Name the aeroplane ?

[Andy]

Good try, but i'm afraid you are wrong this time.
Look at the name of the airfield.
Even the italians were not crazy enough to come to that airfield.

[domtoni]

Is it a Wellington?

[Jac Mac]

Wellington, & did it return with bombs on board ( incendiary) to a belly landing?

[Molleur]

I think a Vickers Wellington MK X..

[Andy]

Jesus!!

Molleur and especially Jac mac are spot on.

It was a Pathfinder on a raid on Brugge in Belgium in 1944.
76 Squadron, Guy Gibson's lot , before he went to Lancs.

It was attacked by a german nightfighter from behind, on its way home.
The crew consisted of :
RAAF : Pilot, Navigator and Bombadier
RAF : Wireless Op , Mid Upper Gunner , Tail Gunner.

Due to the damage, they progressively lost hydraulics over The Wash/North Sea.

They were directed to an emergency airfield, in this case Bruntingthorpe.

The Pilot was made aware that there was still ordance onboard and the hydraulics couldn't jettison it, nor lower the undercarraige.

Unbeknown to the Pilot, the rest of the crew had agreed amongst themselves, that they would never bail out and leave the Pilot on his own.
Thus the belly landing.

They 'evacuated' the aircraft and a 250lb bomb and incendiaries went up

I'm sure many on this Forum have similiar stories.

It just puts into perspective the disrespect they can receive today.

Gurkha's....... need i say more.

My Father was the Tail Gunner, fourth from the left in the crew shot.

He never mentioned anything about this period of his life until 5 years ago

[Molleur]

Wow, some piece of unforgettable history! I deduced the MK X by the fuselage skeleton and the shade of the metal. Earlier Wellingtons had steel skeletons and this appeared to be aluminum.

[David Morton]

I promise I never looked - it could only be one aeroplane with the Geodetic lattice fuselage - The Wellington (Wimpey).

[Jac Mac]

Cant claim that much knowledge, the camera title on the pic states 'Wellington 2'.
Good of Andy to make his Quiz in ..open book.. format.

But I did read somewhere about the 'hot' return to terra firma & about the pledge by crew to stick with the pilot in a book on bomber squadrons. Could have been an entirely different incident though... there were a few.

[Andy]

Sorry if i f'ed up on the pic, too easy then.


It's my Fathers 86th this year.

Seeing as he became a Civil Engineer after the war and Project Managed the refurbishment of RAF Duxford for the Imperial War Museum, i'm hoping to get him a personal fly past for his birthday.

If i can pull it off i'll film it and post here.

Its the least i can do for his generation.
Everytime he reads about 'Elf & Safety' he calls me and laughs his head off.
He wants to know where these E&S idiots where, when he was serving.

[Molleur]

Originally Posted by David Morton

I promise I never looked - it could only be one aeroplane with the Geodetic lattice fuselage - The Wellington (Wimpey).

Ditto, I immediately recognized the unusual geodetic structure. Perhaps you could help me remembering the designer. Was it R.K. Pierson or
Sir Barnes-Wallace. Read it a long time ago but can't remember exactly who it was.

Wouldn't it be just wonderful if Andy can arrange a flyby for his Dad, what an honor that will be!

[David Morton]

It was Pierson inspired by Barnes Wallace. One of BWs relatives (daughter -in-law)tuaght my daughters amd to this day sits on our local Parish Council looking after Planning and Sustainability.

The Wellington used a geodesic construction method, which had been devised by Barnes Wallis inspired by his work on airships, and had previously been used to build the single-engine Wellesley light bomber. The fuselage was built up from a number of aluminium alloy (duralumin) channel-beams that were formed into a large framework. Wooden battens were screwed onto the aluminium, and these were covered with Irish linen, which, once treated with many layers of dope, formed the outer skin of the aircraft. The metal lattice gave the structure tremendous strength, because any one of the stringers could support some of the weight from even the opposite side of the aircraft. Blowing out one side's beams would still leave the aircraft as a whole intact; as a result, Wellingtons with huge areas of framework missing continued to return home when other types would not have survived; the dramatic effect was enhanced by the doped fabric skin burning off, leaving the naked frames exposed (see photo).
The geodetic structure also gave a very strong but light structure for its large size, which gave the Wellington a load and range per horsepower advantage over similar aircraft, without sacrificing robustness or protective devices such as armour plate or self-sealing fuel tanks.^{[citation needed]}
However, the construction system also had some distinct disadvantages, in that it took considerably longer to complete a Wellington than for other designs using monocoque construction techniques. Also, it was difficult to cut holes into the fuselage to provide additional access or equipment fixtures. The Leigh light, for instance, was deployed through the mounting for the absent FN9 ventral turret. Nevertheless, in the late 1930s, Vickers succeeded in building Wellingtons at a rate of one per day at Weybridge and 50 per month at Chester. Peak wartime production in 1942 saw monthly rates of 70 achieved at Weybridge, 130 at Chester and 102 at Blackpool.

[Molleur]

Thank you David. I had always thought the geodesic design had served an earlier function with airships, but this information has added to my rather small knowledge
of the subject. I have been interested in aircraft structure since my Grandmother
let me play with her old (even then) Encyclopedia's dating from WW-I. There were some very well written and illustrated cutaway's of a Neuport 17 and a Sopwith Camel resplete with details of controls, etc. I was 6 years old at that time and totally "hooked".

[David Morton]

My post above was written after a bottle of Champagne following a brilliant day out at Goodwood (Thank you for the tickets Jim). The spelling of "Taught" and "and" looked OK last night. Imagine if I was driving....
I'll get some breakfast then try and post a couple of pics from Goodwwod yesterday.

[Jac Mac]

Originally Posted by David Morton

My post above was written after a bottle of Champagne following a brilliant day out at Goodwood (Thank you for the tickets Jim). The spelling of "Taught" and "and" looked OK last night. Imagine if I was driving....
I'll get some breakfast then try and post a couple of pics from Goodwwod yesterday.

and that wuz only the fist paraglaugh nevermind David, Ive ad a couple of wines meself!

[David Morton]

OK - Here is another cockpit / Flight Deck for you to name?



Really quite easy this one......The four coloured upper left panel on the Engineers station is a big give away.

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

Nimrod?

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

Like this?

[David Morton]

Yes - Doesn't it look so old and antiquated now. I remember when they first came out of the factory all smelling that 'brand new' aeroplane smell. We soon put paid to that.
Also quite strange to think apart from a couple on SAR standby the rest have been grounded until being scrapped.
I'll try and dream up a difficult one now........

[David Morton]

It has a downstairs/lower compartment as well with a fantastic bed with a view.

[David Sturch]

David,
You are getting tricky now. I think C-34 or CH-34 you are getting into choppers now.
Dave