The Atlas displayed a length of 28 feet, 6.6 inches with a wingspan of 39 feet, 6.6 inches. Her height was listed at 10 feet, 6 inches. Empty weight was a reported 2,550lbs with a loaded weight nearing 4,020lbs. Power was from a single Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar IVC 14-cylinder engine of 450 horsepower delivering a top speed of 142 miles per hour with a range of 400 miles and service ceiling nearing 16,800 feet. Endurance out of the Armstrong Siddeley powerplant was in the vicinity of 3.5 hours.
Standard armament for the series centered around a pairing of machine guns. A .303in (7.7mm) Vickers type machine gun was in a fixed position set to fire forward. A .303 (7.7mm) Lewis machine gun was mounted on a "Scarff ring" in the rear cockpit for trainable fire against emerging enemy threats from the rear. The flexible Scarff ring was developed in World War 1 by Britain Warrant Officer (Gunner) F.W. Scarff to address the armament needs of a rear gunner faced with the prospect of fighting the enemy from multiple angles from his open-air cockpit. In addition to the machine guns, the Atlas could be fitted with 112lb bombs under the wing elements.
A handful of Atlas variants existed in whole. The initial production model became the Atlas I and some 271 examples were delivered to the RAF. The Atlas Trainer served as a dual-control mount in the training of future Atlas pilots. Some 175 of this type was ultimately constructed. The Atlas II soon appeared as an improved Atlas model with more output from its Armstrong Siddeley Panther engine of 525 horsepower. However, the RAF elected to go with the competing Audax design and 15 of this model were delivered to the Chinese Air Force. Ajax represented Atlas I models with slight variations and only 4 were ever built for the RAF. Aries was a proposed and improved Atlas I model with slightly larger surfaces and overall dimensions while also being made easier to maintain in the field. However, only one was ever completed. The EAF Atlas was an export product for the Greek Air Force (Hellenic Air Force) that primarily differed in its selected engine, propeller and wing assemblies. At least 10 of this model were locally built by EAF (State Aircraft Factory) in Greece after 1931.
The last Armstrong Siddeley Atlas in RAF service was fielded by 208 Squadron, which replaced their systems with the newer Hawker Audax in 1935. Privately-held Atlas aircraft soldiered on until 1938 before falling to the scrapman's torch.
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