Westland PV.7

The Westland PV.7 was a private venture entry to Air Ministry specification G.4/31, which called for a multi role replacement for the Westland Wapiti able to do level bombing, army co-operation, dive bombing, reconnaissance, casualty evacuation and torpedo bombing. It was a large, tall, single engined high wing monoplane with two crew in separate cockpits, an all metal wing with Handley Page slats and split flaps that doubled as dive brakes, and a tall split axle undercarriage able to carry a torpedo. It was powered by a Bristol Pegasus radial and first flew on 30 October 1933 with Harald Penrose at the controls. After promising early trials at Martlesham Heath, it was lost on 25 August 1934 when its port wing collapsed in a high speed dive during a centre of gravity test; Penrose escaped by parachute through a side window, and Westland could not afford a replacement.