70 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION PATROLLERS AND AIRLIFTERS
A
rmstrong Whitworth (AW)
was one of the largest British
aircraft producers by the end
of World War Two. During that
conflict it had provided several
bomber designs, but in the post-war
years the company’s production
capacity was mostly utilised to
licence-build other designers’ aircraft- including the Avro Lincoln,
Gloster Meteor, Hawker Sea Hawk
and early Hawker Hunter.
However, not wanting to be left
behind, AW’s design team also set
about creating radical and innovative
projects such as the AW.52 flying
wing (of which only one ever flew),
the AW.171 supersonic VTOL flying
wing (which never left the drawing
board) and the AW.650 Argosy.
The latter would go on to be the
company’s most successful post-war
creation and the last aircraft to be
blueprinted and produced by the
Coventry-based manufacturer.
The Argosy came about in response
to the Air Ministry’s Operational
Requirement 323 (OR323) of 1955,
which demanded a medium-range
cargo aircraft capable of lifting
25,000lb (11,340kg) of freight. It
also needed a range of 2,000 miles
(3,219km) while carrying 10,000lb
(4,536kg) of cargo.
AW’s first attempt at building an
aircraft to meet the specification led
to the twin-engined AW.66 (and a
civilian transport offshoot dubbed
AW.65). These had large doors at
high wing
and a wide
horizontal stabiliser
fitted between twin tail booms.
These booms extended rearwards
from the inner two engine nacelles
and flanked the bulbous fuselage
pod. The latter had large side-
hinged doors at either end, and a
small flight deck mounted high in
the nose to give an unobstructed
space measuring 10ft by 47ft (3.05 x
14.33m). This could accommodate
28,000lb (12,701kg) of cargo or
up to 89 passengers. The fuselage
sill height was specifically chosen tomatch that of a flatbed lorry, to aid
load handling.
The aircraft’s distinctive pod and
boom construction soon gave light
to the ‘Whistling Wheelbarrow’
nickname. Armstrong Whitworth
had originally planned to call the
aircraft the Freightliner but in
July 1958 this name was changed
to Argosy – a moniker recycled
from a three-engined Armstrong
Whitworth airliner from the 1920s.
To keep development costs
as low as possible and expedite
production, the wing design was
taken from the Avro Shackleton
and this enabled the prototype
(G-AOZZ) to perform its maiden
flight from Coventry’s Baginton
Airport on January 8, 1959. Theeither end of the fuselage to allow
quick loading/unloading, and tail
surfaces carried on two closely
spaced booms pointing out of the
upper sides of the fuselage.TWO BECOME FOUR
The fallout from Conservative MP
Duncan Sandys’ 1957 Defence
White Paper would also spell the
end for OR323, but by then AW
had already decided to press on
with its civilian version as a private
venture. It soon became apparent,
however, that the new machine
would need more power and the
AW.65 was re-designed around
four Rolls-Royce Dart engines and
re-designated AW.650.
The new aircraft would have a1961 TO 1975
ARGOSY
ARMSTRONG WHITWORTH
1918 2018Type: Four-crew long-range transport aircraft
First fl ight: January 8, 1959, entered service November 1961
Powerplant: Four 2,470shp (1,843kW) Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops
Dimensions: Span 115ft (35.05m), length 86ft 9in (26.44m)
Weights: Empty 56,000lb (25,401kg), all-up 105,000lb (47,627kg)
Max speed: 253mph (407km/h) at 22,200ft (6,706m)
Range: 3,450 miles (5,552km)
Capacity: 69 paratroopers, 48 stretchers or 29,000lb (13,154kg) of cargo
Replaced: Vickers Valetta
Taken on charge: 56
Replaced by: Lockheed C-130 HerculesARMSTRONG WHITWORTH ARGOSY C MK.1
high wing
and a wide
horizontal stabiliser
fitted between twin tail booms.Right
A pair of 70 Squadron
Argosies aloft in
the mid-1960s. In
the foreground is
XN854, while XN821
‘Hippocrates’ formates
on its wing. Both
aircraft were withdrawn
from use in 1971 and
dismantled at RAF
Kemble four years later.
ALL KEY UNLESS STATED