In response, Vickers conducted a design study, led by Chief Designer Rex Pierson. In October 1932, the British Air Ministry invited Vickers to tender for the recently issued Specification B.9/32, which sought a twin-engine medium daylight bomber.

Many elements of the Wellington were also re-used in a civil derivative, the Vickers VC.1 Viking.ĭevelopment Origins Wellingtons under construction, showing the geodetic airframe RNZAF Wellington Mark I aircraft with the original turrets anticipating war, the New Zealand government loaned these aircraft and their aircrews to the RAF in August 1939 The Wellington was one of two bombers named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, the other being the Vickers Wellesley.Ī larger heavy bomber aircraft designed to Specification B.1/35, the Vickers Warwick, was developed in parallel with the Wellington the two aircraft shared around 85% of their structural components. The Wellington remained as first-line equipment when the war ended, although it had been increasingly relegated to secondary roles. It holds the distinction of having been the only British bomber that was produced for the duration of the war, and of having been produced in a greater quantity than any other British-built bomber. The Wellington continued to serve throughout the war in other duties, particularly as an anti-submarine aircraft. During 1943, it started to be superseded as a bomber by the larger four-engined ' heavies' such as the Avro Lancaster. The Wellington was used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, performing as one of the principal bombers used by Bomber Command. During the development process, performance requirements such as for the tare weight changed substantially, and the engine used was not the one originally intended. Other aircraft developed to the same specification include the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and the Handley Page Hampden. This specification called for a twin-engined day bomber capable of delivering higher performance than any previous design. 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. 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. It was designed during the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey. The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber.

Wood framed lattice panels