" by Tim Mason.