The Armstrong Whitworth Whitley was designed in 1935 as a night bomber replacement for the biplane types then used the R.A.F. It entered service with R.A.F. in 1937 but by the outbreak of the war was already considered obsolete. Nonetheless, it continued in service pending the development of the larger four-engine types such as the Lancaster and Halifax. By 1943, it had been superseded in its bombing role by these heavy bombers but it continued to serve in other roles such as maritime reconnaissance, as a trainer, glider type and for paratrooping.
The Whitley in Johns' stories[]
In Biggles Sweeps the Desert, Biggles uses a Whitley as a freighter between Karga Oasis and Salima Oasis. Later in the book, Bertie pilots the Whitley as a decoy aircraft twice and helps the squadron shoot down a number of enemy aircraft and ultimately capture Hauptmann Rudolf von Zoyton.
In Worrals on the War-Path, Bill Ashton flies a Whitley to deliver supplies of fuel to the Causse Mejean in the Cevennes where Worrals and Frecks had set up a secret landing ground to refuel British fighters transiting through to Malta. Frecks wasn't sure which aircraft type Bill would use but Worrals thought he would pick an "old Whitley" because it was sturdy and reliable even if it was not the fastest of aircraft.
This illustration of the Whitley by Leslie Stead for Worrals on the Warpath, although simplified as a line drawing must be, shows attention to detail where it matters. Note the tear-drop direction finding loop antenna and the vertical antenna mast just behind the cockpit, just as seen in the photo of an actual Whitley above. The presence of this faired DF loop suggests a Whitley Mk V.
This illustration of the Whitley is by Roger Melliès in Biggles au pays de la soif the Aredit comic strip adaptation of Biggles Sweeps the Desert. The drawings are even simpler than Stead's but even here, note that he has drawn in the DF loop antenna and the vertical mast, although the placement is slightly inaccurate.
In Birds of a Feather, the story is set in a night bombing R.A.F. squadron. The aircraft type is not specified but is conjectured to be a Whitley. See here for a discussion.
Specifications[]
(data comes from Wikipedia)
- Crew: 5
- Length: 70 ft 6 in (21.49 m)
- Wingspan: 84 ft (25.60 m)
- Empty weight: 19,300 lb (8,768 kg)
- Max. takeoff weight: 33,500 lb (15,196 kg)
- Engines: 2 × Rolls-Royce Merlin X engines, 1,145 hp (855 kW) each
- Maximum speed: 200 knots (230 mph, 370 km/h) at 16,400 ft (5,000 m)
- Range: 1,430 nmi (1,650 mi, 2,650 km)
- Ferry range: 2,100 nmi (2,400 mi, 3,900 km)
- Service ceiling: 26,000 ft (7,900 m)
- Armament
- 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers K machine gun in nose turret
- 4 × .303 in Browning machine guns in tail turret
- Up to 7,000 lb (3,175 kg) of bombs in the fuselage and 14 individual cells in the wings