Vickers Wellesley B(PR)III

[Martin H]

So, does this mean I have to dig out and dust off the PR-II for the MK show?

Looks good with a Merlin. An engine I didnt consider while building the PR II.

For those wondering what Kit is going on about when he mentions a PR-II


Taken in 2005 at the Avon show, As you can see its on display with an extreamly infamous aircraft....................At least in whiff terms

[van883]

This I like!

[TallEng]

Now that is neat!, and that Merlin suits its to a 'T' 

Regards
Keith

[PR19_Kit]

So, does this mean I have to dig out and dust off the PR-II for the MK show?

Looks good with a Merlin. An engine I didnt consider while building the PR II.

Of COURSE it does!  

They'll make a great pair alongside each other. The P-51B engine was available, it wasn't really part of a reasoned thought process, and luckily it fitted like a dream.

I've weathered the B(PR)III now and it'll just have to stay a tad shiny........

[Pablo1965]

Completely plausible proyect. I love it. 

[kitbasher]

Excellent, Kit.  Going the opposite way I've been thinking of putting a Mercury or a Hercules on the front of a Battle using the Long Range Development Unit fairing from the Matchbox kit.
Trouble is I seem to be getting a lot of ideas for Battle whifs at the moment, haven't a clue why!!!

[James]

That looks great Kit. 

[PR19_Kit]

Excellent, Kit.  Going the opposite way I've been thinking of putting a Mercury or a Hercules on the front of a Battle using the Long Range Development Unit fairing from the Matchbox kit.

Of course I have one of those going spare, should I bring it to MK with me?

[Tophe]

Wonderful derivative!
Uh, isn't that the PR-XIX version?

[PR19_Kit]

Wonderful derivative!
Uh, isn't that the PR-XIX version?

Hehe, no Tophe, but it is the PR19's 'Grandfather' I suspect. 

[kitbasher]

Excellent, Kit.  Going the opposite way I've been thinking of putting a Mercury or a Hercules on the front of a Battle using the Long Range Development Unit fairing from the Matchbox kit.

Of course I have one of those going spare, should I bring it to MK with me?

Very kind Kit, I do actually have one in the spares box. Also means another Battle!  Fairey Falcon done a couple of years ago you'll recall, a real world one on the go, picking one up at MK (snow permitting) and now another!!!

[PR19_Kit]

Wellesley B(PR)III Update


Subsequent to showing the Wellesley B(PR)III model at the Milton Keynes Show this year some new information has come to light throwing doubt on the configuration of the five B(PR)IIIs. It seems that Flt. Lt. Barker's modifications may well have been considerably more radical than had been thought.

The only known period photographs of the B(PR)IIIs are all taken at ground level and tend to show the fuselage with very little information visible of the wings, apart from a few detailed photos of the camera carrying port pannier. In recent days a very blurred photo of a B(PR)III climbing out from Landing Ground 95 at Ikingi inidcates a considerable increase of span was evident. This would bear out claims that the B(PR)IIIs would climb very much higher than the radial engined bomber versions and would also explain some comments in operational reports from the five units that flew the Wellesleys, such as '......descended to Angels 30 to get below cloud over the target.....' etc.

In depth investigation of 216 Sqdn's records show that while only five complete Wellesley airframes were moved across Heliopolis to the hangar complex there a considerable number of wing sets over and above that number were moved also. Flt. Lt. Barker's log book has since been found in the records section at the RAF Museum at Hendon and this shows without any doubt that all five B(PR)IIIs had their span extended by some 27 ft overall!

It would seem that Barker's experience with the geodetic structure enabled him to trim the tip sections, including the ailerons, from the surplus wing sets and graft them onto the five low hour airframes, using substantially sized butt-straps to spread the load to the main wing structure. It's hoped that further searches will reveal the true extent of this upgrade but in the meanwhile the model has been upgraded with the longer wings as described in the reference's we've found.


===============================================


In reality OGL showed up at the MK Show and presented me with a pair of Wellesley wing sprues, and this removed my original objection to increasing the span of the B(PR)III model in line with my motto about 'longer wings'. In a moment I was presented with all the bits needed to do exactly that, complete with geodetic fabric covered wing surfaces!

So I got to work as soon as I was home, chopping the tips off the original model and assembling the new wing pairs. After a bit of razor saw time I'd cut off the ailerons, sawed a chunk out of the middle of the new wing tips and cemented the whole lot together. With some styrene mini-spars to give the new, longer tips some strength I was able to increase the overall span by some 5" without it looking TOO silly, and some 15 thou. styrene butt-straps hid all the surgery.

All I have to do now is paint the new parts and the damaged parts of the old wing before varnishing and re-applying the under-wing decals, the old ones being a bit too close to the surgery area.






Now it really HAS got long wings. 

[Tophe]

A U-2 forefather, nice!

[rickshaw]

I wonder how much the wing flexes?

[NARSES2]

Kit you'll soon need a table for your self at shows if you keep extending wings and fusalages