X-Nico

2 unusual facts about Vickers Wellesley


Colin Grazier

HMS Petard, assisted by Wellesley aircraft of the No. 47 Squadron, located the u-boat and attacked the submarine with depth charges for nearly ten hours and finally forced the stricken boat to the surface at around 1040pm.

Vickers Wellesley

The biplane Vickers Type 253 design, which used a radical geodesic airframe construction that was derived from that used by Barnes Wallis in the airship R100, was ordered by the Ministry and tested against the specification along with the Fairey G.4/31, Westland PV-7, Handley Page HP.47, Armstrong Whitworth A.W.19, Blackburn B-7, Hawker P.V.4 and the Parnall G.4/31.


Bristol Pegasus

It was used for the first flight over Mount Everest in the Westland Wallace, and in 1938 set the world's long-distance record in Vickers Wellesleys.

Townend ring

Examples of aeroplanes with Townend rings were the Douglas O-38, Vickers Wellesley, the Westland Wallace and the Gloster Gauntlet.


see also