Westland "Whirlwind" Fighter

[Subdeacon Joe]

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_Whirlwind_%28fighter%29

 

Many pilots who flew the Whirlwind praised its performance. Sergeant G. L. Buckwell of 263 Squadron, who was shot down in a Whirlwind over Cherbourg, later commented that the Whirlwind was "great to fly – we were a privileged few... In retrospect the lesson of the Whirlwind is clear... A radical aircraft requires either prolonged development or widespread service to exploit its concept and eliminate its weaknesses. Too often in World War II, such aircraft suffered accelerated development or limited service, with the result that teething difficulties came to be regarded as permanent limitations."^[13] Bruce Robertson, in The Westland Whirlwind Described, quotes a 263 Squadron pilot as saying, "It was regarded with absolute confidence and affection."

 

 

 

WWII Color Photo

 

 

 

 

 

4 20mm cannon

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

Sure was ugly, though.

 

There's ugly and there's ugly. For example, a Warthog is ugly, but in a beautiful way.

 

This Whirlwind was ugly in an ugly way.

[Subdeacon Joe]

Sure was ugly, though.

 

There's ugly and there's ugly. For example, a Warthog is ugly, but in a beautiful way.

 

This Whirlwind was ugly in an ugly way.

 

 

I sort of agree. Front end looks good. But that horizontal stabilizer looks like someone glued on a popsicle stick.

[Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619]

In contemporary aircraft, the Mosquito was ugly in a beautiful way.

 

An interesting contrast. The Whirlwind had many virtues and high expectations, but never amounted to much. The Mossie turned out to be incredibly versatile and served in countless unexpected roles in the War.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

And for much of the war nothing on either side could outrun the mosquito. Nor bad for a "cabinet shop special".

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

Wasn't the Zero also made of wood ?

Apparently it outflew anything we had early on in the war.

But, and there seems to always be an ugly but, they didn't

seem to have much staying power with a .50 caliber or even

a .30 caliber bullet.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

I was told by a mosquito pilot - whose wife worked for my parents in 1952 or 1953 - that the mosquito would hold up unless a "vital" joint or some mechanical part was destroyed. They patched bullet holes with fabric and glue and flew them back out as soon as the glue dried and the bird was recharged with fuel and ammo.

[Litl Red]

Wasn't the Zero also made of wood also?

Apparently it outflew anything we had early on in the war.

But, and there seems to always be an ugly but, they didn't

seem to have much staying power with a .50 caliber or even

a .30 caliber bullet.

Nope, Zero wasn't. And didn't have any armor and gas tanks weren't self-sealing.

 

And when captured ones were test flown, the consensus was they were anything but robust and shabbily built as well. As for their invincibility early on, the early Jap pilots had years of combat experience in their favor. An example of what page we were on is probably Guadalcanal. Our Marines went ashore carrying 1903 Springfields and were wearing WWI uniforms.

[Bugs Bonney SASS # 10171]

The Zero was nimble and could out maneuver the P40's and Aracobras, but it didn't take much to hurt them badly. Little Red has it right. Great pilots in good planes can shoot down inexperienced pilots in great planes. Just look at what Bong and McGuire did in an airplane designed to intercept bombers not dogfight.

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

The Zero was nimble and could out maneuver the P40's and Aracobras, but it didn't take much to hurt them badly. Little Red has it right. Great pilots in good planes can shoot down inexperienced pilots in great planes. Just look at what Bong and McGuire did in an airplane designed to intercept bombers not dogfight.

What did they do? I am not familiar with the names.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

What did they do? I am not familiar with the names.

Highest scoring aces?

[Sorrowful Saul, SASS #47778]

Richard Bong was the top scoring American Ace with 40 kills while flying a P-38.

[Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795]

McGuire was right behind him, also flying the P-38

[Chantry]

What did they do? I am not familiar with the names.

Flying the P-38, Bong had 40 victories and McGuire 38 victories, both were awarded the Medal of Honor and neither survived the war. Bong was killed in August of 1945 in a P-80 crash in the U.S. and McGuire was killed January 1945 over the Philippines when his plane stalled at low altitude and crashed during combat.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Bong's death was the headline just below the headline about the bomb on Hiroshima.

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

OH!

[Trailrider #896]

Some of our own fighters in WWII had teething problems at first. The P-38 was a great plane...but its heating system was so poor that it couldn't live up to its other great attributes at high altitude in the European Theater. Pilot's and guns, etc. nearly froze to death in the winter. Sent to the Pacific, it was a great improvement over P-40's, P-39/400's, etc., especially after Slim Lindberg taught them how to practically double their range by leaning out the mixture and setting the props so slow you could count the individual blades turning...until, of course, you got to enemy territory.

 

The F4U Corsair was so dangerous on carrier landings because of a tendency to roll off in a semi-stall, that the Marines were restricted to land fields...until the maintenance troops installed an angle iron on the (IIRC) right wing, so it would stall out when the left one did. Later, of course, the problems were corrected by engineering changes. The Corsair then became not only "Whispering Death" to the Japanese pilots, but a terrific CAS plane, that was used through Korea.

 

The Zero was only superior early on, and when flown by highly trained Japanese Navy pilots. Once we figured out how to deal with them (diving attack...don't try to dogfight with them), and they started losing their good pilots, having no armor plate or self-sealing gas tanks, plus having an external gas tank that couldn't be dropped, and being made of magnesium alloy that burned like a torch, their early advantage was overwhelmed.

[Subdeacon Joe]

Some of our own fighters in WWII had teething problems at first. The P-38 was a great plane...but its heating system was so poor that it couldn't live up to its other great attributes at high altitude in the European Theater. Pilot's and guns, etc. nearly froze to death in the winter. Sent to the Pacific, it was a great improvement over P-40's, P-39/400's, etc., especially after Slim Lindberg taught them how to practically double their range by leaning out the mixture and setting the props so slow you could count the individual blades turning...until, of course, you got to enemy territory.

 

The F4U Corsair was so dangerous on carrier landings because of a tendency to roll off in a semi-stall, that the Marines were restricted to land fields...until the maintenance troops installed an angle iron on the (IIRC) right wing, so it would stall out when the left one did. Later, of course, the problems were corrected by engineering changes. The Corsair then became not only "Whispering Death" to the Japanese pilots, but a terrific CAS plane, that was used through Korea.

 

The Zero was only superior early on, and when flown by highly trained Japanese Navy pilots. Once we figured out how to deal with them (diving attack...don't try to dogfight with them), and they started losing their good pilots, having no armor plate or self-sealing gas tanks, plus having an external gas tank that couldn't be dropped, and being made of magnesium alloy that burned like a torch, their early advantage was overwhelmed.

 

The initial P-51s were under-powered dogs. The P-47 initially was underpowered (engine didn't live up to its rating) and the skinny propeller didn't make good use of what power there was. Even after the engine was upgraded, it didn't really live up to its potential until the paddle-bladed prop was used.

 

Every aircraft (heck, just about every complex machine) has problems with the first iteration.