Wimpies & Stirlings
 

Having watched 'one of our aircraft is missing' prompts me to ask if there is a Wellington or Stirling still in flying condition?

It would appear that there are no Wellingtons flying as only two are apparently in existence:

Iconic war plane the Vickers Wellington Bomber moved from the Royal Air Force museum near Colindale to begin five year restoration (From Times Series)

And it would appear that no complete Stirling exists at all:

Wreckage of Short Stirling bomber LJ628 in the Dark Peak, Derbyshire, September 1988. | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

and

STIRLING PROJECT NEWSLETTER NO the last newsletter is 08/09.

You need to read Newsletter No 10 which refers to a Stirling boxed in Russia on the Stirling Project website

Read the Wellington link:

Nice bit of research there, Zoe...

"Starring role by the Wellington"


So far as aware the Dam Buster raid was an entirely Lancaster bomber
operation.

Starring role in the film, not the raid.

The Wellington certainly did appear in The Dam Busters (flown by Patrick Barr playing the part of Mutt Summers), although of course the Lancaster had the starring role.

Barnes Wallis is seen waiting to see someone at the Air Ministry to ask for the use of a Wellington for trials. "Would it help if I told you I designed it?" is the line immediately before the Wellington takes off.

Smart ar$es, don't be so quick to criticise!

NIce one BEagle!

Although not used in the raid, Wellingtons were used as the aircraft in many of the trial bomb runs of the "bouncing bomb"...many were lost during this trial phase and without the recognition they deserve.

... Dr Jekyl - Sorry about misunderstanding that IMO was all down
to misuse of the term 'starring role' - but thanks for clarification - and a civilised reply.

...

THE STIRLING AIRCRAFT SOCIETY presents THE STIRLING PROJECT

Interesting; thanks PN.

F-in-L flew Wimpy and Stirling. The Wimpy whistled apparantly, when you chucked the coal on and the Stirling took an age to gain sufficient height/speed to raise the gear (sometimes a few miles) but was frisky enough at altitude to scare most fighters in affil.

A minor point, but that should be 'Wimpys', not 'Wimpies'. They were named after J. Wellington Wimpy, a character in the Popeye cartoons: J. Wellington Wimpy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

IIRC the final graveyard for Stirlings was Edsel, in Scotland, together with the Halifaxs.

A minor point, but that should be 'Wimpys', not 'Wimpies'

IIRC the final graveyard for Stirlings was Edsel

A minor point, but that should be "Edzell" (in case anyone goes Googling), not "Edsel" - which nearly created the final graveyard for Ford in Detroit!:ok:

Jack

A Wellington was recovered from Loch Ness and restored at the Brooklands Museum.
‘R Robert’ has been left partually covered to show the geodetic construction. It was designed by Vickers under the leadership of Rex Pearson. In a interview I have seen on a DVD George Edwards told the story that his first job on joining Vickers was to design the tailplane.
mmitch.

I knew a former Stirling pilot during my RNZAF Service. AVM Larry Siegert ( CAS Oct 76 - Oct 79) Was a Stirling Captain, aged 19 in 1944 and dropping supplies over Normandy when attackled by three German fighters, which he managed to avoid, shooting one down in the process. At his funeral a couple of years ago, another former RNZAF CAS/CDS and Lancaster pilot Sir Dick Bolt described Siegert as "the finest natural pilot he'd ever met". In the 1953 Air Race to NZ, the RNZAF entered one of its new Hastings C3s, flown by Siegert, who gained a AFC for a night landing [Ceylon?] in a tropical thunderstorm and on three engines. Siegert once told me the Stirling had a major design fault in that it was made to fit the standard RAF hangar of the time, hence the wingspan was less than ideal!

Sam - I beleive you are correct regarding the wing span of the Stirling -
as you say - cut shorter on account of the standard RAF hangars of the day - I beleive this then contributed to its poor ceiling performance which
from memory was around 17 - 19,000 ft. - having rather a brief spell of
operational service when the Halifax and Lancaster began to appear.

...

That's not true is it?
I thought it was on account of packing cases and also being the same wing as another Shorts design. Also wasn't the specification for short(ish) take-off and the design also to transport troops & then support them. So it was a bit of mash up of requirements.

I heard a story about one fighting off 2 Me110 fighters - apparently the wing loading (?) meant it had good handling qualities...?

I have been told that the standard RAF Hangars were indeed a design factor for many RAF aircraft including the Vulcan. Not sure about the Victor 2 that was 9 feet greater.

The hangars were extremely advanced buildings incorporating split power supplies and utilities, blast doors and blow out roofs. Trenchard, I was told, was keener to get the RAF Infrastructure right and in the right places too, knowing that new aircraft would be transient whereas the hangars would persist for a long time.

Shame Sir Basil Embrey didn't plan ahead when he concreted east Anglia.

Was it true Load Toad? Absolutely!

The original Stirling ndesign had a greater wingspan as designed. The RAF rejected this proposal based on the wingspan, demanding it to be made shorter so that the aircraft would fit in RAF aircraft hangers that had standard door openings of 100 ft (30.48 m). This requirement would severely restrict the Stirlings operational altitude.

Should have known that, I drive by it enough times.
The result was the same. Designed by a committee and not up to the job.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...Ford-Edsel.jpg