Whirlwind Fighter Squadron

[johnbr]

 

[Wurger]

 

[Sid327]

What a promising design.

It looks good too.

Just bad timing? Would have been appreciably better with Merlins. But in the mid 30's the choice was about the information they had at the time.
Shame.

 

[baldrick]

What a promising design.

It looks good too.

Just bad timing? Would have been appreciably better with Merlins. But in the mid 30's the choice was about the information they had at the time.
Shame.

Eric Brown once said of the whirlwind in one of his books, If it were fitted with Merlins, the Centre of Gravity would be about three feet in front of the aeroplanes nose.

 

[Gnomey]

Good one!

 

[Admiral Beez]

What a promising design.

It looks good too.

Just bad timing? Would have been appreciably better with Merlins. But in the mid 30's the choice was about the information they had at the time.
Shame.

It would have been interesting if both squadrons plus spares were sent to Malaya pre-war to join the Buffaloes, Blenheims, Hudsons and Vilderbeests. You'd need a long runway, so likely the Whirlwind goes to the larger primary bases rather than the distant rough fields.

Whirlwind vs. Ki-43 Oscar would be interesting. The former is faster and much heavier armed, but only has 60 rounds per gun. The latter is fragile but agile.