Airfix 1:72 Vickers Armstrong Wellington b.iii – Series 4 04001
$40.00
Airfix 1:72 Vickers Armstrong Wellington b.iii – Series 4 04001
The Vickers Wellington (nicknamed the Wimpy) is a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. Led by Vickers-Armstrongs’ chief designer Rex Pierson, a key feature of the aircraft is its geodetic airframe fuselage structure, which was principally designed by Barnes Wallis. Development had been started in response to Air Ministry Specification B.9/32, issued in the middle of 1932, for a bomber for the Royal Air Force.
This specification called for a twin-engined day bomber capable of delivering higher performance than any previous design. Other aircraft developed to the same specification include the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and the Handley Page Hampden. During the development process, performance requirements such as for the tare weight changed substantially, and the engine used was not the one originally intended.
B Mark III which featured the 1,375 hp (1,025 kW) Bristol Hercules III or XI engine and a four-gun tail turret, instead of two-gun. A total of 1,519 Mark IIIs were built, becoming mainstays of Bomber Command from late 1941 through into 1942, with all but the two prototypes being built at Broughton in Flintshire and at Blackpool. After trials in 1942, the Wellington III was cleared to tow Hotspur,
Hadrian and Horsa gliders, although this was observed to have an adverse effect on the geodetic structure. The Wellington III was also seen over Salisbury Plain while towing Spitfires. This would have allowed Spitfire reinforcements for the defence of Malta to be towed from Gibraltar to within range of Malta before being released. Whether this was done is unconfirmed.