| | Vickers Wellington Bomber Plane | The Vickers Wellington was a WW2 medium bomber designed in the mid-1930's by Vickers-Armstrong's Chief Designer, R. K. Piersonusing, at Brooklands in Weybridge utilising Barnes Wallis's Airship geodesic construction method for it's airframe. The Vickers Wellington first flew in June 1936 and entered RAF service in October 1938 and by the end of production in 1945 a total of 11,464 aircraft had been built. The Vickers Wellington was the only RAF bomber to be operated throughout WW2 and remained in service with the RAF as an aircrew trainer until March 1953 |
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The Wellington was widely used as a night-time bomber in the early years of World War II eventually being replaced by larger four engine bombers like the Avro Lancaster and Halifax then serving as a costal patrol anti-submarine aircraft until the cessation of hostilities.
It is of note that n late 1944 a radar-equipped Wellington was modified for use by the RAF's Fighter Interception Unit as an Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft, it operated at an altitude of some 4,000 feet over the North Sea controlling de Havilland Mosquito fighters tasked with intercepting Heinkel He 111 bombers inbound from Dutch airbases carrying airborne launched V-1 flying bomb ("Buzz Bombs" or "Doodle Bugs"). Vickers Wellington Mk IC Specifications: - Crew: six
- Length: 64 ft 7 in (19.68 m)
- Wingspan: 86 ft 2 in (26.26 m)
- Height: 17 ft 6 in (5.33 m)
- Max takeoff weight: 28,500 lb (12,927 kg)
- Engines: Twin 1,050 hp (783 kW) Bristol Pegasus Mk. XVIII radial engines (Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasps on the Mk 4)
- Maximum speed: 235 mph (378 km/h)
- Range: 1,805 miles (2,905 km)
- Service ceiling 18,000 ft (5,486 m)
- Rate of climb: 1,050 ft/min (320 m/min)
Vickers Wellington Mk IC Armament: - Eight .303 Browning machine guns, two in a nose turret, two in a tail turret and one either side of the fuselage in the waist position.
- 4,500 lb (2,041 kg) bombs.
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Geodesic Construction The Wellington's utilisation of Barnes Wallis's famous geodesic method of construction for it's airframe created a very resilient aircraft, this can be clearly seen on this Damaged RAF Wellington which was still able to land safely after sustaining severe battle damage it's rear fuselage completely loosing it's tail gun turret . | | |
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Vickers Wellington Bomber Plane Picture and Information |
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