Westland Whirlwind Mk.I

The British Whirlwind was a diminutive, twin-engine heavy fighter from the Westland Aircraft company. It was one of the fastest aircraft when it flew in the late 1930s, and was much more heavily armed than any other. However, protracted development problems with its Rolls-Royce Peregrine engines delayed the entire project and only a relatively small number were ever built. During the Second World War only two RAF squadrons were equipped with the Whirlwind, and despite successful use as a fighter-bomber, its service life was short.

The Westland Whirlwind belongs to that category of aircraft which entered production but failed to live up to their designers' expectations. Its unreliable engines can be seen as a major reason for this but, even with better engines, the results would probably have been the same, as the concept of a twin-engined fighter aircraft capable of meeting single-engined fighters escorting bombers formations on an equal footing was fallacious, as combat in WW2 was soon to prove.

The true story of the Whirwind and the pilots who flew it is here told in 52 pages with almost 50 photographs, many being published for the first time.