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Subject: Vickers Wellesley
Date: 1 Feb 2017 08:39:05 -0800
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_Wellesley
The Vickers Wellesley was a British 1930s light bomber built by
Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands near Weybridge, Surrey, for the Royal Air
Force. While it was obsolete by the start of the Second World War and unsuited
to the European air war, the Wellesley was operated in the desert theatres of
East Africa, Egypt and the Middle East. It was one of two planes named after
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, the other being the Vickers
Wellington.
The design originated from the Air Ministry Specification G.4/31 which called
for a general purpose aircraft, capable of carrying out level bombing, army
co-operation, dive bombing, reconnaissance, casualty evacuation and torpedo
bombing. The biplane Vickers Type 253 design, which used a radical geodesic
airframe construction, derived from that used by Barnes Wallis in the airship
R100, was ordered by the Ministry and tested against the specification along
with the Fairey G.4/31, Westland PV-7, Handley Page HP.47, Armstrong Whitworth
A.W.19, Blackburn B-7, Hawker P.V.4 and the Parnall G.4/31. The Type 253 was
declared the winner, with 150 being ordered.
The Wellesley was a single-engine monoplane with a very high aspect ratio wing
and a manually operated, retractable undercarriage. As it was not known how the
geodetic structure could cope with being disrupted by a bomb bay, the
Wellesley's bomb load was carried in two streamlined panniers under the wings.
The Wellesley Mk I had two cockpits but this was changed in the Wellesley Mk II
to a single-piece cockpit canopy covering the pilot and navigator positions.
Role
General purpose bomber
Manufacturer
Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd
Designer
Barnes Wallis
First flight
19 June 1935
Introduction
1937
Retired
1944
Primary users
Royal Air Force
Royal Egyptian Air Force
South African Air Force
Produced
Number built
177
The RAF received its first Wellesleys in April 1937, serving with No. 76
Squadron RAF at Finningley and it eventually equipped six RAF Bomber Command
squadrons in the UK. Five aircraft with provisions for three crew members were
modified for long-range work with the RAF Long-Range Development Flight.
Additional modifications included the fitting of Pegasus XXII engines and extra
fuel tanks. On 5 November 1938, three of them under command of Squadron Leader
Richard Kellett flew non-stop for two days from Ismailia, Egypt to Darwin,
Australia (7,162 miles (11,526 km)) setting a world distance record. All three
aircraft broke the record, but No. 2 aircraft landed in West Timor, 500 miles
(800 km) short of the objective. The Wellesley's record remained unbroken until
November 1945. This flight is still the longest by an aircraft with a single
piston engine.
While the Wellesley was not a significant combat aircraft, the design principles
that were tested in its construction were put to good use with the Wellington
medium bomber, which became one of the mainstays of Bomber Command in the early
years of the European war. In February 1940, three Wellesleys (K7728, K7735 and
K8531) were sold to Egypt to serve in the Royal Egyptian Air Force.
Specifications (Wellesley)
General characteristics
Length: 39 ft 3 in (11.96 m)
Wingspan: 74 ft 7 in (22.73 m)
Empty weight: 6,760 lb (3,066 kg)
Loaded weight: 11,048 lb (5,011 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 12,500 lb (5,670 kg)
Performance
Maximum speed: 228 mph (198 kn, 369 km/h) at 19,700 ft (6,000 m)
Cruise speed: 180 mph (157 kn, 290 km/h) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m) (57% power)
Range: 1,220 mi (1,963 km)
Service ceiling: 25,500 ft (7,772 m)
Power/mass: 0.08 hp/lb (0.14 kW/kg)
Climb to 15,000 ft (4,600 m): 17.8 min
Armament
Bombs: 2,000 lb (907 kg) of bombs
*
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