- Development and design
- Specifications
- See also
- Notes
- References
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}| name=Armadillo | image= | caption= }}{{Infobox Aircraft Type | type=Fighter | national origin=British | manufacturer=Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft | designer=F. Murphy | first flight=1918 | introduced= | retired= | status=Prototype | primary user= | number built=1 | developed from= | variants with their own articles=
}} |
The Armstrong Whitworth Armadillo was a British single-seat biplane fighter aircraft built by Armstrong Whitworth. Development and designThe Armadillo was designed in 1917 by Armstrong Whitworth's new chief designer, Fred Murphy, as a private venture single-seat fighter powered by a Bentley BR2 rotary engine. While the design met the requirements of Air Board Specification A1(a) for a replacement for the Sopwith Camel, it was principally produced to test the abilities of Armstrong Whitworth's new design team, and was not considered a serious competitor for the requirement.[1] Despite this, Armstrong Whitworth was granted a licence in January 1918 to allow construction of two prototypes.[2] The aircraft was a two-bay biplane with a square section fuselage. The engine in the nose was enclosed by a circular cowl with a deep hump above the cowl housing two .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns that fired through the propeller arc using synchronisation gear.[2][3] The first prototype made its maiden flight during April 1918.[4] The type was not subject to formal evaluation by the Air Ministry, with the poor view from the cockpit being criticised.[5] By the time the Armadillo appeared the Sopwith Snipe, powered by the same engine and faster was already in large scale production and Murphy had started work on the more advanced Ara fighter, so the Armadillo was abandoned, the second prototype not being completed.[6][7] Specifications{{Aircraft specs
|ref=War Planes of the First World War:Volume One: Fighters [6]
|prime units?=imp
|genhide=
|crew=1
|capacity=
|length m=
|length ft=18
|length in=10
|span m=
|span ft=27
|span in=9
|height m=
|height ft=7
|height in=10
|wing area sqm=
|wing area sqft=232
|wing area note=
|aspect ratio=
|airfoil=
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=1250
|empty weight note=
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=1860
|gross weight note=
|fuel capacity={{convert|40|impgal|USgal L|abbr=on}}[8]
|more general=
|eng1 number=1
|eng1 name=Bentley BR2
|eng1 type=nine-cylinder rotary engine
|eng1 kw=
|eng1 hp=230
|prop blade number=
|prop name=
|prop dia m=
|prop dia ft=
|prop dia in=
|prop note=
|perfhide=
|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=125
|max speed kts=
|max speed note=at ground level
|range km=
|range miles=
|range nmi=
|endurance=2 hr 45 min
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=24000
|g limits=
|roll rate=
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=
|time to altitude=6 min 30s to {{convert|10000|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|more performance=
|guns=2 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns
|bombs=
|rockets=
}}
See also{{aircontent
|see also=
|related=
|similar aircraft=*Sopwith Snipe- Boulton Paul Bobolink
- Nieuport B.N.1
|lists=
}}Notes{{notelist}}References{{commons category|Armstrong Whitworth aircraft}}1. ^Tapper 1988, p. 79.
2. ^1 Mason 1992, p.138-139.
3. ^Taylor 2001, p. 47
4. ^Tapper 1988, p. 82.
5. ^Tapper 1988, pp. 82–83.
6. ^1 Bruce 1965, p.19.
7. ^Tapper 1988, p. 83.
8. ^Bruce 1957, p. 28.
- {{cite book |title=British Aeroplanes 1914–18|last=Bruce |first=J.M. |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=1957 |publisher=Putnam |location=London |isbn= |url= }}
- {{cite book |title=War Planes of the First World War:Volume One: Fighters |last=Bruce |first= J.M. |year= 1965|publisher= Macdonald|location=London |isbn= |pages= |url= }}
- {{cite book |title= British Fighters since 1912|last= Mason|first=Francis K. |year= 1992|publisher= Naval Institute Press|location= Annapolis, Maryland|isbn=1-55750-082-7 |pages= |url= }}
- {{cite book|last=Tapper|first=Oliver|title=Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft since 1913|year=1988|publisher=Putnam|location=London|isbn=0-85177-826-7}}
- {{cite book |last= Taylor |first=Michael |title=Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War I |year=2001 |publisher=Randon House Group|location=London|isbn=1 85170 347 0}}
- {{cite book |last= Taylor |first= Michael J. H. |title=Jane's Fighting Aircraft of World War I |year=1990 |publisher=Studio Editions |location=London |page= 49 }}
{{Armstrong Whitworth aircraft}} 5 : British fighter aircraft 1910–1919|Armstrong Whitworth aircraft|Biplanes|Single-engined tractor aircraft|Aircraft first flown in 1918 |