Westland Whirlwind

[Colin1]

Not a long piece
and not great quality but the only known footage of the Westland Whirlwind

YouTube - Whirlwind

It seems to go straight into the next vid which is irritating

[Matt308]

I've said this before, but when flying it looks like a Pucara.

[Colin1]

You know Matt
you do have a point, there are striking similarities from some of the principal angles. Not to scale with each other - not with my photoshop skills, anyway

[freebird]

Originally Posted by Colin1

Not a long piece
and not great quality but the only known footage of the Westland Whirlwind

Yes what a tragedy, about 1 min flying time is all that remains.

[Graeme]

Originally Posted by Colin1

You know Matt
you do have a point, there are striking similarities from some of the principal angles. Not to scale with each other - not with my photoshop skills, anyway

Nice work Colin! At least you can combine two images into one, I haven't been able to achieve that yet.
I don't see a big similarity between them, especially with the side profiles. Here's some front views which I think are more "Westland Like" than the Pucara.

[Colin1]

Originally Posted by Graeme

Nice work Colin! At least you can combine two images into one, I haven't been able to achieve that yet.
I don't see a big similarity between them, especially with the side profiles. Here's some front views which I think are more "Westland Like" than the Pucara

Actually, I can't combine them, not in Photoshop anyway
that's where Windows Paint came in, soooo much easier to do the pairing, then drag it into the 'shop application and size it up for the forum

I don't think the side views are particularly similar either but wings/engine positioning and tailplanes do have alot of similarities esp in flight. I though the comparison would be interesting across such a generational gap as that which exists between these two.
Another contender in a what-if would have been the Grumman XF5F (same period) but I couldn't find much spec data on it.

[Matt308]

I remain convinced of the similarity.

YouTube - FMA IA-58 Pucara

Surely they are not the same airframe. But you have to admit that the underpowered airplanes have similar flight characteristics, similar profiles and similar planar outlines.

The exact same? No. But friggin' close? Absolutely.

[Airframes]

Cripes! I agree Matt, I'd never even thought about it, let alone noticed, until now.

[freebird]

Originally Posted by Matt308

I remain convinced of the similarity.

But you have to admit that the underpowered airplanes have similar flight characteristics, similar profiles and similar planar outlines.

The exact same? No. But friggin' close? Absolutely.

Are you saying the Whirlwind was underpowered?

[Colin1]

Originally Posted by Matt308

I remain convinced of the similarity.

Sure they are not the same airframe. But you have to admit that the underpowered airplanes have similar flight characteristics, similar profiles and similar planar outlines

I still think so too
to the extent that in a furball, one might get mistaken for the other in the same way the Typhoon could be for an early Fw190 or a frame-canopy Mustang could for a Bf109 - again, not the same airframe in either case but enough similarity to make you look twice if the shot presented itself.
On the basis of Matt's video and Graeme's sales-speak in the other related thread, I need to revise my view of the two going one-on-one in some circumstances; a Whirlwind that is comfortable with a Bf109 low down against a Pucara with exceptional agility low down? If the Pucara has got rid of his underslung ordnance and his fuel load-out reflects a short-range mission (ie where the normal take-off weights of the two a/c are similar), it could be anyone's fight.

[Graeme]

Originally Posted by Matt308

I remain convinced of the similarity.

YouTube - FMA IA-58 Pucara

Good clip Matt. (Didn't Charles Bronson devote a thread to the Pucara somewhere in the forum?)
It's a bloody cameleon in that clip. Depending on the angle, how far from the monitor you are and with eyes squinted, I see a lot of "similar" looking machines.

Beech Super King Air
Beech 1900
Embraer EMB-121 Xingu
Messerschmitt Me 410 cockpit
Whirlwind
Welkin
And with the tail obliterated, even a Sud Aviation SE-117.








Just adds up to a unique looking machine...

[Graeme]

Originally Posted by Colin1

Another contender in a what-if would have been the Grumman XF5F (same period) but I couldn't find much spec data on it.

Worthy of a new thread Colin! The Army Version (XP-50) has a performance very similar to the Whirlwind...

[Colin1]

Originally Posted by Graeme

Worthy of a new thread Colin! The Army Version (XP-50) has a performance very similar to the Whirlwind...

OK
that looks so damned similar to the Grumman XF5F because it was just the Army version of it?

[Colin1]

Originally Posted by Graeme

...Depending on the angle, how far from the monitor you are and with eyes squinted, I see a lot of "similar" looking machines.

I saw Elvis, the face of Jesus Christ and a dolphin

[Colin1]

Originally Posted by Graeme

in these photos, you can see the problem with recognition, esp in a furball where you've got alot of other stuff going on too; in shot 1 he's in your crosshairs but isn't going to stay there forever and in shot 2 he's about to nail your wingman if he's one of the bad guys.
I don't think the Typhoon/early Focke-wulf or frame-canopy Mustang/Bf109 looked anything like each other side by side on the apron but in a furball where you've got split-seconds to decide, you can see (in all three instances) the two combatants morphing into each other