Fly Past

40 RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION BOMBERS

VICKERS WELLESLEY

VICKERS

1918 2018

WELLESLEYWELLESLEY

1937 TO 1944

R

emembered for its huge wing

span and long-range record-

breaking flights, the real legacy

of the Wellesley was much more

sweeping, it was truly a game changer.

It prepared the way for the incredible

Wellington and set Vickers up as a

giant of the aviation industry.

While Wellesleys were making

awesome non-stop expeditions, early

auto-pilots, fuel-management systems

and the like were being trialled and

evaluated. This work paid dividends

as Bomber Command matured into

a strategic weapon, hitting deep into

Europe.

In the summer of 1931 the Air

Ministry issued Specification G4/31

looking for a general purpose, light

bombing and torpedo-carrying

type to replace Fairey Gordon

and Westland Wapiti biplanes.

In depression-ridden Britain, the

winner of this contract was looking

at a lifeline. No fewer than nine

companies – Armstrong Whitworth,

Blackburn, Bristol, Fairey, Handley

Page, Hawker, Parnall, Vickers and

Westland built prototypes for a

fly-off.

Vickers boldly put forward biplane

and monoplane prototypes for

evaluation, both conceived by former

airship designer Barnes Neville Wallis.

Each employed his pioneering new

construction technique – geodetics

• offering lighter, stronger and more
  durable airframes.
  The biplane design ‘played safe’ by
  using geodetics for the ‘shell’, but
  with the backstop of conventional
  light alloy longerons. The monoplane

Above

Possibly while serving

with 223 Squadron,

Wellesley L2654 over

unforgiving Sudanese

territory. It was shot

down on June 15,

1940 by Italian ground

fi r e. KEC

Right

A trio of newly

delivered 148 Squadron

Wellesleys at Scampton

in July 1937.

employed the new structure

throughout.

The biplane G4/31 first flew at

Brooklands on August 16, 1934

and went on to win the hard-fought

competition. The Air Ministry

ordered 150 units.

The monoplane had its maiden

flight on June 19, 1935 and it was

immediately clear it was a massive leap

forward. The Air Ministry re-issued

the contract in October 1935 and

eventually 176 were delivered. By

that time the ‘general purpose’ nature

of the new aircraft was dropped; the

big-span Vickers monoplane had the

makings of an interim bomber.

PAVING THE WAY

On January 30, 1937 the first

production Wellesley, K7713,

was flown. Three months later 76

Squadron at Finningley became the

type’s first unit. With a span of 74ft

7in (22.73m) the Wellesley was big –

the twin-engined Wellington’s wing

was only 11ft 5in (3.5m) longer.

Often confused as external fuel