Westland F.7/30

Westland F.7/30
Role	F.7/30
National origin	United Kingdom
Manufacturer	Westland
Designer	W.E.W. Petter
First flight	1934
Number built	1

The Westland F.7/30 was a British fighter prototype. A single prototype was built in 1934, but the type was not put in production because its performance was far below the RAF's requirements. The Gloster Gladiator won the F.7/30 competition.

Development

The Westland F.7/30 was designed in response to RAF specification F.7/30, which was actually issued in October 1931 and amended multiple times. It called for a day and night fighter with an armament of four rifle-calibre Vickers Mk.III machine guns, a top speed of at least 195 mph and a high rate of climb. The aircraft was to be a "zone fighter", patrolling an air defense zone in the air.

Contrary to what is often stated, the specification did not request the use of the Rolls-Royce Goshawk engine, although many of the competitors did use it. It did emphasize the importance of a better "fighting view" than was offered from the cockpit of traditional biplane fighters, and suggested a low-wing monoplane design as a desirable solution.

The designer of the Westland F.7/30, W.E.W. Petter, initially opted for a monoplane with a the engine buried in the fuselage over the wing centre section, driving a tractor propeller through a long extension shaft. This put the pilot in front of and slightly above the engine, so that he also had an excellent forward view. Concerns about a possibly high landing speed resulted in the conversion of the design to a biplane with a gull wing configuration for the upper wing.

In this form the F.7/30 was completed in 1934. It was an elegant, if unconventional biplane. The gulled upper wing and the straight lower wing were connected by N struts and braced by wires. The landing gear was fixed, with main wheels covered by spats. From his high position the pilot had an excellent view forwards, upwards and to the sides, as the cockpit was ahead of the wing leading edge. Initially the cockpit was open, but in two stages this was converted into a fully enclosed cockpit. The machine guns were installed in the cockpit's side walls, two on each side.

The initial tail configuration was somewhat odd because the rudder hinge line was designed to be vertical when the aircraft was on its wheels, rather than in flight, in the hope that this would improve its effectiveness on the ground. After testing the aircraft received a larger tailfin of more conventional design.

The engine was a Rolls-Royce Goshawk III or IIS, cooled by a radiator that was installed ventrally, aft of the legs of the fixed undercarriage. The position of the engine put the exhausts between the wings, behind and below the cockpit.

The performance of the Westland F.7/30 fell far short of the F.7/30 specifications: A figure is often given of 185 mph at 15,000 ft but flight test data of July 1935 revealed that the top speed was a disappointing 146 mph at 10,000 ft, nearly 100 mph slower than the Gloster Gladiator that emerged as the winner of the F.7/30 competition. It also needed 18.8 minutes to reach 20,000 ft. It is likely that the underdeveloped state of the Goshawk engine contributed to these disappointing results. They ruled out production of the type as a fighter, and it was quickly abandoned.

Specifications (variant)

Data from Mason, Tim British Flight Testing Martlesham Heath 1920-1939

General characteristics

• Crew: 1

Performance Armament
4 Vickers Mk.III .303 machine guns

See also

List of Air Ministry Specifications Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era Bristol Type 123, Bristol Type 133, Gloster Gladiator, Hawker P.V.3, Supermarine Type 224