[brewerjerry]

Hi,
only 190 shot down by a whirlwind I know of is :-

8/JG26 190 flown by Uffz Wälter, 28 jan 43, shot down by Musgarve of 137Sq,
( this whirlwind flown had previously shot down a DO-217 in july '42)

there were a few 109's, couple of Ju-88's, a DO-217, a Ar-196, a HE-III and unfortunately an RAF blenheim.

Merlin's XX's were offered by westlands to the RAF in early'41, but they declined them , as in mid'40 the RAF declined the american engined version.
Engine size & weight wasn't the problem , A letter from westlands describes having curred the problem (which was undercarriage retraction).

Seems they were kept out of the fighting initially , as they were the heaviest armed a/c and only ones capable of attacking tanks, if an invasion occurred, then afterwards it was a bit to late, and they were convoy escorting , or later ground/shipping attack.
Only successful combats really were when they tackled 'same era' 109E's in 41, ' F's and 190's were a bit to advanced for it to handle.

R-R 'fixed' a whirlwind by 'modding' it and got good results, but again this was to late.

the majority of the aircraft destroyed by whirlwind, were however on the ground, the strange thing is despite the nose cannons, there seems to be no records of enemy aircraft blowing apart.

Seems from records, the whirlwind was a victim of fate, circumstances and some politics.
But for an aircraft with only 116 [correct figure] a/c built it is very well known.
cheers
Jerry