Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armstr...orth_Albemarle

The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.41 Albemarle was a British twin-engine transport
aircraft that entered service during the Second World War.

Originally designed as a medium bomber, the Albemarle was used for general and
special transport duties, paratroop transport, and glider towing. Albemarle
squadrons participated in Normandy and the assault on Arnhem during Operation
Market Garden.

The Albemarle was a mid-wing, cantilever monoplane with twin fins and rudders.
The fuselage was built in three sections; the structure being unstressed plywood
over a steel tube frame. The forward section used stainless steel tubing to
reduce interference with magnetic compasses. It had a Lockheed hydraulically
operated, retractable tricycle landing gear, with the main wheels retracting
back into the engine nacelles and the nose wheel retracting backwards into the
front fuselage.

The two pilots sat side-by-side with the radio operator behind the pilots and
the navigator sat in the nose forward of the cockpit. The bomb aimer's sighting
panel was incorporated into the crew hatch in the underside of the nose. In the
rear fuselage were glazed panels for a "fire controller" to coordinate the
turrets against attackers. The dorsal turret was a Boulton-Paul design with four
Browning machine guns. A fairing forward of the turret automatically retracted
as the turret rotated to fire forwards. Fuel was in four tanks and additional
tanks could be carried in the bomb bay.

A notable design feature of the Albemarle was its undercarriage, which included
a retractable nose-wheel (in addition to a semi-concealed "bumper" tail-wheel).
It was the first British-built aircraft with this configuration to enter service
with the Royal Air Force.

The original bomber design required a crew of six including two gunners; one in
a four-gun dorsal turret and one in a twin-gun ventral turret but only the first
32 aircraft, the Mk I Series I, were produced in this configuration, and they
were only used operationally as bombers on two occasions. The Albemarle was
considered inferior to other aircraft already in service, such as the Vickers
Wellington. All subsequent aircraft were built as transports, called either
"General Transport" (GT) or "Special Transport" (ST).

When used as a paratroop transport, ten fully armed troops could be carried. The
paratroopers were provided with a dropping hatch in the rear fuselage and a
large loading door in the fuselage side.

The production run of 600 Albemarles was assembled by A.W. Hawksley Ltd of
Gloucester, a subsidiary of the Gloster Aircraft Company formed to build the
Albemarle. Gloster was a part of the Hawker Siddeley group which included
Armstrong Whitworth. Individual parts and sub-assemblies for the Albemarle were
produced by about 1,000 subcontractors.


Role
Transport, glider tug

Manufacturer
A W Hawksley Ltd

Designer
Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft

First flight
20 March 1940

Primary user
RAF

Produced
1941–1945

Number built
602

The first Albemarle (P1360) first flew on 20 March 1940 at Hamble Aerodrome,
where it was assembled by Air Service Training and was the first of two
prototypes built by Armstrong Whitworth. To improve take-off, a wider span 77 ft
(23 m) wing was fitted after the eighth aircraft. Plans for using it as a bomber
were dropped due to delays in reaching service, it was not an improvement over
current medium bombers (such as the Vickers Wellington) and it had obvious
shortcomings compared to the four-engined heavy bombers about to enter service
but it was considered suitable for general reconnaissance.

The Soviet Air Force placed a contract for delivery of 200 Albemarles in October
1942. A RAF unit No. 305 FTU, at RAF Errol near Dundee was set up to train
Soviet ferry crews. During training, one aircraft was lost with no survivors.

The first RAF squadron to operate the Albemarle was No. 295 at RAF Harwell in
January 1943. Other squadrons to be equipped with the Albemarle included No.
296, No. 297 and No. 570. The first operational flight was on 9 February 1943,
by a 296 Squadron Albemarle which dropped leaflets over Lisieux in Normandy.

From mid-1943, RAF Albemarles took part in many British airborne operations,
beginning with the invasion of Sicily. The pinnacle of the aircraft's career was
a series of operations for D-Day, on the night of 5/6 June 1944. 295 and 296
Squadrons sent aircraft to Normandy with the pathfinder force and 295 Squadron
claimed to be the first squadron to drop Allied airborne troops over Normandy.
On 6 June 1944, four Albemarle squadrons and the operational training unit sent
aircraft during Operation Tonga; 296 Squadron used 19 aircraft to tow Airspeed
Horsas, 295 Squadron towed 21 Horsas, although it lost six in transit, 570
Squadron sent 22 aircraft with ten towing gliders and 42 OTU used four aircraft.
For Operation Mallard on 7 June 1944, the squadrons towed 220 Horsas and 30
Hamilcars to Normandy. On 17 September 1944, during Operation Market Garden at
Arnhem, 54 Horsas and two Waco Hadrian gliders were towed to the Netherlands by
28 Albemarles of 296 and 297 squadrons; 45 aircraft were sent the following day
towing gliders. Of the 602 aircraft delivered, 17 were lost on operations and 81
lost in accidents. The last Royal Air Force unit to operate the type was the
Heavy Glider Conversion Unit, which replaced the Albemarles with Handley Page
Halifaxes in February 1946 and the type was retired from operational units.

Specifications (ST Mk I)

General characteristics
Crew: 4
Capacity: 10 paratroopers in ST
Payload: 4,000 lb freight (1,820 kg)
Length: 59 ft 11 in (18.26 m)
Wingspan: 77 ft 0 in (23.47 m)
Height: 15 ft 7 in (4.75 m)
Wing area: 804 ft² (74.6 m²)
Empty weight: 25,347 lb (10,270 kg)
Loaded weight: 36,500 lb (16,556 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 36,500 lb (16,590 kg)
Powerplant: 2 × Bristol Hercules XI radial engine, 1,590 hp (1,190 kW) each
Propellers: De Havilland hydromatic propeller

Performance
Maximum speed: 230 kn (265 mph, 426 km/h) at 10,500 ft (3,200 m)
Cruise speed: 148 kn (170 mph, 274 km/h)
Stall speed: 61 kn (70 mph, 113 km/h)
Range: 1,300 mi (2,092 km)
Service ceiling: 18,000 ft (5,486 m)
Rate of climb: 980 ft/min (5.0 m/s)

Armament

Guns: 4 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns in dorsal turret.
2 × .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns in ventral turret (first prototype only)

Bombs: Internal bomb bay for 4,500 lb (2,041 kg) of bombs




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