Armstrong Whitworth A.W.29

A.W.29
Role	Day bomber
National origin	England
Manufacturer	Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft
First flight	6 December 1936[1]
Number built	1 prototype

The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.29 was a British bomber aircraft built by Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft.

Design and development

It was built to satisfy Air Ministry specification P.27/32, which was for a single-engined long-range day bomber. The A.W.29 was a mid-wing cantilever monoplane. Its front fuselage was a welded tubular steel structure, and the rear fuselage a monocoque light alloy with an unbraced tailplane, fin and rudder. The conventional landing gear was hydraulically retractable by either an engine-driven or hand pump leaving the tyres partially exposed. The long-chord cowled, nose-mounted engine drove a three-bladed propeller.^[1][2]

The A.W.29 was a two-crew aircraft. The pilot was seated ahead of the wing leading edge and the gunner/observer in a distant cockpit aft of the spar enclosed in a hand-operated turret. The aft cockpit could be fitted with a second set of controls for flight training.^[2]

Not long after the A.W.29's first flight on 6 December 1936, it was damaged in a wheels up landing. Since the Fairey Battle had been awarded the P27/32 contract, the A.W.29 was not repaired to fly again.^[1]

Specifications

Data from Air Pictorial Oct. 1958 ^[3][4][5]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Length: 43 ft 10 in (13.36 m)
• Wingspan: 49 ft 10 in (15.19 m)
• Height: 13 ft 3 in (4.04 m)
• Wing area: 412 sq ft (38.3 m²)
• Empty weight: 9,000 lb (4,082 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Armstrong Siddeley Tiger VIII , 870 hp (650 kW) at 2,450 rpm
• Propellers: 3-bladed Hamilton metal two-pitch propeller

Performance

• Maximum speed: 225 mph (362 km/h; 196 kn) at 14,700 ft (4,500 m)
• Cruise speed: 208 mph (181 kn; 335 km/h) at 14,700 ft (4,500 m)
• Range: 1,181 mi; 1,026 nmi (1,900 km)
• Ferry range: 1,200 mi (1,043 nmi; 1,931 km)
• Service ceiling: 20,997 ft (6,400 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,100 ft/min (5.6 m/s) at sea level

Armament

• Guns:
  
  • 1× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Gun in an Armstrong manual turret
  • 1× fixed 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun mounted in the wing
• Bombs:

• • 2 × 500 lb (230 kg) or
  • 4 × 250 lb (110 kg) or
  • 4 × 100 lb (45 kg) or
  • 4 × 112 lb (51 kg) or
  • 4 × 100 lb (45 kg) or
  • 4 × 120 lb (54 kg)

References

Notes

1. Tapper 1973, pp. 203–8
2. Air Pictorial, pg. 360-361
3. "The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.29", Air Pictorial, Lesser Known Types (London, Eng.) 20 (10), October 1958: 360–361
4. Tapper, Oliver (1973), Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft since 1913, London: Putnam Publishing, ISBN 0-370-10004-2
5. Tapper notes that the performance specifications were estimates, never substantiated by flight tests as the aircraft's life was so short