Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta

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AW.15 Atalanta
Type	airliner
Manufacturer	Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Limited
Maiden flight	1932
Introduced	1933
Retired	1942
Primary users	Imperial Airways Royal Air Force, Indian Air Force
Number built	8

The Armstrong Whitworth AW.15 Atalanta was a 1920s British four-engined airliner built by Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Limited at Coventry.

1 History
2 Operators
- 2.1 Civil operators
- 2.2 Military operators
3 Specifications
4 Reference
5 External links
6 Related content

[edit] History

The Atalanta was a four-engined high-wing tailwheel monoplane designed to meet an Imperial Airways requirement for a 9-passenger airliner/mailplane for hot and high operations in South Africa and between Karachi and Singapore. The first aircraft, registered G-ABPI, first flew on 6 June 1932. Imperial Airways ordered eight aircraft which had all been delivered by 1933. The first service was flown from Croydon Airport to Brussels and then Cologne on 26 September 1932. The prototype G-ABPI left Croydon Airport on 5 January 1933 on a proving flight to Cape Town, South Africa. Three other aircraft joined it in South Africa to fly the service between Cape Town and Kisumu, although they proved to be too small for the traffic. On 1 July 1933 an Atalanta flew the first direct air mail service between London and Karachi. Two Indian registered and two British registered aircraft operated a Karachi-Calcutta service with was later extended to Rangoon and Singapore.

Three aircraft were lost before the Second World War and the remaining five aircraft were taken over by BOAC and in March 1941 they were impressed into use by the Royal Air Force in India. They were later handed over to the Indian Air Force for use on coastal reconnaissance duties, armed with a single machine-gun operated by the navigator. The last patrol was flown on 30 August 1942 and the four survivors were withdrawn from use.

[edit] Operators

[edit] Civil operators

India : Indian Trans-Continental Airways
United Kingdom: British Overseas Airways Corporation, Imperial Airways

[edit] Military operators

[edit] Specifications

General characteristics

Crew: 3
Length: 71 ft 6 in (21.79 m)
Wingspan: 90 ft 0 in (27.43 m)
Height: 15 ft 0 in (4.57 m)
Wing area: 1,285 ft² (119.38 m²)
Empty weight: 13,940 lb (6323 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 21,000 lb (9525 kg)
Powerplant: 4× Armstrong Whitworth Serval III radial piston, 340 hp (254 kw) each

Performance

Maximum speed: 156 mph (251 km/h)
Range: 640 miles (1030 km)
Service ceiling: 14,200 ft (4330 m)

[edit] Reference

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). Orbis Publishing.
Jackson, A.J. (1974). British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 1. London: Putnam. ISBN 0 370 10006 9.