What a fabric covered Wellington wing actually looks like!

[Michael51]

13 hours ago, Jure Miljevic said:

Hello

Fabric on the wing's upper surface lifts due to an airflow, which is also very evident on other photos of fabric covered aircraft in flight. The photo on the first link shows, at least in my opinion, the wing which had been recently covered with a new set of fabric and has never been subjected to aerodynamic forces in flight since. Cheers

Jure

 

11 hours ago, tonyot said:

Do remember that an operational bomber parked out in the open in all weathers will look rather different to a newly resurfaced  wing inside a museum restoration hangar..

 

Yes, and others have touched on these issues in this thread.

Just had a look at my unbuilt 1/72 Trumpeter Wellington Mk 1C and depending on how one holds it to the light, the fabric looks alright to me.

Would not a bit of primer assist those still concerned with raised levels?

Michael

[occa]

11 minutes ago, Michael Enright said:

 

Yes, and others have touched on these issues in this thread.

Just had a look at my unbuilt 1/72 Trumpeter Wellington Mk 1C and depending on how one holds it to the light, the fabric looks alright to me.

Would not a bit of primer assist those still concerned with raised levels?

Michael

The main problem is that the 90° stringers lie inside of the 45° geodetic structure and therefore are not supposed to stick out.

 

You can sand them flush but that will still not look 100% correct

[JohnT]

I can't say if the model manufacturers have overcooked the effect or /and have the "pattern" correctly portrayed but looking at my books there are photos showing the effect on the wing in flight and under certain conditions the upper wing fabric is very subject to pressure and is being pulled down through the geodetic structure . The whole top wing looks incredibly pitted if I can express it like that.

 

If you have them look at page 9,  the 4+ publication and page17 Wellington at War.

 

On the other hand I can't see this replicated on any parked aircraft and there are some in flight photos which also do not have the same pronounced effect.

 

It makes me wonder if there is variation between airframes and even on the same aircraft depending on how long the fabric has been on?  Would seem a possible explanation.  

[Finn]

There is this one also:

 

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205210092

 

Jari

[Graham Boak]

1 hour ago, JohnT said:

I can't say if the model manufacturers have overcooked the effect or /and have the "pattern" correctly portrayed but looking at my books there are photos showing the effect on the wing in flight and under certain conditions the upper wing fabric is very subject to pressure and is being pulled down through the geodetic structure . The whole top wing looks incredibly pitted if I can express it like that.

 

 No.  As made clear earlier in the thread (please can we have post numbers back!), the fabric is being pulled up because of the reduced pressure on top of the wing.  It is a quilted effect.  Perhaps you are not old enough to remember the joke about interpreting photos of the lunar surface - do you want craters or domes?  And yes, this is a much more significant effect in flight and cannot be seen as prominently when static.

[occa]

It is the principle of flight that the wing has under pressure above and over pressure on the underside through the appropriate cross section of the airfoil, this is what creates the lift ...

[sprue]

An interesting thread but I wonder if the restoration is to flying condition or static display as this might well dictate the overall finish. I note that the proportions of the upper wing roundel are decidedly suspect.

[top turret toddler]

If you take a look at 36:00, you will see some assembly of the Wellington geodetic wing. Nothing conclusive but nevertheless interesting.

 

 

[JohnT]

20 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

 No.  As made clear earlier in the thread (please can we have post numbers back!), the fabric is being pulled up because of the reduced pressure on top of the wing.  It is a quilted effect.  Perhaps you are not old enough to remember the joke about interpreting photos of the lunar surface - do you want craters or domes?  And yes, this is a much more significant effect in flight and cannot be seen as prominently when static.

 

 

Yes Graham.  On looking at the photos again I can see that.  Its a little like looking at those Penrose stairs.  What at first I took to be depressions are indeed the upper fabric ballooning.  Must go tom Specsavers.

[Michael51]

23 hours ago, occa said:

The main problem is that the 90° stringers lie inside of the 45° geodetic structure and therefore are not supposed to stick out.

 

You can sand them flush but that will still not look 100% correct

 

As an Arts graduate I maintain my rights to innumeracy over accuracy and effect over precision.

 

I am going out to get a fresh can of Tamiya grey primer.

 

That'll do the job.

 

Michael

[dhogue]

I thought the Trumpeter kit had exaggerated fabric effect. I put down two layers of primer and sanded the wings and tail planes lightly until the plastic structure started to show through. problem solved.

[JWM]

On 2.12.2016 at 7:45 PM, Dave Fleming said:

This pic from the Key Publishing forum of the RAFM Wellington shows what a fabric covered geodetic wing actually looks like - not the weird, waffle like fabric-under-the-ribs surface that Trumpeter and Special Hobby gave us. Matchbox wasn't too far off!

On 3.12.2016 at 0:31 AM, top turret toddler said:

Please scroll down to the very bottom and make up your own mind. Looks like waffles and a bit of peace & love to me. Cheers !

Please note, that first photo shows static look of wing, whereas the second one is taken in flight. The effective presure on top of wing is lower then inside wing due to Beronulli effect (air moves fast on surface of wing) - Therfore in flight the fabric structure can bulbs up a bit compared to static conditions. That expains the difference observed here... no mystery at all.

Regards

Jerzy-Wojtek

 

 

 

[busnproplinerfan]

Just a bit off topic, was there any Wimpys used post war in a civilian role?

[Graham Boak]

I haven't heard of any - if you exclude Vikings.  I have seen a photo of an early Viking still with a geodetic wing.  However I don't have a copy of the British Civil Register for the period.  I would investigate whether any Wellington transports were used by BOAC during the war, as they would be prime candidates for any continued use..

 

PS A quick look at Google found a thread saying that BOAC had got rid of their Wellingtons mid-war.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Graham Boak

[busnproplinerfan]

ok thanks.