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British twin-engined heavy fighter developed by Westland Aircraft in 1938.
Whirlwind was the first Royal Air Force single-seat twin-engine fighter aircraft built by Westland Aircraft, which was introduced in the late 1930’s with good basic features and could have had a successful career during the Second World War. However, development problems with the Rolls-Royce Peregrine engine delayed the project and a relatively small number of units were eventually built. Only two RAF squadrons were equipped with the Whirlwind and despite its successful use as a fighter-bomber, it was withdrawn from active service in October 1943.
The origin of the Whirlwind concept of a fighter with guns is rooted in the construction philosophy of the new RAF fighters of the mid-1930s. With the elimination of biplane fighters, the increase in the attack speed of the aircraft and the consequent decrease in firing opportunities on the target, it became necessary to increase the minimum firepower per aircraft. Instead of a minimum of two machine guns, the RAF specified that these aircraft had to have eight! At the same time, it was recognized that cannons such as the Hispano-Suiza HS-404 that fired explosive shells was also a good way to increase firepower and a number of requests were made to develop an aircraft equipped with four of these cannons, but according to the aviation concepts of the time, only “small body” aircraft were agile enough to fly as a fighter. Following this principle, a fighter equipped with cannons would therefore have had limited space for fuel and could have been used only for defence or interception operations in view of its autonomy. It is within this context that the idea of a twin-engine fighter appeared to be the best solution. But the load represented by the fuel required would have been a clear handicap in an aerial combat against single-engine fighters. However, Nazi Germany and the United States carried out similar programs that produced the German Messerschmitt Bf 110 and the American Lockheed P-38 Lightning.
The Whirlwind is based on the Royal Air Force 1935 F.37/35 specification for a long-range, single-seat fighter armed with four cannons. Six projects (including three twin-engine) were submitted to meet this specification: the Boulton Paul P.88, the Bristol Type 153A, the Hawker F.37/35 (Hawker Hurricane variant), the Supermarine 312 (Spitfire variant), the Supermarine 313 and the Westland P.9. The Westland project won the bid and an order for two prototypes was placed in February 1937. The prototype flew on October 11, 1938 and made a strong impression mainly because of the great firepower offered by its four 20 mm cannons in the nose. The Whirlwind proved to be an aircraft well adapted to its missions (in particular because of its armament). However, it had a rather limited range and, especially, its engines were unreliable. The Rolls-Royce Peregrine engine is in fact a bloated and fragile Kestrel. As the Rolls-Royce manufacturer was concentrating its efforts on the Merlin engine intended for the Supermarine Spitfire, this condemned the plane in the long run. Despite its Fowler flaps, its landing speed of 128 kmh prohibited the use of short grass fields, and the first Whirlwind was delivered in the summer of 1940 (in service in June). Production ended in December 1941. 112 units were built. Only two squadrons (263 and 137) used it until the end of 1943 as escort fighters or for low-level attack missions. In August 1941, the 263rd escorted Blenheims to Cologne in daylight raid. The “Whirlibomber” ended its career with bombing and attack missions.