Vickers Wellesley 'Mark II' whif potential

[James]

Always wanted a Wellesley kit and never got one. I love odd aircraft (she is imo anyway).

I like the maritime partol idea.  and that got me thinking about what else you could do....
How about a carrier version. 

[Caveman]

hmm... wing fold... origami?

[PR19_Kit]

hmm... wing fold... origami?

Think Fairey Gannet wing fold but multiplied by three........ 

[GTX]

hmm... wing fold... origami?

Think Fairey Gannet wing fold but multiplied by three........ 

Bah!!!  Where's you sense of adventure?

[PR19_Kit]

hmm... wing fold... origami?

Think Fairey Gannet wing fold but multiplied by three........ 

Bah!!!  Where's you sense of adventure?

There was a slight difference in the flight deck width between the then RN carriers, like the Ark and the Furious triplets, and the MONSTER USN ships! Not to mention the size of the lifts too.

Of course even Lockheed  had to go to folding wing tips for the TR1, which those photos show I think?

[The Rat]

Of course even Lockheed  had to go to folding wing tips for the TR1, which those photos show I think?

Nope, what you see hanging down there at the tips are the skids that contact the runway on landing. After rolling to a stop the ground crew then installs the 'pogo' gear under the wings and it taxis back with those. Been there, done that! 

[The Rat]

Hmmm... just realised that I've got one on the go and another in the stash, and each one comes with the alternate engine for the record setting version. So after doing the first one 'stock' I'll have three engines left for the second one, now it's just a toss-up as to how many I decide to use.

[PR19_Kit]

Of course even Lockheed  had to go to folding wing tips for the TR1, which those photos show I think?

Nope, what you see hanging down there at the tips are the skids that contact the runway on landing. After rolling to a stop the ground crew then installs the 'pogo' gear under the wings and it taxis back with those. Been there, done that! 

I beg to differ.

While both the U-2 and the TR-1 had the wing tip skids, the TR-1 wing tips, some 6-8 ft each side, really did fold upwards, albeit manually. You can see the fold lines on the Rareplanes and the High Planes kits and there are pics of them folded around the place.

[James]

hmm... wing fold... origami?

Indeed!  All the extra mechanisms will add some serious weight, hence the need for a serious engine upgrade.

Or we could go for a clipped wing, low level version.

[The Rat]

Of course even Lockheed  had to go to folding wing tips for the TR1, which those photos show I think?

Nope, what you see hanging down there at the tips are the skids that contact the runway on landing. After rolling to a stop the ground crew then installs the 'pogo' gear under the wings and it taxis back with those. Been there, done that! 

I beg to differ.

While both the U-2 and the TR-1 had the wing tip skids, the TR-1 wing tips, some 6-8 ft each side, really did fold upwards, albeit manually. You can see the fold lines on the Rareplanes and the High Planes kits and there are pics of them folded around the place.

Yep, I thought you were referring to the bits sticking down in those pics.

[Caveman]

hmm... wing fold... origami?

Think Fairey Gannet wing fold but multiplied by three........ 

how about combining the gannet wing fold with the tracker system? Crossing over the fuselage... i think then you may start running out of head room though...

[rickshaw]

Considering the vintage, I'd expect mechanical "twist and fold", so that it lies flat along the fuselage, as did most of the other Royal Navy carrier aircraft of the same period. 

[PR19_Kit]

Considering the vintage, I'd expect mechanical "twist and fold", so that it lies flat along the fuselage, as did most of the other Royal Navy carrier aircraft of the same period. 

That does sound rather more 'of the period' but the wings are SO long they'd stick out a long way behind the rudder. Maybe a 'twist and fold' combined with outer panels that folded along a chord line as well? That'd be unique AFAIK.

[jcf]

Considering the vintage, I'd expect mechanical "twist and fold", so that it lies flat along the fuselage, as did most of the other Royal Navy carrier aircraft of the same period. 

Ermm, except the majority of RN carrier aircraft types of the Wellesley's vintage did not
have 'twist & fold' wings, only the Skua and Roc. Wings folding back in the horizontal plane
were the most common. The Grummans and, particularly, the Fairey Firefly, are of a later
period in terms of RN service.

However it is done, it would need to be outboard of the main landing gear so that automatically
limits how narrow you could make the aircraft. A combination of 'up-and-over' chord-wise folding
outer panels and a Fulmar/Barracuda style aft fold in the horizontal plane may be doable.
Or a combo of Gannet style double-fold with Grumman S2F style skewed hinge line.

[rickshaw]

Considering the vintage, I'd expect mechanical "twist and fold", so that it lies flat along the fuselage, as did most of the other Royal Navy carrier aircraft of the same period. 

Ermm, except the majority of RN carrier aircraft types of the Wellesley's vintage did not
have 'twist & fold' wings, only the Skua and Roc. Wings folding back in the horizontal plane
were the most common. The Grummans and, particularly, the Fairey Firefly, are of a later
period in terms of RN service.

Perhaps I should have said "monoplane carrier aircraft of the period."  That is you want to be particularly picky...

However it is done, it would need to be outboard of the main landing gear so that automatically
limits how narrow you could make the aircraft. A combination of 'up-and-over' chord-wise folding
outer panels and a Fulmar/Barracuda style aft fold in the horizontal plane may be doable.
Or a combo of Gannet style double-fold with Grumman S2F style skewed hinge line.

Yes, the widely set landing gear would limit how narrow the aircraft could become but at a rough estimate it narrows the width by about 60% IMHO.   Twist and fold would IMO be far more likely than merely upwards folding.  Particularly when one considers how low the roof of the hangars in most British carriers were.