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When I see the Barracuda folded I'm reminded of origami. Is there any more convoluted folding in the WW2 era of carrier aircraft? Maybe the Aichi M6A? Our Wellesley will be a competitor.By late 1937 Vickers, with the air of two renegade Japanese Origami Masters, in a top secret program had devised a way to fold the Wellesley to the dimensions needed to get it down the carrier lift and into the 16ft high hanger.
I agree, that wingspan is going to be a huge barrier. At 74.5 ft wide, our naval Wellesley will be I believe the widest span carrier aircraft until the 80 ft wide Grumman E-2 Hawkeye. Mind you, the 73 ft wide Grumman S-2 Tracker was close, and a popular choice of navies operating the small Colossus and Majestic class, utilizing the unique asymmetric fold process where one wing folds in front of the other. If a Tracker can fit, so can our Wellesley.That wingspan is a tough hill to fight over. I'll go with less range, and a smaller airframe able to fit inside this, for a carrier-borne TB:
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I agree, that wingspan is going to be a huge barrier. At 74.5 ft wide, our naval Wellesley will be I believe the widest span carrier aircraft until the 80 ft wide Grumman E-2 Hawkeye. Mind you, the 73 ft wide Grumman S-2 Tracker was close, and a popular choice of navies operating the small Colossus and Majestic class, utilizing the unique asymmetric fold process where one wing folds in front of the other. If a Tracker can fit, so can our Wellesley.
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Grumman Tracker algemeen 1
Of course we mustn't forget the Lockheed U-2 Project Whale Tale: the story of how the U-2 became an embarked reconnaissance aircraft.
Me neither until I starting wondering how the postwar wide span aircraft managed to fit onto carriers even smaller than the Illustrious class.I had no idea the Tracker folded like that, thanks for a learning moment.
Me neither until I starting wondering how the postwar wide span aircraft managed to hit onto carriers even smaller than the Illustrious class.
Here's a cool vid of the Tracker unfolding. Of course our Wellesley won't have the benefit of hydraulics, but this does show a possible wing fold design that can avoid the origami of the Barracuda or Gannet. Though I'm not sure how the deckhands can get the super wide wing up and over manually, especially on a gusty deck in the North Sea.
IIRC the Wellesley was found suitable for torpedo bombing, although I do not think it was ever used as such?
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I wonder if that greenhouse canopy resulted in removal of the upper fuselage between the original two canopies. Seems it would cause a weak point in the geodesic structure.The Wellesley dropped torpedoes in test flights but not on operations. Interestingly, the aircraft in the image is one of the Wellesleys converted with the long greenhouse canopy instead of the split pilots/gunners canopies as per the original design.
Here's an artist's interpretation. Note how It's not full length cockpit to aft, but just gives the man in the middle a view and perhaps some headroom.I've yet to find a really good close-up pic of the greenhouse canopy installation.
Okay, now we're really going to trigger our resident contrarians.