View Full Version : Vickers Windsor
Kolibear
5th Feb 2003, 13:30
I'm reading Barnes Wallis' biography at them moment, its very interesting if lacking a bit on the technical side.
He spent some considerable time in the 1940s designing a 4 engined bomber which would outperform the trio of Lancaster, Halifax & Stirling - this was the Vickers Windsor.
The book says (and I quote from memory here) "the Vickers Windsor, of which only three ever flew........ "
Now, I was under the impression that the Windsor never made it off the drawing board, no mock-up, no prototypes. I've only ever seen an artist's impression of what it looked like.
Can anyone shed any more light on the Windsor?
treadigraph
5th Feb 2003, 17:05
I was going to say "yes, definitely" cos I've seen a picture of it inverted with (I think) John Jordan at the pole, but I realise that was more likely to have been a Vickers Warwick...:p
I've seen a photo of one on the ground - weird pressure cabin and a u/c leg from each of the 4 nacelles. I'm sure one flew.
At last someone's asked a question I know something about !!!!
Three were definitely built ( if someone would Email me how to do it, I'll put a picture of it on here )
It looked a bit like a Stirling with a "bubble" cockpit and a very high single fin. Constructed using the famous geodetic and fabric system of Barnes Wallis, it had four engines (merlins) with an undercarriage in each nacelle - 50 foot track- making taxi-ing on standard RAF peritracks a bit of a problem.
It also featured 20mm cannon in the rear of the inboard nacelles remotely controlled by the gunner in the rear tail-cone (similar to B29)
The prototype crashed - on fire, I think - in Wales. The project was abandoned in 1946.
Lots more information available if anyone wants it.
Specnut727
5th Feb 2003, 20:27
Virgo, thanks for the info.
I did a search (I use Google) and came up with some good info. Even an air to air pic on a Russian site !
etsd0001
6th Feb 2003, 11:53
A few more pictures
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/paul.robinson16/Windsor.jpg
From an article in Aircraft Illustrated Jan 72
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/paul.robinson16/Windsor1.jpg
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/paul.robinson16/Windsor2.jpg
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/paul.robinson16/Windsor3.jpg
The first Windsor's (DW506) first flight was on 23 Oct 1943 and only clocked up 44 Hrs before being written off after a crash landing that was a result of a prop refusing to feather.