The "Carousellington " of RAF Defford, and its successors.

[Rheged]

Another one of  my half-formed ideas that a more accomplished model maker might wish to adopt or adapt.   There really is some real world fact in this offering, including extended wingspan for Kit. See the link at the end of the article


The "Carousellington" of RAF Defford

Once upon a long time ago, the research establishment at Worth Matravers on the south coast was hurriedly relocated to Malvern. The decision was taken shortly after the successful Bruneval raid on the assumption that if  the UK do it, so might German assault troops. The airfield near Croome Court, RAF Defford, became the location where the research teams  of TRE could undertake practical tests of their devices.

Airborne radar was a key subject of research, culminating in the Beaufighter and Mosquito night fighter and long range intruder  variants that did so much damage to the German war effort.  However, there was also a Wellington equipped with a specifically designed radar for controlling interceptions. This was known as ACI (Air Controlled Interception). This Wellington, R1629, was equipped with a rotating dorsal aerial array, the purpose being to try and counter the threat from Fw 200 Condors in the NW Approaches. TRE designed the radar with the design, manufacture and installation of the aerial blade with mounting and turning gear the responsibility of RAE Farnborough. Trials were carried out off The Lizard in April 1942. A change of role came the following month, with plans to use the aircraft to control interceptions of E-boats by MGBs or aircraft. Trials were carried out from Bircham Newton. With the introduction of 10 cm ASV from January 1942, the project was considered obsolete and was dropped. However, one must regard R1629  as the grandfather of all AWACS   aircraft.  It was referred to by ground crew at RAF Defford as the "Carousellington"

 In late 1944, a radar-equipped Wellington XIV from 407 Sqn. RCAF was modified for use by the RAF's Fighter Interception Unit  (FIU) as what would now be described as an airborne early warning and control aircraft. It operated at an altitude of 4,000 ft (1,200 m) over the North Sea to control Bristol Beaufighters intercepting Heinkel He 111 bombers flying from Dutch airbases and carrying out airborne launches of the V-1 flying bomb. The FIU operators on the Wellington would search for the He 111 aircraft climbing to launch altitude, then direct the Beaufighter to attack the bomber.

In the immediate post-war period, a total of  63 Wellington Mark 6 high altitude aircraft in storage were regarded by Bomber Command  as an answer in search of a problem.  With an extended wingspan and Merlin 60 series engines the Mk6 could reach nearly 40.000 feet and had an endurance of approximately eight hours with a 1500 pound payload. Two aircraft were modified, with extra fuel tanks and an extended pressure capsule.  The rear guns and bomb aimer's position were deleted and replaced with  a radar operator and a much modified form of the radar and blade aerial first used on R1629.   At 35.000 feet,  Wellington Mk6's  circling above northern Scotland, Lindisfarne and the Wash could "see"  considerably further East than ground based radars and provide an very early warning of approaching Soviet bombers.  The proposed operational use was for a climb to 35,000 feet, taking about 50 minutes, flying a racetrack flightplan for six hours and a 50 minute descent and return to the home airfield. Whilst the aircraft (perhaps W5803 and W5809: RAF records are unclear on the airframes used) worked remarkably well;  problems were encountered integrating the airborne radar with the UK ground-based defence systems.  The project was abandoned in 1951, although rumours suggest that  further trials  were undertaken with a Bomber Command Boeing Washington in 1953.

Decades later, the ground crews working on RAF Boeing E3 Sentry aircraft still referred to the dorsal radome as the "Carousel"   

There are several gaps in this report. and I'd be most grateful if other members of the community were able to augment the story. It is suggested that the Israeli air force  experimented with a similar system in the mid 1950s  and that Sweden used the  single Tp80 Lancaster  acquired as a  jet engine test platform to trial a variant of the equipment.

https://weaponsandwarfare.com/2019/03/16/wellington-bomber-high-altitude-variants/

[Rick Lowe]

 

[Pellson]

..and that Sweden used the  single Tp80 Lancaster  acquired as a  jet engine test platform to trial a variant of the equipment.

There is not much data to be found in Swedish archives about early Swedish ventures into airborne early warning. What there is, however, is a few notes on a borrowed rotary equipment set, used sporadically in between engine test programmes on the aforementioned Tp80 Lancaster from ca 1953 to 1956 when the Lancaster caught fire in the air just south of SAAB, in Linköping, sadly crashing with the loss of all hands - and the AEW radar.

However, trials with another technology commenced from 1960, using another British bomber, namely the Canberra B.2 which was procured in three examples and put into service as the Tp52. Two of the Canberras were equipped with SIGINT and ELINT gear, respectively, flying long patrols over the Baltic sea, but the third featured a long "canoe" under it's belly, extending just before and after the bomb bay. In this canoe, a passive electronically scanning array radar antenna was located, the first such in an airborne configuration. While it worked, many problems and bugs were encountered and fixed during the Canberra's 12-year service, but from 1972, the aircraft was replaced by two second hand Caravelle airliners, featuring not only a significantly enlarged set, but also six operator stations and twin pilots, in comparison to the two plus one setup in the much smaller Canberra. While the Canberra should be seen mainly as a development platform for PESA AEW systems, the Caravelle was a fully functional AEW platform, however in turn being used for development of an AESA radar for the same purpose during the late seventies.