Armstrong Whitworth
2 types · 0 airframes
Pre-1950 Narrative
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Aircraft Types
Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle
The Armstrong Whitworth Albemarle was a British twin-engined aircraft designed as a medium bomber that could be built from wood and steel without light alloys. It first flew on 20 March 1940, but production — principally by A.W. Hawksley Ltd, using parts from more than 1,000 subcontractors — ran only to December 1944, with 602 built. By the time it reached the RAF in quantity in January 1943, it had been passed over as a bomber, and it spent its career as a transport and glider tug with the airborne forces, taking part in the Sicily, Normandy and Arnhem operations before retirement in February 1946. No example is known to survive.
Armstrong Whitworth Argosy
The Armstrong Whitworth Argosy was a British three-engined biplane airliner of the 1920s, and Armstrong Whitworth's first airliner design. Seven were built for Imperial Airways, which flew them on its European routes from 1926, each aircraft named after a city. In 1927 an Argosy launched the 'Silver Wing', the first named air service, between London and Paris, and from 1929 the type helped work the Empire air mail routes towards India and South Africa. Imperial Airways retired the Argosy in 1935, and the last example flew until December 1936.