page_title: Armstrong Whitworth Ensign
section_title: Design and development
hierarchical_section_title: Armstrong Whitworth Ensign / Design and development
caption_attribution_description: PictionID:40971649 - Title:Ensign Armstrong Whitworth AW.27 Ensign I G-ADSR - Catalog:15_002679 - Filename:15_002679.tif - Image from the Charles Daniels Photo Collection album "British Aircraft."PLEASE TAG this image with any information you know about it, so that we can permanently store this data with the original image file in our Digital Asset Management System.SOURCE INSTITUTION: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
context_page_description: The Armstrong Whitworth Ensign was a British four-engine airliner built during the late 1930s for Imperial Airways. It could seat 40 passengers and was designed for European and Asian routes, connecting Britain with further seaplane flights to Australia and South Africa.
  In the Second World War, they were used for transport duties to and from the area of Middle East command. After the war, they were withdrawn from service and – with no buyers forthcoming – scrapped.
context_section_description: Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft started on the A.W.27 Ensign in 1934 after receipt of a specification from Imperial Airways for a monoplane airliner with four Armstrong Siddeley Tiger engines. Government policy was to send all first-class mail by air and Imperial Airways were increasing their fleet. The first aircraft was ordered in September for a cost of £27,000 (design) and £43,300 (manufacture) of that year, with delivery expected in 1936. Eleven more (at £37,000 each) were ordered in May 1935. An order for a further two aircraft (£40,000 each) in December 1936 brought the total to 14.
  The Ensign was a high-wing cantilever monoplane of light alloy construction and an oval, semi-monocoque fuselage with a conventional tailplane. The wings aft of the single box spar were fabric covered as was the tailplane and fin.
  It had retractable landing gear and a castoring tail wheel. The main landing gear was hydraulically operated and retracted into the inner engine nacelles. The cockpit had side-by-side seating for two pilots with dual controls; there was also accommodation for a radio operator. The fuselage was divided into separate cabins, either four cabins with accommodation for 40 passengers or three cabins with room for 27 by day or 20 at night with sleeping accommodation.
  Production of their Whitley heavy bomber for the Royal Air Force was a priority, and work on the Ensign proceeded slowly. Construction took place not at the main Coventry factory, but at the production line of Air Service Training Ltd (another member of the Hawker-Siddeley group) in Hamble. Constant changes were requested by Imperial, slowing production further. As a result, the Ensign's maiden flight did not take place until 24 January 1938 with Charles Turner-Hughes at the controls assisted by Eric Greenwood. The first flight showed a problem with applying full rudder that was cured by modifying the servo. On the second, the undercarriage was retracted for the first time. The prototype then went on for more exhaustive tests before passing to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) for Air Ministry testing. On her fourth flight, the engines cut out due to incorrect settings of the fuel cocks and it had to be glided down to RAF Bicester where it made a perfect "dead-stick" landing. Imperial Airways named the prototype "Ensign" and as such the "Ensign Class" was applied to the whole fleet. The aircraft were fitted out for either Empire routes (eight aircraft) or European routes (four aircraft). The former carried 27 passengers in three cabins or 20 sleeping; the latter 40 passengers across three cabins and a four-person "coupe" aft of the third cabin. The only difference in crewing was a "flight clerk" replacing one of the two stewards on Empire routes.
  Despite its Tiger engines making it underpowered, the aircraft was certified, and full airline service began between Croydon Airport and Paris, France in October of that year.
caption: Prototype G-ADSR in flight
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