Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta

infobox Aircraft
name = AW.15 Atalanta
type = airliner
manufacturer = Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Limited

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caption =
designer =
first flight = 1932
introduced = 1933
retired = 1942
status =
primary user = Imperial Airways
more users = Royal Air Force, Indian Air Force
produced =
number built = 8
unit cost =
developed from =
variants with their own articles =

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

Design and development

The AW.15 Atalanta was designed to meet a 1929 Imperial Airways requirement for an airliner to operate on its African lines. The specification called for an airplane capable of carrying 9 passengers, three crew and 1,000 lbs of freight over 400 miles at a cruising speed of 115 mph at 9,000 ft. The prototype, G-ABPI, was named Atalanta and first flew on 6 June 1932, flown by Alan Campbell-Orde.

The Atalanta was a high wing monoplane, powered by four 340 hp Armstrong Siddeley Serval III engines. Its composite construction included steel, plywood and fabric. The undercarriage was of the fixed type but was cleanly streamlined to minimize drag. The overall design of the aircraft was rather modern and somewhat closed the performance gap that existed between British and American airliners.

The aircraft had very few design flaws and any teething problems were quickly overcome. The prototype was flown to Croydon Airport for acceptance by Imperial Airways, and on 26 September 1932, it flew a commercial service from Croydon to Brussels and Cologne.

The Atalanta was capable of carrying up to 17 passengers, but Imperial Airlines limited the seating to 9 passengers for the planes operating the Indian route and 11 passengers on those operating the African route.

On 20 October 1932, the prototype was damaged in a test flight due to fuel starvation. Imperial Airways was embarrassed by the accident and renamed the third production machine (G-ABTI, Arethusa) as Atalanta, hoping nobody would notice the swap.

Operational history

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.

On 29 May 1933 G-ABTL flew through to Melbourne, Australia (Arriving 30 June) on a route survey flight.

Three aircraft were lost before the Second World War and the remaining five aircraft were taken over by BOAC. 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.

Operators

Civil operators

;flagicon|India|British India
*Indian Trans-Continental Airways;UK
*British Overseas Airways Corporation
*Imperial Airways

Military operators

;flagicon|India|British India
*Indian Air Force;UK
*Royal Air Force
**No. 24 Squadron RAF

Aircraft names and registrations

*Atalanta (G-ABPI)
*Andromeda (G-ABTH)
*Arethusa (G-ABTI, rebaptized Atalanta later VT-AEF)
*Artemis (G-ABTJ)
*Astraea (G-ABTL)
*Athena (G-ABTK)
*Aurora (VT-AEG)
*Amalthea (G-ABTG)

pecifications

aircraft specification

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
crew=3
length main= 71 ft 6 in
length alt= 21.79 m
span main= 90 ft 0 in
span alt= 27.43 m
height main= 15 ft 0 in
height alt= 4.57 m
area main= 1,285 ft²
area alt= 119.38 m²
empty weight main= 13,940 lb
empty weight alt= 6,323 kg
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
max takeoff weight main= 21,000 lb
max takeoff weight alt= 9,525 kg
engine (prop)=Armstrong Whitworth Serval III
type of prop= radial piston
number of props=4
power main= 340 hp
power alt= 254 kw
max speed main= 156 mph
max speed alt= 251 km/h
cruise speed main= 100-110 mph
cruise speed alt= 160-176 km/h
range main= 640 miles
range alt= 1,030 km
ceiling main= 14,200 ft
ceiling alt= 4,330 m
climb rate main=600-800 ft/min
climb rate alt=
loading main=
loading alt=
power/mass main=
power/mass alt=
armament=

ee also

aircontent

related=

similar aircraft=

lists=
* List of aircraft of Imperial Airways
see also=

References

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

External links

* [http://www.jaapteeuwen.com/ww2aircraft/html%20pages/armstrong%20whitworth%20aw15%20atalanta.htm British Aircraft of World War II: Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta]