Vickers WELLINGTON The Vickers Wellington, affectionately known as the "Wimpy", (after J. Wellington Wimpy, Popeye's friend) was armed with twin .303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns in the nose and tail turrets. It also had 2 manually-operated .303 guns in the beam positions and could carry a 4,500 lb (2,041 kg) bomb load. Its slow speed, limited ceiling, and a small bomb load soon made the Wellington obsolete, although one significant design advantage was famed designer, Sir Barnes-Wallace's geodetic lattice-work fuselage construction. This made the Wimpy extremely tough, and it often survived battle damage, which would have destroyed other aircraft. Its other nickname "The Flying Cigar" alluded to the shape of the fuselage as seen from the profile perspective.
After having early-on proved the inadequacy of the turret fire-power in fending off attacking fighters during daylight attacks, the Wellington went on to build up a great reputation for reliability and ruggedness in night bombing operations. In April 1941, they were the first to drop the deadly "block-buster" bomb, during a raid on Emden, and they helped to initiate the Pathfinder target-indicating tactics.
No Wellingtons were "officially" on RCAF strength in the war, but in fact eleven RCAF bomber squadrons flew the aircraft in the European theatre from 1941 until 1944. A further two RCAF squadrons, Nos 407 and 415, flew Wellingtons on Coastal Command missions. 407 Sqn sank four U-boats with Leigh-light equipped Wellingtons.
Specs-Manu:
Vickers-Armstrong
Crew:
Eight
Power Plant:
Two 1,425 hp Bristol Hercules III or XI Engine
Performance:
Max speed of 255 mph;
Ceiling of 18,000 ft
Range of 1,470 mi
Weights:
Empty 22,000 lbs
Max TO 29,500 lbs
Dimensions:
Span: 86 ft 2 in
Length: 64 ft 7 in; height: 17 ft 6 in
Wing Area: 840 sq ft
Armament:
2 x 0.303-in machine guns in nose turret
2 x 0.303-in machine guns in tail turret
2 x 0.303-in machine guns in beam positions
4,500 lb (2,041 kg) of bombs
Number Built:
11,462 (incl. 181 Mk I, 1887 Mk Ia, 2,685 Mk Ic, 401 Mk II, 1,519 Mk III, 220 Mk IV, 394 Mk VIII, 3,803 Mk X, 180 Mk XI, 884 Mk XIII, 841 Mk XIV
http://www.canadianwings.com/Aircraft/aircraftDetail.php?WELLINGTON-89 
