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.<SUP class="noprint Template-Fact" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from February 2009" style="WHITE-SPACE: nowrap">[
citation needed]</SUP>
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.
