Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley

The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was a twin-engine medium and heavy night bomber of the 1930s, one of three types alongside the Vickers Wellington and the Handley Page Hampden that equipped the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of the Second World War. Chief designer John Lloyd drew it to Air Ministry Specification B.3/34, and it was named for the Coventry suburb that housed Armstrong Whitworth's plant. It was the first aircraft to fly with a two-position variable-pitch propeller. The first prototype flew from Baginton on 17 March 1936 with Armstrong Siddeley Tiger radial engines, and later marks switched to Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. A Whitley joined the first RAF raid on German territory, and the type was withdrawn from front-line bomber service in 1942, then served as a glider tug, trainer, transport and Coastal Command patrol aircraft. In total 1,814 were built.