Armstrong
Whitworth Sinaia J6858
This photograph has puzzled me ever since I received it
from Sir W.G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft
Ltd. in the
1940s. It looks like an optical illusion. Evidently
the gunner's position was an extension of
the engine
nacelle (presumably one on each side). That being the case, how
come the roundel appears
to be on the side of the
nacelle also? The gunner's pod looks like it's an
extension, or grafted onto, the
fuselage itself.
Below is a close up of the offending design peculiarity.
It doesn't make sense. And yet
the photograph appears not
to have been tampered with. Anyway, this prototype was
produced at the
end of 1918 as a D.H.10
competitor. The signing of the Peace Treaty killed any desire on
the part of
the RAF to consider
it, notwithstanding the fact that, at that time, funding for new types
was virtually
nonexistent.