Westland Whirlwind (fighter) pics 2 [7/9] - Westland Whirlwind-3.jpg (1/1)

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In article , Stormin' Norman says...

On 7 Nov 2018 07:28:15 -0800, Miloch
wrote:

An excellent post series Miloch. I had never seen or even heard of
this aircraft. It looks like an impressive design, I would be
interested in learning more about why it was really pulled from
service and wasn't more widely built.



from the source...

"Despite the Whirlwind's promise, production ended in January 1942, after the
completion of just two prototypes and 112 production aircraft. Rolls-Royce
needed to concentrate on the development and production of the Merlin, and the
troubled Vulture, rather than the Peregrine. Westland was aware that its design
– which had been built around the Peregrine – was incapable of using anything
larger without an extensive redesign. After the cancellation of the Whirlwind,
Petter campaigned for the development of a Whirlwind Mk II, which was to have
been powered by an improved 1,010 hp Peregrine, with a better, higher-altitude
supercharger, also using 100 octane fuel, with an increased boost rating. This
proposal was aborted when Rolls-Royce cancelled work on the Peregrine. Building
a Whirlwind consumed three times as much alloy as a Spitfire.




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