Vickers Wellington

History of Vickers Wellington

The Vickers Wellington was the main bomber of the RAF at the start of World War II, and served until the end of 1943 when it was relegated to a second-tier role. Wellington's production number exceeded 11,400 and became a night bomber.

Among many contemporaries designed in the 1930s, the Wellington aircraft outlived her important and successful addition to the RAF offensive range early in the war.

The Wellington was designed as early as 1932 to meet the RAF requirements for a medium twin-engine bomber. The final prototype first flew in 1936 and was delivered to Bomber Command in production form in 1938 - just in time for the beginning of World War II. Still using construction and design techniques that proved outdated in the middle of the war, Wellingtons are still used as soldiers. The series has been powered throughout its career by a mix of Hercules, Pegasus and Merlin engines mounted on monoplane wings spanning the streamlined fuselage. The total number of crew members reached six.

Internal bomb-loading capacity is limited to 4,500 pounds of conventional throwing weapons, while defensive weapons are a mix of 7.7mm machine guns - two on the front turret, four on the rear turret, and two more machine guns mounted on the beam (waist) ) Position. Although the machine gun network was defensively oriented, this arrangement quickly proved insufficient, as the Wellington had a large undefensive angle in its design.

Thus, early morning bombing raids proved disastrous for the type.

It wasn't until the Wellington was introduced as a night bomber that the plane took off. Wellington would continue to provide a powerful addition to Bomber Command's future plans, with its primary role in disrupting German wartime capabilities during difficult-to-defensive low-light hours.

Although Wellington made great strides throughout the wartime, she outpaced her in the addition of new bombers for the Allied industry and new Axis fighters for interception missions. Wellington flew her last offensive mission in October 1943. Nevertheless, the model continued to serve in other forms, such as maritime patrols - this version was equipped with two torpedoes and special equipment.

Other Wellingtonians have served in dedicated transport roles, as crew trainers and even as research platforms for turbojet engine development.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

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Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes