Whirlwind Mk I

Whirlwind Mk I

Brigand B 1

Hornet Mk.III

Whirlwind Mk I

Brigand B 1

Hornet Mk.III

Britain

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
4.3	3.7	4.0

Class:

Fighter

Air Defence fighter

Research:20 000

Purchase:135 000

Show in game

This page is about the aircraft Whirlwind Mk I. For other uses, see Whirlwind (Disambiguation)

Description

The Whirlwind Mk I in the garage

The Whirlwind Mk I is a Rank III British strike and twin-engine fighter with a battle rating of 4.3 (AB), 3.7 (RB), and 4.0 (SB). This aircraft was introduced in Update 1.75 "La Résistance".

General info

Flight Performance

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at ?,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
554	543	9144	24.5	25.2	10.5	12.2	650
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at ?,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
607	580	9144	21.7	23.0	21.3	15.0	650

Details

Features
Combat flap	Take-off flap	Landing flap	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flap (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
676	265	490	~10	~5

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< 420	< 420	< 450	> 324

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
4,575 m	885 hp	?,??? hp

Survivability and armour

• 60 mm Bulletproof glass in cockpit front.
• 9 mm Steel plates in the nose.
• 4 mm Steel plate in pilot’s seat.
• 6 mm Steel plate behind the pilot.

• Critical components located at the front and in the wings of aircraft (fuel, pilot, engine, controls)
• More fuel tanks located in outer wings

Armaments

Offensive armament

The Whirlwind Mk I is armed with:

• 4 x 20 mm Hispano Mk.I cannons, nose-mounted (60 RPG = 240 total)

Usage in the battles

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Controllable	Controllable	Controllable	Separate	Not ontrollable	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage Repair	Radiator
II		Compressor	Airframe
III	Wings Repair	Engine
IV		Engine Injection	Cover

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Devastating nose-mounted 20mm Hispano armament.
• Great for head-ons.
• Good turn rate when upgraded for a twin engined fighter.

Cons:

• Poor climb rate.
• Under-powered engines.
• Drum-fed Hispano Mk1s. Only 60 rounds per gun. You must make every round count.
• Inaccurate Hispano Mk1 cannons. Precise aiming is hard.
• Poor roll rate
• Quite slow level flight speed
• Unfavorable matchmaking puts you up against some very challenging opponents

History

The Westland Whirlwind was designed after a specification was issued by the British Air Ministry. The specification called for a cannon-armed day and night fighter. The Air Ministry wanted a top speed of at least 530 km/h at an altitude of 4,600m. Out of five designs offered by the companies. The Air Ministry decided to go with Westland's design for several important reasons. The cannon was mounted on the nose so that the recoil does not affect the accuracy of the gun. There were also no convergence problem as compared to other single-engine fighters with wing mounted guns. The requirements also led to the world's first bubble canopies on a plane. However the decision to arm the Spitfire with cannon and the development of other twin engine fighters such as the Bristol Beaufighter has led Fighter Command to use the Whirlwind less and less as the war progressed. The first batch of Rolls-Royce Peregrine engines were also delayed. It was also found that the engine was severely under-powered and the drum magazines used to feed the cannons were small in capacity. All of this has resulted in the Whirlwind's cancellation and resulted in the plane only equipping two RAF squadrons.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

Read also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• page on aircraft encyclopedia;
• other literature.