WWII bomber plane restored to glory

By Adam Dutton via SWNS

A Second World War Vickers Wellington bomber has been restored to its former glory after more than 10 years of painstaking work in the UK.

The 1944 Wellington, one of only two remaining, will be the centerpiece of a new Bomber Command exhibition opening next week.

The fuselage and inner wings section have been completed and can be viewed by the public for the first time.

Over the coming weeks, engineers will attach the huge 31ft outer wings, engines, propellers and front turret to the iconic aircraft.

The Wellington was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War.

It was famed for its geodetic fuselage structure designed by Barnes Wallis and 1942 Wellingtons were the most numerous aircraft in Bomber Command.

They began to be replaced by more capable four-engined heavy bombers such as Halifaxes and Lancasters.

Wellingtons continued to operate with Bomber Command as a training aircraft and served in North Africa, Italy, the Far East and Coastal Command.

The museum’s example was constructed in 1944 and served with No. 1 Air Navigation Training School between 1949 and 1953.

Although not operational in the Second World War, it represents the role played in the bombing campaign against Germany.

This much-loved aircraft is one of only two Wellingtons in existence and the only one complete with its fabric outer skin.

The aircraft is now on public display at the RAF Museum Midlands for the first time.

The extensive restoration of the Wellington is one of the largest aircraft projects to be undertaken by the Museum’s Conservation Centre team.

The team included technicians, apprentices and volunteers, including one who worked on Wellingtons during his RAF instructional airframes training in the 1940s.

During the conservation process, the Wellington was regularly visited by the late Mary Stopes-Roe, daughter of the aircraft designer Barnes Wallis.

The Bomber Command exhibition opens next Tuesday, May 16.