The Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta was powered by four Armstrong Siddeley Serval III piston engines and first flew on 6 June 1932. It was built for Britain’s Imperial Airways to serve routes to Africa.
Services began on 26 September 1932 with flights from London Croydon to Brussels and Cologne. Seating was provided for nine passengers, with two pilots and a navigator. Air conditioning was included as it would be operating in hot climates and later capacity was increased to 11 passengers.
Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta Videos
Following on from the last video about the Armstrong Whitworth Argosy, this time we stay with the British manufacturer for a look at the Atalanta. The first presentation below runs for just over a minute and sees a flight leaving London’s Croydon Airport, including passengers boarding, taxi, take-off and an air to air shot inflight.
The second video runs for just under three minutes and is amateur footage taken during the 1930s. The aircraft appears at the beginning and end, while the middle are shots taken out the window during flight.
Eight aircraft were produced and the whole programme took its name from what the first aircraft was christened – Atalanta. The other seven were called Andromeda, Arethusa, Artemis, Athena, Astraea, Amalthea and Aurora. Imperial Airways usually had a name for all their planes at the time.
Inside the Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta
Since the videos did not show the inside of the aircraft, I thought it would be nice to show some pictures. Happily there were some online and here they are.
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- The cosey cockpit of the Atalanta.
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- It’s not a large cabin by any means.
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- Dinner is served on Imperial Airways.
Located behind the cockpit was a cargo space designed to take air mail. Passengers were located behind this towards the rear of the aircraft. It looks like everyone would have been close friends when a flight was full!
Overall Thoughts
The Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta ended up flying all the way through to 1944. In the end they went to BOAC, the RAF in India and the Indian Air Force for use during World War II.
None of the aircraft survive today, but of course we have pictures and video to prove they existed. A leisurely trip down to Africa must have been quite exciting at the time.
Did you know about the Armstrong Whitworth Atalanta? What do you think of the videos and pictures? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image via AirHistory.net.
Cockpit photo via Media Storehouse.
Cabin photo via Media Storehouse.
Meal service via Media Storehouse.
I’ve probably seen pictures of that plane but don’t recall the name Atalanta which I’m sure got some people thinking of the city of Atlanta. Imagine the views from those huge windows!
Those old airliners are really a lot like flying private today when you think about it. Slower, but similar, with only a few people on board. Would have loved to have tried it!