Inspirations Thread

[PR19_Kit]

Sounds typical Dowding, but I've hardly thought an aircraft with FOUR 20 mm cannon would be a 'passenger' when it came to knocking down H-111s, Ju-88s or Do-17s!

[Weaver]

Sounds typical Dowding, but I've hardly thought an aircraft with FOUR 20 mm cannon would be a 'passenger' when it came to knocking down H-111s, Ju-88s or Do-17s!

Yeah, but they would be if zero out of five were serviceable at one point. How much training had they managed to do by October?

[PR19_Kit]

There's nothing in The Rules to say you can't change history and have Westland build the Whirlwind a year earlier than they did for real..... 

[Thorvic]

There's nothing in The Rules to say you can't change history and have Westland build the Whirlwind a year earlier than they did for real..... 

I think it was more to do with Rolls Royce getting the Peregrine engines sorted out as it should have been more readily available for the BoB

[Weaver]

IIRC somebody in the UK had a licence to build the Hispano-Suiza V-12 engine. What if Petter had anticipated the problems with the Peregrines in the same way that Roy Chadwick foresaw problems with the Manchester's Vulture, and had an alternate scheme for a Hispano-Suiza -engined Whirlwind in reserve just in case?

Alternatively, suppose the RAF ordered two versions of the Whirlwind: Peregrine-engined for air-to-air and Mercury-engined for air-to-ground (slower, but less vulnerable to ground fire). Late Mercuries (or a more developed Perseus) put out about the same bhp as the Peregrine, but with more drag, of course.

[Hman]

Just put a bid in on EBay, for a Airfix Whirlwind...

[NARSES2]

If I remember my reading Petter had a fixation about getting the cowlings of the Whirlwind as closely matched to the engines as possible, he also seems to have been a man who once he made up his mind you couldn't shift him ? Still there is no reason that Westland's couldn't have carried on with alternative engines if he had stomped off in a tiz ? 

[Weaver]

If I remember my reading Petter had a fixation about getting the cowlings of the Whirlwind as closely matched to the engines as possible, he also seems to have been a man who once he made up his mind you couldn't shift him ? Still there is no reason that Westland's couldn't have carried on with alternative engines if he had stomped off in a tiz ? 

Well stomping off in a tiz was one of his specialities... There's nothing to say he couldn't have two alternative engine schemes for the Whirlwind though, both with equally obsessively tailored cowlings.

[NARSES2]

If I remember my reading Petter had a fixation about getting the cowlings of the Whirlwind as closely matched to the engines as possible, he also seems to have been a man who once he made up his mind you couldn't shift him ? Still there is no reason that Westland's couldn't have carried on with alternative engines if he had stomped off in a tiz ? 

Well stomping off in a tiz was one of his specialities... There's nothing to say he couldn't have two alternative engine schemes for the Whirlwind though, both with equally obsessively tailored cowlings.

No very much so

[Captain Canada]

Radials ? US radials ?

[perttime]

IIRC somebody in the UK had a licence to build the Hispano-Suiza V-12 engine. What if Petter had anticipated the problems with the Peregrines in the same way that Roy Chadwick foresaw problems with the Manchester's Vulture, and had an alternate scheme for a Hispano-Suiza -engined Whirlwind in reserve just in case?

I like that!
Where to get the engine nacelles? Something French or Soviet? Klimov M-100 and Klimov M-105 were basically slightly tweaked Hispano-Suiza 12Ys.

[Hman]

I am going for a subtle WHIF... Peregrine engines are staying.

[jcf]

The original Taurus radial powered first prototype of the Gloster F.9/37 was 30mph faster than the Peregrine powered second aircraft,
so it may be worth a look for re-enging the Whirlwind. 

[zenrat]

IIRC somebody in the UK had a licence to build the Hispano-Suiza V-12 engine. What if Petter had anticipated the problems with the Peregrines in the same way that Roy Chadwick foresaw problems with the Manchester's Vulture, and had an alternate scheme for a Hispano-Suiza -engined Whirlwind in reserve just in case?

I like that!
Where to get the engine nacelles? Something French or Soviet? Klimov M-100 and Klimov M-105 were basically slightly tweaked Hispano-Suiza 12Ys.

Dewoitine D520.  A couple of Frogspawn examples should be fairly cheap.  You could even retain the cannons firing through the spinners...

[zenrat]

Reading Deighton's Fighter this morning he mentions that ErprGr 210 were evaluating the Me 210 under battle conditions in mid 1940 but were given Bf 110s during the battle instead.  There's a possible Whiff.