Westland
Wapiti A5-1
The Wapiti light bomber entered RAAF
service in 1929 as intended replacements for the D.H.9
and 9A. Seen above is the
first one of an order for 38. The first nine aircraft were
Mk 1s with
420 hp Bristol Jupiter
VIII engines, but all subsequent machines were fitted with the more
powerful
550 hp Jupiter XFA engines.
The earlier aircraft were later upgraded to the latter standard. They
were pulled from front line
service in 1935 and replaced by Hawker Demons. However, six add-
itional Wapitis were
supplied from RAF stocks in 1937 for training purposes.