Armstrong Whitworth Siskin
The Armstrong Whitworth Siskin was a British biplane fighter aircraft of the interwar period.
History
The development work on a successor model for the slow obsolescent fighter aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps began in 1918. Siddeley and Armstrong Whitworth both presented a prototype. They differed in appearance not so much, but it is at a crucial point. Siddeley sat down on a weaker engine, the Royal Aircraft RAF.8 with 300 hp, which even had to be purchased by the company, while Armstrong Whitworth designed its own much more powerful engine and produced himself. His name was Jaguar IV and the power was 420 hp much higher. A total of 360 aircraft were produced by Armstrong and licensed from Bristol, Vickers, Gloster and Blackburn. From 1923 the aircraft were introduced by the Royal Air Force as Siskin III. From 1927 to 1930, the Siskin was the backbone of the British home defense. From then better models such as the Bristol Bulldog or Gloster Gauntlet were available.
The aircraft
Pursuant to the requirements of the Air Ministry, the Siskin was a all-metal construction. The cockpit was still open. The armament was housed in the fuselage and fired through the propeller arc. Again, no tail wheel was used on the rear, but only a tail skid. The radial engine was not disguised. This meant that even lighter hits that could have caused damage to the aircraft. An armor of the engine block as a retrofit kit was never developed. The Siskin, however, had never made a combat mission, which is why this fact was not particularly significant.
Military use
- Royal Canadian Air Force
- Estonian Air Force
- Svenska Flygvapnet
- Royal Air Force