What an absolute gem of an aircraft. It is a surprise that this is so little know about, and has been largely forgotten from squadron service.

My very very dear friend, Arthur Brunet, flew these with the RCAF. He went on to command 414 Squadron in North Bay, Ontario. He passed away in Florida around 1999. He is deeply missed. Many a night I listened to his fascinating stories of history. I was in the last generation lucky enough to hear the stories first hand and I am blessed for it. I don't know if younger people understand the sacrifices of the people and why Rememberance Day is a very important and sacred day.

Seen at 00:50 is P/O Sayanapuram Duraiswamy Thyagarajan - "Tiger Rajan", from Pondicherry, India - who was later on Typhoons and was shot down and killed over France in 1944.

@leadsolo2751

4 ай бұрын

Thanks for this information!! ❤

Thank you for posting this video of a most beautiful aircraft.

The leader of the squadron at the time was Sqn Ldr Robert Sinckler Woodward (seen in close up as the camera pans along the line of pilots and also getting into his plane, registration N). He was shot down, along with W/O Donald Burton McPhail RCAF, on December 7th 1942 off the coast of Jersey and there is a memorial to them both on the command bunker at Noirmont Point off which they came down.

Superb. I've never seen such great footage of this aeroplane. The ending sequence with four aircraft flying close is quite intimidating!

Very clean lines,even a retractable tail wheel,nice.

I think the biggest difference between the Hurricanes/Spitfires/Beaufighter night fighters (first fitted with Merlins) was that these were used as defensive weapons, whereas the Whirlwind rather was a good offensive weapons platform. At the time the RAF needed the former more than the latter. Still, I think the Whirlwind is unique in the sense that it was the first RAF fighter aircraft providing such a good view in all directions. All-round-vision bubble canopies in Typhoons, Tempests and Spitfires were still a long way to come.

Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Priceless footage!!!!!!!!!!

A great post and many thanks for it! One of the great fighters of WW2 and possibly the best twin dogfighter ever. I love this amazing aircraft and feel it was unfairly treated, both by high command and by procurement. Given the originally intended Merlins this baby would've outflown anything aloft and a fast, maneuverable, four cannon fighter has its own, unique, ambiance, whether you're pressing the trigger, or flying into its sights.

@nigelmitchell351

2 жыл бұрын

Looking at the Whirlwind and in particular it's armament, one wonders why they were not seen as interceptors along side the Hurricanes in the battle of Britain.?

@That70sGuitarist

Жыл бұрын

I'm sorry, but the Merlin was never intended for the Whirlwind. The Whirlwind was literally designed around the Rolls-Royce Peregrine engine, the 885 horsepower final development of the famous Kestrel lineage, earlier versions of which were even used in early versions of the bf-109. The aerodynamics of the engine nacelles were specifically sculpted for the Peregrine, and only the Peregrine, such that the Merlin couldn't possibly have been fitted without a major redesign. Many people think it was the Peregrine that did the Whirlwind in, but this is categorically untrue, in fact. What really scuppered the delightful Whirlwind (whose pilots absolutely adored her!) were the deHavilland constant speed propeller units fitted to them. The second Whirlwind prototype was fitted with two Rotol constant speed propellers, and established a top speed of something like 380 miles per hour at altitude! Sadly, the deHavilland units had much thicker propellers, which caused a great deal more drag, thus rather letting the side down. Unfortunately, those same Rotol constant speed props were in extremely high demand at the time, since they were used on almost every Spitfire and Hurricane used during the BoB, so every Whirlwind equipped with Rotol props would have meant having two less Spitfires or Hurricanes with which to fend off the Luftwaffe. It's a pity that the beautiful, agile Whirlwind never quite lived up to her full potential, but people have got to stop blaming that on the engines! It was entirely due to having deHavilland constant speed units instead of Rotol units, but she's still the sexiest British bird of the whole war, though!

Beautiful aircraft

Was thinking about this aircraft just the other day, a forgotten favourite from my childhood days ... then happened upon your video. Great to see them in flight. Thanks for sharing :)

Some very talented people are buiding a Whirlwind from scratch, based at the Kent Battle of Britain museum. Can't supply a link, sorry, wouldn't know how. But keep Googling until you find it. A very impressive build of a complex aircraft. Can understand why it was cheaper to build 2 single- engine fighters for the price of one of these fabulous kites!

Fantastic footage !!

The squadron's HE code letters show it's No. 263 Squadron RAF.

Any chance you have more videos of this plane?

Was this one of two complete squadron's of this aircraft? =) But look at those cannons!!

From certain angles (head on) they look like the meteor jet and also a bit like the Argentine Pucara..............

Whirlwinds & the US P-38 Lightning should have been fitted with RR Merlins....Anglo-American double trouble !!

@kieranh2005

2 жыл бұрын

The Allison in the P-38 when fitted with turbochargers was the equal of the Merlin. Most if the Allison's performance at altitude problems were down to the blowers. As for the Whirlwind, I've seen a video on why they never put the Merlin in it... it was a number of factors. First was that the Merlins were significantly heavier than the Peregrins, meaning that the wing would have to be moved to correct the balance between centre of mass and centre of lift. It wasnt just an easy swap. Second was that for every one of these they could build 2 Hurricanes or Spitfires. Third was that its performance wasn't better than its single engine contemporaries. The biggest advantage of many of the twin engine designs was that they could carry more fuel, allowing greater range. The Whirlwind, the way it was designed, couldn't. Look up DeHavilland Hornet to see what could have been...

@PeteCourtier

2 жыл бұрын

Recent evidence suggests that the propellers were the major problem holding back the potential.

@nigelsmith7366

10 ай бұрын

Wrong on both counts

@ericadams3428

5 ай бұрын

Westland did propose a redesign of the Whirwind with Merlins but the Air Ministry said no as there was no point. The Westland Welkin high altitude fighter was as near as it got.

They made just over 100 of them ,sad theres none left 😢

'Bellows' on the aircraft comes from 263 Sqn who were known as 'Fellowship of the Bellows' Sqn (sponsored by an organisation in the Americas of the same name)