Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta

what is it?

The Armstrong Whitworth AW.15 Atalanta was a four-engine airliner designed and produced by the British aircraft manufacturer Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Limited at Coventry. The Atalanta was specifically developed to fulfil the needs of the British airline Imperial Airways, who sought a new four-engined airliner to serve its African routes. A monoplane configuration was adopted largely due to its low drag qualities, which led to a substantially different configuration to that of the preceding Armstrong Whitworth Argosy airliner.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · 27.4 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 251 km/htop speed
• seats 17passengers
• size 9,526 kgmax take-off weight
• built 8made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 94 years ago, in 1932.
• 🏎️Top speed is 1.9× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 27.4 m: about 6 cars parked nose to tail.

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1932

introduced

1933

retired

1942

status

retired

number built

8

role

airliner

makers

Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft

engines

4× Armstrong Siddeley Serval III / Serval

crew

3

passengers

17

length

21.8 m

wingspan

27.4 m

height

4.3 m

max take-off weight

9,526 kg

top speed

251 km/h

cruise speed

190 km/h

range

—

ceiling

4,328 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.