Westland: Witch

Note: This is a sub-section of Westland Aircraft.
The Westland Witch was an unsuccessful British bomber prototype, first flown in 1928. Only a single aircraft of this type was built.
The prototype of the Witch, serial J8596, was first flown on 30 January 1928 at RAF Andover, with Louis Paget at the controls. The type was praised for its stability as a bombing platform, and its 138 mph maximum speed was good, although its 62 mph landing speed was felt to be too fast for comfort. However, the Witch was judged unsuitable for service due to structural weaknesses, including a number of failures of the landing gear struts and other components.
The same aircraft was nevertheless presented again in the next year in Mk.II form, with a Jupiter VIIIF engine replace the earlier Jupiter VI, and was used for testing of parachutes until 1931
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