Albemarle

Type	medium bomber/transport
Manufacturer	Armstrong Whitworth
Maiden flight	20 March 1940
Primary user	RAF

The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.41 Albemarle was a British twin-engined transport aircraft that entered service during World War II. Originally designed as a medium bomber, the Albemarle never served in that role, instead being converted for general and special transport duties, paratroop transport and glider towing. Albemarles took part in many of the major British airborne operations such as the invasions of Sicily and Normandy and the assault on Arnhem during Operation Market Garden. Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle transport & glider tug. ... An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing, building, testing, selling, and maintaining aircraft, aircraft parts, missiles, rockets, and/or spacecraft. ... The Maiden flight of an aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord. ... March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap years). ... World War II is the current Good Article Collaboration of the week! Please help to improve this article to the highest of standards. ... A medium bomber is a bomber aircraft designed to operate with medium bombloads over medium distances; primarily to distinguish them from the much larger heavy bombers and smaller light bombers. ... An American Paratrooper using a T-10C series parachute Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and formed into an airborne force. ... Gliders are heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight. ... Sicilian redirects here. ... Combatants Allied Powers Nazi Germany Commanders Dwight D. Eisenhower (Supreme Allied Commander) Bernard Montgomery (land) Bertram Ramsay (sea) Trafford Leigh-Mallory (air) Gerd von Rundstedt (OB WEST) Erwin Rommel (Heeresgruppe B) Strength 326,000 (by June 11) Unknown, probably some 1,000,000 in France by early June, but split... Arnhem is a municipality and a city in the east of the Netherlands, located on the Lower Rhine, and the capital of the Gelderland province. ... Combatants United Kingdom United States Poland Nazi Germany Commanders Bernard Montgomery Gerd von Rundstedt Strength XXX Corps, 35,000 airborne 20,000 Casualties 18,000 casualties 13,000 casualties Operation Market Garden (September 17-September 25, 1944) was an Allied military operation in World War II. Its tactical objectives were...

History

The origin of the Albemarle lay in Air Ministry Specification B.18/38 which required a twin-engined medium bomber of wood and metal construction that could be built by manufacturers outside the aircraft industry. Large parts of the aircraft were therefore designed of steel, to conserve aluminium. This had a negative effect on performance. Consequently the entire production run of 600 Albemarles were built by A.W. Hawkesley Ltd of Gloucester. The first of two prototypes built by Armstrong Whitworth flew on March 20, 1940. The original bomber design required for a crew of six including two gunners; one in a 4-gun dorsal turret and one in a twin-gun ventral turret. However only the first 32 aircraft, designated the Mk I Series I, were produced in this configuration and they never operated in a bomber role. All subsequent aircraft were built as transports; designated either "General Transport" (GT) or "Special Transport" (ST). The Air Ministry was formerly a department of the United Kingdom Government, established in 1918 with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the (then newly formed) Royal Air Force. ... This is a partial list of the British Air Ministry specifications for aircraft. ... Gloucester (pronounced ) is a city and district in south-west England, close to the Welsh border. ... Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. ... March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap years). ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1940: Events March March 16 - Britain suffers its first civilian air-raid casualties of the war after a raid by KG 26 on Scapa Flow March 25 - the US government grants permission to the countrys aircraft manufacturers to sell advanced...

The most notable design feature of the Albemarle was its undercarriage which included a retractable nose-wheel (in addition to a semi-concealed tail-wheel). It was the first British-built aircraft with this feature to enter service with the Royal Air Force. The first squadron to operate the Albemarle was No. 295 at Harwell in January 1943. Other squadrons to be equipped with the Albemarle were No. 296, No. 297 and No. 570. Other RAF squadrons operated small numbers of the aircraft and some were supplied to the Soviet Air Force. The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the air force branch of the British Armed Forces. ... Harwell may refer to: Harwell - a village in Oxfordshire RAF Harwell - a World War II RAF airfield Harwell Laboratory of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment, the site of Europes first nuclear reactor. ... This is a list of aviation-related events from 1943: Events January January 27 - the USAAF makes its first daylight raid on Germany January 30 - Royal Air Force de Havilland Mosquitos make the first daylight air-raid on Berlin January 30-31 – the H2S radar is used by RAF bombers... The Soviet Air Force, also known under the abbreviation VVS, transliterated from Russian: ВВС, Военно-воздушные силы (Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily), formed the official designation of the airforce of the Soviet Union. ...

Variants

Over the course of its production life, a number of variants of the Albemarle were built:

• ST Mk I - 99 aircraft
• GT Mk I - 69
• ST Mk II - 99
• ST Mk V - 49
• Mk IV - One prototype only.
• ST Mk VI - 133
• GT Mk VI - 117

Most Marks were divided into "Series" to distinguish differences in equipment. The ST Mk I Series 1 (8 aircraft) had only a twin gun dorsal turret. The 14 ST Mk I Series 2 aircraft were equipped with gear for towing gliders. The Mk II could carry 10 paratroops and the Mk V was essentially the same but with a fuel jettison capability. All production Albemarles were powered by a pair of 1,590 hp Bristol Hercules XI radial engines. Corbelled corner turrets at Newark Castle, Port Glasgow. ... An American Paratrooper using a T-10C series parachute Paratroopers are soldiers trained in parachuting and formed into an airborne force. ... Bristol Hercules engine The Hercules was a 14_cylinder two_row radial aircraft engine produced by the Bristol Engine Company starting in 1939. ... Radial engine of a biplane. ...

The Mk III and Mk IV Albemarles were development projects testing different powerplants; the former using the Rolls-Royce Merlin III and the latter with the 1,600 hp (1,190 kW) Wright Double Cyclone. The Merlin was a 12 cylinder, 60° V, 27 litre, liquid cooled piston aircraft engine built during World War II by Rolls-Royce. ... The R-3350 Duplex-Cyclone was one of the most powerful radial aircraft engines produced in the United States. ...

Specifications (ST Mk I)

General characteristics

• Crew: 4
• Length: 59 ft 11 in (18.26 m)
• Wingspan: 77 ft (23.47 m)
• Height: 15 ft 7 in (4.75 m)
• Wing area: 804 ft² (74.6 m²)
• Weight
  • Empty: 22,600lb (10,6250 kg)
  • Loaded:
  • Maximum takeoff: 36,500 lb (16,556 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 x Bristol Hercules XI radial engines, 1,590 hp (1190 kW)

Bristol Hercules engine The Hercules was a 14_cylinder two_row radial aircraft engine produced by the Bristol Engine Company starting in 1939. ... Radial engine of a biplane. ...

Performance

• Maximum speed: 265 mph at 10,500 ft (426 km/h at 3,200 m)
• Range: 1,300 miles (2,092 km)
• Service ceiling: 18,000 ft (5,486 m)
• Rate of climb: ft/min ( m/min)
• Wing loading: lb/ft² ( kg/m²)
• Power/weight: hp/lb ( kW/kg)

Armament

• 4 x .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns in dorsal turret

.303 cartridge The . ... A machine gun is a fully-automatic firearm that is capable of firing bullets in rapid succession. ...

Operators

• Soviet Union
• United Kingdom.

Related content

Related development: None

Comparable aircraft:

Designation series: A.W.27 - A.W.38 - A.W.41 - A.W.52 - A.W.55 An Imperial Airways A.W.27 Ensign in flight before the war. ... The Armstrong Whitworth A.W.38 Whitley was one of three twin-engine, front-line medium bombers in service with the Royal Air Force at the outbreak of World War II. Along with the Handley Page Hampden and the Vickers Wellington, it bore the brunt of the early fighting, seeing... The A.W.52 was a British flying wing aircraft design of the late 1940s built by Armstrong Whitworth. ...

See also

• List of aircraft of the RAF

Many aircraft types have served in the Royal Air Force since it was formed in 1918 by the merger of the Royal Flying Corps and Royal Naval Air Service. ...

External links

• British Aircraft Directory: Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle