What the Westland Whirlwind benchmark demands

The Whirlwind's 750-horsepower radial engine is within the broad reach of interwar engine development, so raw power is not the hardest part of the scenario. Its 15-foot-plus height, nearly 7,800-pound maximum takeoff weight, 109-mile-per-hour speed, and roughly 290-nautical-mile range impose more consequential shipboard constraints. Depth charges and rockets are plausible early weapons, while torpedoes and a primitive dipping acoustic system require further development. The aircraft therefore combines local reconnaissance, anti-submarine warfare, transport, and strike potential in one demanding package. The H-19 first flew in 1949 and the British Whirlwind in 1953, so reaching this capability by 1939 requires advances of ten and fourteen years respectively.