fastmongrel
1st Sergeant
The Whirlwind is one of our favourite what if, coulda woulda shoulda planes but I am confused about the range of the plane. Wiki gives 800 mile range and 150 mile combat radius but I have seen other figures giving ranges down to 300 miles and flight times of as little as 45 minutes.
We know that the Whirlwind flew escort missions as far as Antwerp, anti ship dive bombing raids with 2 x 500 pounders as far as Cherbourg and Rhubarb missions with 2 x 250 pound bombs as far as the northern outskirts of Paris.
The last mission of 137 sqn on 21st June 43 was a Rhubarb to an aerodrome at Poix Du Nord, at the time wiki says 137 was based at RAF Rochford which is near Southend Essex which to me seems much too far for a Whirlwind to fly with bombs so possibly 137 was still at RAF Manston. This is still a good distance and I imagine if the radius was 150 miles the pilots were getting very nervous and keeping a good eye on the fuel gauge and mixture lever as they crossed the Channel.
I have also read that the fuel systems for each engine were seperate and if one engine died the other could not draw on the fuel. This seems very stupid and if it was so surely a modification could have been made to cross connect the tanks. Even a fuselage as tight fitting as the Whirlwind someone could have fitted a pipe and fuel c0ck somewhere.
We know that the Whirlwind flew escort missions as far as Antwerp, anti ship dive bombing raids with 2 x 500 pounders as far as Cherbourg and Rhubarb missions with 2 x 250 pound bombs as far as the northern outskirts of Paris.
The last mission of 137 sqn on 21st June 43 was a Rhubarb to an aerodrome at Poix Du Nord, at the time wiki says 137 was based at RAF Rochford which is near Southend Essex which to me seems much too far for a Whirlwind to fly with bombs so possibly 137 was still at RAF Manston. This is still a good distance and I imagine if the radius was 150 miles the pilots were getting very nervous and keeping a good eye on the fuel gauge and mixture lever as they crossed the Channel.
I have also read that the fuel systems for each engine were seperate and if one engine died the other could not draw on the fuel. This seems very stupid and if it was so surely a modification could have been made to cross connect the tanks. Even a fuselage as tight fitting as the Whirlwind someone could have fitted a pipe and fuel c0ck somewhere.