Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Commercial airliner

Power Plant:

Four 254 kw (340 hp) Armstrong Siddeley Serval III ten-cylinder two-row radial engines

Specifications:

History:

The Armstrong Whitworth AW.15 Atlanta was built for United Kingdom based Imperial Airways to be used on sections of the trunk routes to South Africa and Australia. A total of eight aircraft was built for the Nairobi to Capetown, and Karachi in Pakistan to Singapore sections of the trunk routes.

The Atlanta was of steel construction with plywood covering and was fitted with four Serval III two row radial engines. It had an enclosed cabin and seated nine passengers. The prototype (G-APBI) first flew in 1932. Proving flights were made to Cape Town in February 1933, and Australia in May that year, these being used for the purpose of gaining knowledge of new routes from the United Kingdom to Australia and to show prospective customers the latest in British designs.

An Armstrong Whitworth Atlanta arrived in Sydney, NSW from the United Kingdom on Monday, 26 June 1933, for demonstrations to Australian airlines, particularly Qantas, it being expected this airline would order the type, the aircraft having left England on 29 May 1933. The flight was successful until the aircraft ran short of fuel on the crossing of the Timor Sea to Darwin, NT and a landing had to be made in a jungle clearing on Bathurst Island due to adverse winds. The machine was not damaged but the media criticised the airline as it said the Imperial Airways aircraft City of Cairo crash landed on Timor Island in 1931. The original intention was to use the Atlanta on a proving flight to Singapore and connect there with Qantas de Havilland DH.86s. The Atlanta was flown by Captain J V Prendergast, and it had extra fuel-tanks installed at Croydon in  London, UK.

This machine ‘Astraea’, G-ABTL (c/n 784), owned by Imperial Airways, was seen at a number of centres in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. This was considered to be a proving flight for the type. No Australian orders for the type were forthcoming and Qantas personnel criticised the air-pressure engine starting system, which they considered unreliable.

After demonstrations to Qantas, the aircraft on 7 July 1933 left Longreach, QLD heading for London, first stop being made at Cloncurry, the 500 km (311 miles) leg being covered in 2 hrs 40 mins. One of the passengers on this occasion was Hudson Fysh (later Sir), Managing Director of Qantas.

The machine was flown back to its operational base at Karachi, arriving on 19 July. In March 1941 it was impressed by the Indian Air Force as DG450 and was eventually withdrawn from use in September 1942. After the Australian route proving flight, Imperial Airways began operating between Karachi and Calcutta in  India in July 1933, on to Rangoon in Burma in September, and then to Singapore by the end of the year. From December 1934, when the route was extended to Darwin, NT the Atlanta flew the Singapore to Darwin service until Qantas took over the Singapore to Brisbane, QLD section with de Havilland DH.86s.