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Jan 41 in a letter to Sholto Douglas
by Eric Mensforth M.D. Westlands.
....... We are now able, because of the solution of certain undercarriage retraction problems, to offer to install in the whirlwind twin merlin XX engines .....
...merlin XX, 430 Mph, 37,000', range 800 miles...
...extra 60 gallon fuel tank in lengthened fuselage behind pilot's armour, swept wings to centre the extra weight and leading edge radiator grills...
Every board should have a Whirlwind What IF (WWI) at some point.
How much sweep angle would the wings of a Westland Whirlwind need to accommodate the 500lb (~50%) heavier Merlin engines and still retain a reasonable centre of gravity? Anything like 35° would seriously improve the mach number of the airframe. Faster than a deHavilland Hornet?
Let's have a 3x20mm cannon underbelly tray for fast reloading and higher (120?) rounds per gun.