Armstrong Whitworth Atlas
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The Armstrong Whitworth Atlas was a British single-engine
biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...
designed and built by
Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company, or Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, was a British aircraft manufacturer. History Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft was established as the Aerial Department of the Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth & Company e ...
. It served as an army co-operation aircraft for the
Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
(RAF) in the 1920s and 1930s. It was the first purpose-designed aircraft of the army co-operation type to serve with the RAF.


Development

The Armstrong Whitworth Atlas was designed by a team led by John Lloyd, chief designer of
Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company, or Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, was a British aircraft manufacturer. History Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft was established as the Aerial Department of the Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth & Company e ...
, as a replacement for the DH.9A and Bristol Fighter as an army co-operation aircraft for the RAF, in parallel with the related aircraft, the
Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...
and
Aries Aries may refer to: *Aries (astrology), an astrological sign *Aries (constellation), a constellation of stars in the zodiac Arts, entertainment and media * ''Aries'' (album), by Luis Miguel, 1993 * ''Aries'' (EP), by Alice Chater, 2020 * "Aries" ...
. The Atlas was intended to meet the requirements of Specification 20/25. The prototype Atlas (''G-EBLK'') was built as a private venture, first flying on 10 May 1925.Mason 1994, p. 170. It was delivered to the
Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment The Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) was a research facility for British military aviation from 1918 to 1992. Established at Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, the unit moved in 1939 to Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, where its work ...
(A & AEE),
Martlesham Heath Martlesham Heath village is situated 6 miles (10 km) east of Ipswich, in Suffolk, England. This was an ancient area of heathland and latterly the site of Martlesham Heath Airfield. A "new village" was established there in the mid-1970s and th ...
, where it was evaluated against the
Bristol Boarhound The Bristol Boarhound was a British army cooperation and liaison aircraft of the 1920s. It was a two-seat biplane with wings of equal span, of steel frame construction with fabric covering. Design and development The Boarhound was built as a ...
,
de Havilland Hyena The de Havilland DH.56 Hyena was a prototype British army cooperation aircraft of the 1920s. A single-engined biplane, the Hyena was designed against an RAF requirement, but was unsuccessful with only two being built, the Armstrong Whitworth A ...
,
Vickers Vespa The Vickers Vespa was a British army cooperation biplane designed and built by Vickers Limited in the 1920s. While not adopted by Britain's Royal Air Force, small numbers were bought by the Irish Free State and Bolivia, the latter of which used ...
, and Short Chamois. It proved superior in performance and handling and was recommended for production. While the performance was generally good, the prototype could not be sideslipped steeply, and this resulted in a redesign where sweptback metal wings, with differing wing section, were fitted. When tested again, the Atlas was found to have lost its good handling, having dangerous stall characteristics. The Atlas had already been ordered for service, however, and suffered a number of accidents during takeoff and landing in the first few months of operation until modified with automatic
slats Super Low Altitude Test Satellite (SLATS) or Tsubame was a JAXA satellite intended to demonstrate operations in very low Earth orbit (VLEO, below 200 km), using ion engines to counteract aerodynamic drag from the Earth's atmosphere which i ...
and increased sweepback. This cured the poor handling.Mason 1994, pp. 170–171. The production Atlas had a steel tube
fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...
with fabric covering with single-bay swept metal wings. It could be fitted with a hook under the fuselage to pick up messages and could carry a 460 lb (210 kg) bombload under the wings.


Operational history

The first batch of 37 aircraft were ordered in 1927, entering service with 13 Squadron RAF and 26 Squadron in that year. Once the initial handling problems had been solved by the fitting of slats, the Atlas proved well suited for army co-operation, in use at home and overseas, with 208 squadron, being the first squadron to operate Atlases outside Britain, replacing Bristol fighters at Heliopolis,
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in 1930.Thetford 1957, p. 24. Atlases were also used for
communications Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...
duties and as advanced trainers, with 175 dual-control models built.Mason 1994, p. 171. The Atlas continued in service in the army co-operations role until replaced with the
Hawker Audax The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircra ...
, a variant of the
Hawker Hart The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircraf ...
, with the last operational squadron, 208, re-equipping in 1935. It was also replaced in the advanced trainer role in 1935 by the Hawker Hart Trainer. Four civil registered Atlas trainers were used by Air Service Training Ltd for advanced and reserve flying training. They were scrapped in 1938.Jackson 1974, p. 321.


Variants

* Atlas I Army co-operation aircraft - 271 built for the RAF. * Atlas Trainer Dual-control trainer version of Atlas I - 175 built. * Atlas II Cleaned up, more powerful version, powered by
Armstrong Siddeley Panther The Armstrong Siddeley Panther was a 27-litre 14-cylinder twin-row air-cooled radial aero engine developed by Armstrong Siddeley. It was originally named the Jaguar Major.Lumsden 2003, p.72. Applications * Armstrong Whitworth Atlas Mk II * A ...
. Rejected in favour of Audax by RAF. 15 built for
Kwangsi Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ...
Air Force, China.Jackson 1974, p. 322. * Ajax minor differences from Atlas I - 4 built for RAF. * Aries improved Atlas I with easier access for maintenance and increased dimensions - one built * EAF Atlas Greek lower-cost version (main differences in wing structure, engine and propeller) - 10 built by EAF (KEA) after 1931.


Operators


Military

; *
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** No. 2 Squadron RCAFKostenuk and Griffin 1977, p. 23 **
No. 111 Squadron RCAF 440 Transport Squadron is a unit of the Canadian Armed Forces under the Royal Canadian Air Force. It is part of 8 Wing and works closely with Joint Task Force (North) located in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. Based at Yellowknife Airport ...
**
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; * Kwangsi Air Force ; *
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; ; *
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*
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; ; *
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**
No. 2 Squadron RAF Number 2 Squadron, also known as No. II (Army Co-operation) Squadron, is the most senior Squadron (aviation), squadron of the Royal Air Force. It is currently equipped with the Eurofighter Typhoon, Eurofighter Typhoon FGR4 at RAF Lossiemouth, C ...
**
No. 4 Squadron RAF No. 4 Squadron, normally written as IV Squadron, of the Royal Air Force operates the BAE Hawk T2 in the training role from RAF Valley. History Formation and First World War IV Squadron formed at Farnborough in 1912 as part of the Royal Fl ...
** No 13 Squadron RAF **
No. 16 Squadron RAF Number 16 Squadron, nicknamed ''the Saints'', is a flying squadron of the Royal Air Force providing Elementary Flying Training (EFT) with the Grob Tutor T.1 from RAF Wittering. It formed in 1915 at Saint-Omer to carry out a mixture of offensi ...
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No. 26 Squadron RAF No. 26 Squadron of the Royal Air Force was formed in 1915 and was disbanded for the last time in 1976. The squadron's motto is ''N Wagter in die Lug'' (Afrikaans) (A guard in the sky), and the badge is a springbok's head couped. History 1915 ...
**
No. 208 Squadron RAF No 208 (Reserve) Squadron was a reserve unit of the Royal Air Force, most recently based at RAF Valley, Anglesey, Wales. It operated the BAe Hawk aircraft, as a part of No. 4 Flying Training School. Due to obsolescence of its Hawk T.1 aircraft ...
**
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**
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**
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Civil

; * Air Service Training Ltd.


Specifications (Atlas I)


See also


References


Citations


Bibliography

* * * * *


External links


RCAF.com - Canadian Atlases
{{Aircraft manufactured in Canada 1920s British bomber aircraft
Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...
Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1925