Vickers Wellesley

Vickers Wellesley
Description
Role	General-purpose bomber
Crew	2
First Flight	June 19, 1935
Entered Service	April 1937
Manufacturer	Vickers (Aviation) Ltd
Dimensions
Length	39 ft 3 in	11.96 m
Wingspan	74 ft 7 in	22.73 m
Height	12 ft 4 in	3.75 m
Wing area	630 ft²	58.5 m²
Weights
Empty	6,369 lb	2,889 kg
Loaded	11,000 lb	5,035 kg
Maximum takeoff	12,500 lb	5,670 kg
Powerplant
Engines	1 x Bristol Pegasus XX
Power	925 hp	690 kW
Performance
Maximum speed	228 mph	369 km/h
Combat range	1,110 miles	1,786 km
Ferry range	miles	km
Service ceiling	33,000 ft	10,060 m
Rate of climb	1,200 ft/min	366 m/min
Wing loading	17.5 lb/ft²	86 kg/m²
Power/Mass	0.084 hp/lb	0.137 kW/kg
Armament
Guns	1 x .303 in Vickers machine gun in right wing 1 x .303 Vickers K machine gun in rear cockpit
Bombs	2,000 lbs	908 kg

The Vickers Wellesley was a 1930s light bomber built by Vickers for the Royal Air Force. While it was obsolete by the start of World War II, and unsuited to the European air war, the Wellesley prospered in the desert theatres of East Africa, Egypt and the Middle East from 1940 to 1942.

The Wellesley utilised a radical geodetic construction that was derived from the airship structural developments of Barnes Wallis. Vickers originally used the technique to build a biplane to meet Air Ministry Specification G.4/31 but the result was a failure. Modifying it to make the monoplane Wellesley resulted in a successful aircraft capable of long range and high altitude flight. The RAF ordered a total of 176 Wellesleys.

Three aircraft were modified to become a long-range variant. These had a crew of three and were fitted with extra fuel tanks. On November 5, 1938 two of them flew non-stop for two days from Egypt to Darwin, Australia (7,162 miles, 11,525 km).

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 heavy bomber that became on of the main types of RAF Bomber Command in the early years of the European war.

Related content
Related Development	None
Similar Aircraft
Designation Series	Wellesley - Wellington - Warwick
Related Lists	List of aircraft of the RAF

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