Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk.V

[Les0012]

Ok here goes guys, My first build post on ISM so please be gentle.

My subject is the Airfix Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk.V straight out of the box with no after market added. Just want to try out and see how it comes along.

Just got to wait for the postie to deliver some parcels and then we'll be off and running.

The box art,


The Sprues





The glass bitties



Now for the destructions









Hav'nt decided which one I'm attempting yet but here's the colour call outs



Finally the decal sheet


Apologies for the shots that are side ways but the thing that is photobucket wouldn't rotate the pictures so next time I put photos on I will attempt to via Flickr. Also found bucket to be so slow to do anything and kept crashing awell.

Thanks for looking Les

[Les0012]

A little of the history from the usual source that is Wikipedia






Armstrong Whitworth Whitley


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A.W.38 Whitley

Armstrong Whitworth Whitley in flight c1940.jpg
Whitley Mk.V

Role
Night bomber

National origin
United Kingdom

Manufacturer
Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft

Designer
John Lloyd

First flight
17 March 1936

Introduction
1937

Retired
1945

Primary user
Royal Air Force

Number built
1,814

Developed from
Armstrong Whitworth AW.23

The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was one of three British twin-engine, front line medium bomber types in service with the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of the Second World War (the others were the Vickers Wellington and the Handley Page Hampden). It took part in the first RAF bombing raid on German territory and remained an integral part of the early British bomber offensive until the introduction of four-engined "heavies".[1] Its front line service included maritime reconnaissance with Coastal Command and the second line roles of glider-tug, trainer and transport aircraft. The aircraft was named after Whitley, a suburb of Coventry, home of one of Armstrong Whitworth's plants.



Contents [hide]
1 Design and development
2 Operational history
3 Variants
4 Operators 4.1 Military operators
4.2 Civil Operators

5 Survivors
6 Notable appearances in media
7 Specifications (Whitley Mk V)
8 See also
9 References 9.1 Notes
9.2 Bibliography

10 External links



Design and development[edit]





Scale comparison diagram of the trio of British twin-engined medium bombers at the outbreak of the Second World War; the Whitley (pink), the Vickers Wellington (blue) and the Handley Page Hampden (yellow)
The Whitley was designed by John Lloyd, the Chief Designer of Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft to meet Air Ministry Specification B.3/34 issued in 1934 for a heavy night bomber. The AW.38 design was a development of the Armstrong Whitworth AW.23 bomber-transport design that had lost to the Bristol Bombay for specification C.26/31, partly due to its Armstrong Siddeley Tiger engines. The Whitley carried a crew of five and was the first aircraft serving with the RAF to have a (semi‑)monocoque fuselage, using a slab-sided structure which eased production.[1] As Lloyd was unfamiliar with the use of flaps on a large heavy monoplane, they were initially omitted. To compensate, the mid-set wings were set at a high angle of incidence (8.5°) to confer good take-off and landing performance. Although flaps were included late in the design stage, the wing remained unaltered. As a result, the Whitley flew with a pronounced nose-down attitude, resulting in considerable drag.[2] This "nose down" attitude was also seen in the design of the Armstrong Whitworth Ensign pre-war airliner.

The first prototype Whitley Mk I (K4586) flew from Baginton airfield on 17 March 1936, piloted by the Armstrong Whitworth Chief Test Pilot Alan Campbell-Orde and was powered by two 795 hp (593 kW) Armstrong Siddeley Tiger IX radial engines. The second prototype was powered by more powerful Tiger XI engines.[3] Owing to the urgent need to replace biplane heavy bombers in service with the RAF, an order for 80 aircraft had been placed in 1935, "off the drawing board". These had medium-supercharged engines and manually operated, drum magazine single machine guns fore and aft. After the first 34 aircraft had been built, the engines were replaced with more reliable two-stage supercharged Tiger VIIIs, resulting in the Whitley Mk II, that completed the initial order. One Whitley Mk II, K7243, was used as a test bed for the 1,200 hp 21-cylinder radial Armstrong Siddeley Deerhound engine, first flying with the Deerhound on 6 January 1939.[4] The replacement of the manually operated nose turret, with a powered Nash & Thomson turret and a powered retractable two-gun ventral "dustbin" turret, resulted in the Whitley Mk III. The turret was hydraulically powered but it was hard to operate and added considerable drag.

While the Tiger VIIIs used in the Whitley Mks II and III were more reliable than those used in early aircraft, the Whitley was re-engined with Rolls-Royce Merlin engines in 1938, giving rise to the Whitley Mk IV. The new engines produced greatly improved performance and the decision was made to introduce a series of other minor improvements to produce the Whitley Mk V. The fins were modified, leading edge de-icers were fitted, manually operated tail and retractable ventral turrets were replaced with a Nash & Thompson powered turret equipped with four .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns and the rear fuselage was extended by 15 in (381 mm) to improve the field of fire. The Mk V was the most numerous version of the Whitley, with 1,466 built until production ended in June 1943.[1]

Early marks of the Whitley had bomb bay doors—the eight bays were in fuselage compartments and wing cells—that were held shut by bungee cords and opened by the weight of the bombs as they fell on them.[2] The short and unpredictable delay for the doors to open led to highly inaccurate bombing. The Mk.III introduced hydraulically actuated doors which greatly improved bombing accuracy. To aim bombs, the bomb aimer opened a hatch in the nose of the aircraft, which extended the bomb sight out of the fuselage but the Mk IV replaced this hatch with a slightly extended transparency, improving crew comfort. The bomb aimer position was in the nose with a gun turret above. The pilot and second pilot/navigator sat side by side in the cockpit. The navigator rotated to use the chart table behind and the wireless operator was further back. The fuselage aft of the wireless operator was divided horizontally by the bomb bay. Behind the bomb bay was the main entrance and aft of that the rear turret.[5]

Operational history[edit]





Whitley Mk.V production, 1941.
The Whitley first entered service with No. 10 Squadron in March 1937, replacing Handley Page Heyford biplanes.[6] By the outbreak of the Second World War, seven squadrons were operational, the majority flying Whitley IIIs or IVs, as the Whitley V had only just been introduced.[6][7] With the Handley Page Hampden and the Vickers Wellington, Whitleys bore the brunt of the early fighting and saw action on the first night of the war, when they dropped propaganda leaflets over Germany.[8] Among the many aircrew who flew the Whitley in operations over Germany, was Leonard Cheshire who spent most of his first three years at war flying them. Unlike the Hampden and Wellington—which met specification B.9/32 for a day bomber—the Whitley was always intended for night operations and escaped the early heavy losses received in daylight raids on German shipping, early in the war. With Hampdens, the Whitley made the first bombing raid on German soil on the night of 19/20 March 1940, attacking the Hornum seaplane base on the Island of Sylt.[1] Whitleys also carried out Operation Haddock the first RAF raid on Italy, on the night of 11/12 June 1940.[8]

As the oldest of the three bombers, the Whitley was obsolete by the start of the war, yet over 1,000 more were produced before a suitable replacement was found. A particular problem with the twin-engine aircraft, was that it could not maintain altitude on one engine. Whitleys flew 8,996 operations with RAF Bomber Command, dropped 9,845 tons (8,931 tonnes) of bombs and 269 aircraft were lost in action.[9]

The Whitley was retired from front line service in late 1942 but it continued to operate as a transport for troops and freight, as well as for paratroop training and towing gliders. No. 100 Group RAF used Whitleys to carry airborne radar and electronic counter-measures. In February 1942, Whitleys carried the paratroops who participated in the Bruneval raid (Operation Biting) in which German radar technology was captured from a German base on the coast of France.

The British Overseas Airways Corporation operated 15 Whitley Mk Vs converted into freighters in 1942. Running night supply flights from Gibraltar to Malta, they took seven hours to reach the island, often landing during air attacks. They used large quantities of fuel for a small payload and were replaced in August 1942 by the Lockheed Hudson, with the 14 survivors being returned to the Royal Air Force.[10] Long-range Coastal Command Mk VII variants, were among the last in front-line service, with the first kill attributed to them being the sinking of the German U-boat U-751, on 17 July 1942, in combination with a Lancaster heavy bomber.[11][12] Having evaluated the Whitley in 1942, the Fleet Air Arm operated a number of modified ex-RAF Mk VIIs from 1944–46, to train aircrew in Merlin engine management and fuel transfer procedures.[1]


Thanks again Les

[Avgas]

If you're taking photos with your phone Les you can edit them there for rotation etc. Interesting subject, don't see many Whitleys built.

[Les0012]

No Dave I don't own a mobile at the moment, so take on my Kodak compact camera. Am just about to post some from Flickr I hope.

Thanks Les

[Les0012]

Thanks to Paul for moving this to the correct board, I'm a bit of a .

Anyway just off the main A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road on the Nairn side there is a café called the Bervie Chipper, sadly the chipper has closed down but in the grounds is a memorial to 19 OTU that were based at nearby Kinloss and trained many aircrew for operations with Bomber Command.

19 OTU Memorial Forres 3 11-09-11 by Les Goodison, on Flickr
19 OTU Memorial Forres 1 11-09-11 by Les Goodison, on Flickr
19 OTU Memorial Forres 8 11-09-11 by Les Goodison, on Flickr
19 OTU Memorial Forres 4 11-09-11 by Les Goodison, on Flickr
19 OTU Memorial Forres 6 11-09-11 by Les Goodison, on Flickr

So if you are ever in this part of gods own country, Stop get your camera out take a few snaps and spare a thought for the brave men of Bomber Command 1939-1945.

Les

[Les0012]

Ok everyone my first update on the Whitley.

I said that I was not going to use any aftermarket but changed my mind (bad move). Got the Eduard Brassin PE kit and the paint masks. Never again in 1/72 it's so foutery and my eyes aint the best.

Photo's aare not the best but hope you get the idea.

The office is as far as I've got so far.





Thanks for looking crits and suggestions are welcome but please be gentle as it is my first time.

Les

[shortCummins]

looking really good

[Smiffy]

Great looking work, the interior is looking stunning

[Les0012]

Thanks guys

Les

[Willem]

A very interesting aircraft. Looking forward to following your build.

All the best.

[Les0012]

Been a while since I updated the progress, Seems to be going together quite well.




The forward part of the fuselage attached to the wings very nicely indeed.



The rear part not so nicely, needed to fill some large gaps with putty but hopefully will be invisible when primed and painted.



Front and rear turrets built and masked with just some liquid maskol to finisih before the pant goes on.

Next will be the flaps and tail planes, mask off the under carriage bays and paint.

Thanks for looking, see you soon Les