WELLINGTON BOMBERS

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 214, 31 July 1939, Page 1

WELLINGTON BOMBERS

DETAILS ANNOUNCED HIGH SPEED, LONG ItAXGK LONDON, July 4.—Details of the performance of .the Wellington bomber to be .supplied to the R.N.Z.A.F., hitherto kept secret have been released by the Air Ministry. These aircraft are built by Vickers-Armstrong. The absolute maximum speed in level flight- is 265 m.p.h. a.t 17,000 ft.; the normal cruising speed i.s 2-15 m.p.h. at Id,OOUi't. : the maximum range, with fill! tanks, is 3200'miles at- 180 m.p.h.; the service- ceiling, 26,300; and the time required to climb to Id,oooft. is IS minutes. The lull complement of crew for the Wellingtons is live, including the pilot, and the maximum fuel and oil capacity is 1000 gallons and 47 gallons respectively. Normal flying weight- is 2t,850!b. One gun is carried in the forward fuselage and two in the rear. The two Pegasus XVIII engines, built by tile Bristol Aeroplane Company. are capable of the following performances: Internation rating. 815 b. li p. at- 4750 ft. and 750 I), h.p. at 14,750 ft. The maximum h.p. in flight- is 885 i. h.p. at 15,500 ft. I Geodetic Ccitstruction „ The aircraft is built- on the principles' of geodetic construction. This form of construction i.s described as a means whereby perfect streamline wings and bodies can he built froin a “meccano” of cylindrical ly curved parts. The most complex surfaces can thus be formed from parts which are easy to make and simple to erect, tl’T final curvature being added automatically and unconsciously by the operator during the process of assembling the geodie bars in an erection j'.d- ---' This form of construction is therefore peculiarly suitable for the massproduction of high performance aircraft. a fact which has been demonstrated by the success of the Wellesley long range bomber in gaining the most difficult- of all air records—the world’s long distance, and by the outstanding performance of her successor, the Wellington.