How many wellington bombers are left

Long enough, perhaps? Barry L , Feb 10, I underdtand R for Robert was first discoverd it was in remarkable condition ,but scavangers and a some what inept recovery may have stoped any chance of the aircraft flying again,the thing i would love to see are the surviving Lancasters flying in formation at least once. Hesmond , Feb 10, Our bill likes this. Hi Barry, I have 'liked' your page about the Wimpey. Your thread got my attention because of my research after Squadron which flew Wellingtons between , so nearly all the losses I research are Wellingtons.

Pieter F , Feb 10, The Wellington's geodesic structure, pioneered by Barnes Walles of Dambuster bomb fame, was immensely strong and able to absorb terrific damage - you can see the characteristic criss-cross bracing behind the cockpit. Wellingtons and their smaller counterpart the Blenheim performed the first British bombing raid of the war on September 4th of , two being lost. In July of James Ward, a crewman on a Royal New Zealand Air Force Wellington, earned the Victoria Cross by breaking a hole in the doped-linen outer skin as the plane was flying and working his way across the wing to put out a fire using rags.

Fred Wilson , Feb 11, Thanks for your support, guys! And thank you too, Fred, for the info' and links - now that I live a "mortar lob" from Cosford, I think I'd better get in there before the Wimpy gets taken away elsewhere!!!

Maybe I can persuade them to get it airborne with a fund-raising campaign Barry L , Feb 11, I still think you are mad! How about a starter from the Princes Trust, followed by a fund raising campaign with the intention of training apprentice engineers? They could make all the essential parts from scratch as apprentice pieces. I'm sure plans must be in existence for the engines - which have to be the biggest individual items.

Best of luck! Wellington singular - not a cat in hells chance, the jigs, fixtures and assembly jigs an airframe has to be built in a jig, would cost vast sums. Find sponsors to build a 'batch' to make a return or at least recoup some of the outlay. Some years ago Ray Hilborne dreamt of building a Handley Page 42 airliner for luxury nostalgia flights between London and Paris.

To build a 'reproduction' with historic 'passenger flight authority' would mean reproducing with ALL of the HP42 drawings - when we talk of drawings for components these drawings always came with 'Op sheets' listing the material to be used - this was from a supplier with aviation approval - the metal had to be tagged or etched with manufacturer batch No and a certificate for any crack testing etc.

The operation sheet would specify how the component was to be machined - maybe 'roughed out' and sent to another approved contractor for heat treating or stress relieving - returned with the appropriate paperwork, inspected and returned to the workshop for next machining processes. Finish machining - inspected and maybe sent off for hardening and tempering - more approval paperwork, maybe finish grinding and inspected - then etched with the AID inspectors personal ID and more paperwork.

None of this can happen unless a modern spec of material can be sourced with the approval of the authorities. There have of course been 'concessions' for minor non stress related components on old aircraft but this would not apply to a complete 'reproduction'.

The Supermarine S5 seaplane that Ray built was first muted by the owner as a reproduction until the costs and hurdles were discussed - settled on a dimensional full sized replica - which then becomes a 'new build' a new design which needs to meet all the approval restrictions.

The theory of new build flight was 'when the weight of the paperwork exceeds the weight of the prototype it will be cleared for restricted test flight' and a new set of paperwork and flight clearance. The manufacture of components is the easy part, sourcing, complying with the existing authority or worse applying for new authority over many thousands of components? Every component given modern material specification replacement authority - I made many of the metal components for the S5 replica apprentice doing 'homers' for beer tokens from time muted until the first flight was some 6 years not in man hours but the need to have everything 'signed off' by CAA approved engineers.

The strut mounting brackets - floats to fuselage - we had to make two sets, one for 'non destructive testing' magnetic crack testing and other crack testing, the other set,with all the flying and landing wire points and turnbuckles - the owner had to pay for a company at Thruxton to make a rig to hold the brackets and with hydraulic rams pull them apart - 'destructive testing' pat on the back for Ray his stress calculations were perfect! Ray's wit improved with a tankard or two of Marston's Pedigree in a tankard presented to him by Handley Page - It was etched with 'It gives us great pleasure too' - when asked about progress for his dream HP42 - he would return with 'looking for a very rich man with a richer father and an infant son who would still be alive to see it fly.

If you think this is an anti ramble - there are many higher up the aviation 'food chain' who would add a full list of hurdles to jump. Not impossible - very unlikely. Why so complex, why so many hurdles? Contributor: C. Peter Chen. Pierson in the mids. The design proved to be tough even when damaged in battle, but it was complex enough that it hampered production somewhat. On 25 Aug , they participated on the first night raid on Berlin.

On May , Wellington bombers made up of the 1, aircraft sent to attack Cologne; in that raid, 2, tons of high explosives were delivered in a minute window, destroying factories as well as downtown Cologne, killing countless civilians and leaving 45, homeless.

As they were replaced by more modern designs, Wellington bombers were transferred to the Middle East and Asia. During the design's production life, 11, were built. Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful?

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All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB. The goal of this site is two fold. First, it is aiming to offer interesting and useful information about WW2. Second, it is to showcase Lava's technical capabilities. World War II Database. Home » Equipment » Aircraft » Wellington. Wellington Wimpy of the Popeye cartoons. They carried out anti submarine patrols and convoy escourt duty over the Atlantic. Sadly he did not return his right engine was gone and most of the crew bailed out.

I am trying to find out more info - which factory etc. Of these, around 60 are airworthy. Army Air Forces in Europe. In May , Spitfire funds took off. Of course, in combat fuel consumption would likely be higher, so less than that. These wings also made the Spitfire one of the most agile fighters in the sky, giving them the advantage with one-on-one battles. Table of Contents.

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