Samiksha Jaiswal (Editor)

Westland C.O.W. Gun Fighter

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Top speed
  
298 km/h

Length
  
9.09 m

Manufacturer
  
Westland Aircraft

Wingspan
  
12 m

First flight
  
December 1930

Westland C.O.W. Gun Fighter httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediacommonsthu

The Westland C.O.W. Gun Fighter was an attempt to produce a fighter aircraft armed with a heavy calibre gun. The Coventry Ordnance Works (COW) 37 mm automatic gun was used, which had been developed for this purpose some years earlier.

Contents

Design and development

The design was in response to Air Ministry specification F.29/27. The design was an open cockpit single engined metal monoplane with fabric covering. The aircraft design had already been submitted for specification F.20/27 as the Westland Interceptor but had lost out to the Gloster Gauntlet. The gun was in the fuselage and fired up at an angle, in order to attack bombers from below. The plane first flew at the end of 1930 but the trials did not give satisfactory results to continue with the idea.

The COW gun had been developed by 1918 for use in aircraft and had been trialled on the Airco DH.4.

Specifications (C.O.W. Gun Fighter)

Data from Westland Aircraft since 1915

General characteristics

  • Crew: One
  • Length: 29 ft 10 in (9.10 m)
  • Wingspan: 40 ft 10 in (12.45 m)
  • Height: 10 ft 7 in (3.23 m)
  • Wing area: 223 ft² (20.7 m²)
  • Airfoil: RAF 34
  • Empty weight: 2,615 lb (1,189 kg)
  • Loaded weight: 3,885 lb (1,786 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Bristol Mercury IIIA nine-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, 485 hp (362 kW)

    • Performance

  • Maximum speed: 185 mph (161 knots, 299 km/h) at 13,000 ft (3,960 m)
  • Service ceiling: 27,900 ft (8,500 m) (Absolute ceiling: 29,400 ft (8,960 m)
  • Wing loading: 17.4 lb/ft² (86.3 kg/m²)
  • Power/mass: 0.12 hp/lb (0.30 kW/kg)
  • Climb to 10,000 ft (3,050 m): 7 min

    • Armament

  • Guns: One fixed upward firing 1½ lb (37 mm) COW 37 mm gun with 39 rounds

    • References

    Westland C.O.W. Gun Fighter Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA