F Wrighton & Sons Mosquito timber work

This is brilliant. I’ve been trying for years to track down these companies. I was the archivist to the Morris furniture company for many years and recently retired. I was also ordered to write the company history!The company held the patent for the balsa ply and initially it was used for doors. It could save as much as 45 tons on a liner. They made batches of balsa ply for the various Mosquito firms. They also supplied wing tanks to de Havilland as well as Mosquito propellers. They also made up the 5V3 aeroply plywood for Ministry of Aircraft Production used in airframes. They were also involved in experimental work with Farnborough on wooden aircraft before the war. Their records are quite substantial. They made a fuselage out of a South American wood called Quipo, but it was found that the balsa was better for production. They were also involved with E. Gomme of High Wycombe, who made tails and wings as well as fuselages. The problem was after the war the various ministries came onto the premises and removed all the wartime record. I believe they went to the Ministry of Home Security

I know a bit about Mosquito timber construction, but wasn’t the Hornet (and Vampire) a mix of timber and aluminium, in the sense that the aluminium formed the stressed surface and the timber the spacer between surfaces ? Do you need to press aluminium into shape before a fit over the former/sandwich ?

Aren’t the engines the issue ? How many engines could you rustle up ? Rumour of one in Oz….

The Vampire cockpit “pod”, and Hornet fuselage are constructed exactly the same as the Mosquito – all wood. The Hornet wing has a lower skin of aluminium, and upper of wood, with aluminium spar booms instead of wood as in the mosquito.

There are 7 known surviving 130 series Merlins, and yes one is in OZ.

After you collect the lottery

As for your idea about the concrete mould: I looked at using this about 15 years ago, and although it is a nice relic of the original production process, it is incomplete and not useable without extensive repair. This would only detract from its originality.

I’ve got all the necessary drawings to re-construct a Hornet from scratch, including the co-ordinates for the fuselage moulds. Throw enough money and time at it, and I could produce a wooden fuselage mould the same as Glyn Powell has done with the Mosquito in NZ.

The difference between the types though, is that enough parts and interest in the Mosquito exist to justify a potential investors input – there is not for the Hornet.

The fact that the concrete formers exist makes your project far more realistic than if you had to loft from scratch and make wooden formers. I understand a significant issue with timber formers is shrinkage/movement of the timber, apart from the lofting task. Far easier to fix a stable concrete form. I respect your attitude to the formers as relics in themselves : I would be more aggressive and offer to reface them before they crumble, and in the meantime run off a few fuselages… One option if you wanted to retain the formers in their current condition is to cast a polyurethane female around them; with lots of release agent, their appearance would not change. The poly would shrink a certain percent, meaning a new concrete male poured in the poly female may would be oversize in the wet, but will shrink itself. Some experimentation may result in a faithful copy. All easy to say, but lots of work. But the fact that concrete formers do exist is astonishing, and makes your dream, forgive me, far more concrete.

I know a bit about Mosquito timber construction, but wasn’t the Hornet (and Vampire) a mix of timber and aluminium, in the sense that the aluminium formed the stressed surface and the timber the spacer between surfaces ? Do you need to press aluminium into shape before a fit over the former/sandwich ?

Aren’t the engines the issue ? How many engines could you rustle up ? Rumour of one in Oz….

Get a Hornet going in Reno and I’m sure you will get some orders for a few more…..

In what I have read of Wrightons they shut in 1979 in the face of competition from West German furniture manufacturers who were outputting products of the same high quality. Germans infected with the spirit of rebuilding their nation. Customers were not opting for something far cheaper, just a little more affordable and of the same high standard. I associate the 1970’s with a period of malaise in British manufacturing, a crisis of spirit, the last hurrah of a proud tradition drifting into oblivion. Here in Australia the odd surviving Wolseley and Austin and Leyland surprise today in the same way as a duck billed dinosaur ambling down the street; once the only thing, now curiosities that astonish twenty year olds by their rheumy persistence. A car today is a German thing or an Asian thing, it is surprising to think of a British car.

I do enjoy engineering books from the 1930’s. I do enjoy books that show the bridge over the Firth of Forth and Schneider Trophy winners and the Golden Arrow. Plenty of spirit. Those formers rotting away have thousands of man hours of engineering in them. I would re face them, coax them back into life, blow the ember into flame. A Hornet made on original Hornet formers, now that’s a story !

I did wonder if the Hornet was one of the “aircraft still on the secret list” mentioned at the end of the quote in my previous post.

Photographed the fuselage mould at the DH museum less than 2 weeks back –

What you are looking at here is (from left to right) –

LH nose mould – from front angle bulkhead to the main spar.

LH centre section mould – from main spar, bulkhead 2 to bulkhead 3.

RH nose mould – from front angle bulkhead to the main spar.

I’m pleased to see they have cut the grass around it. It was looking pretty over-grown around this exhibit for a few years.

I did wonder if the Hornet was one of the “aircraft still on the secret list” mentioned at the end of the quote in my previous post.

Photographed the fuselage mould at the DH museum less than 2 weeks back –

Or see if they would let you graft the back end of their Sea Hornet on to your fwd fuse….:-) . I know I know, only in a perfect world…LOL

Hi Anthony,
If I get around to making a full fuselage, it will all be new build. The two Sea Hornet rear fuselages in existance are not in good shape. One is very weak and full of holes (VW957), and the other (VX250) is quite fragile but distorted. They are relics in their own right.

. Dc103, did they do Hornet stuff? Given the sawdust in your blood, how hard will it be to get the concrete Hornet fuselage former at the DH Museum and make up a fuselage? :-))

I don’t know if Wrighton’s did other fuselages? The only production line photo’s I have seen showing Hornet fuselage woodwork under construction, appear to be in a large hangar, which could be at Hatfield between 1944-45.

I have seen Vampire wooden fuselage halves being constructed in smaller workshops though, so it would make sense for suppliers such as Wrightons continuing to make components for DH post-war. With Hatfield turning over much of its production space to types such as the Dove and Comet post-war, it would make sense for them keep the dirtier jobs in supplier companies, while retaining the final assembly in the main factories.

As for your idea about the concrete mould: I looked at using this about 15 years ago, and although it is a nice relic of the original production process, it is incomplete and not useable without extensive repair. This would only detract from its originality.

I’ve got all the necessary drawings to re-construct a Hornet from scratch, including the co-ordinates for the fuselage moulds. Throw enough money and time at it, and I could produce a wooden fuselage mould the same as Glyn Powell has done with the Mosquito in NZ.

The difference between the types though, is that enough parts and interest in the Mosquito exist to justify a potential investors input – there is not for the Hornet.

Or see if they would let you graft the back end of their Sea Hornet on to your fwd fuse….:-) . I know I know, only in a perfect world…LOL

Nice photo’s.

My grandfather worked for Wrightons as a carpenter…… There is clearly a family connection with my current project
😉

. Dc103, did they do Hornet stuff? Given the sawdust in your blood, how hard will it be to get the concrete Hornet fuselage former at the DH Museum and make up a fuselage? :-))

This original photo was recently received showing what I think to be the management and administration of Wrighton Aircraft in front of the 1,000th Mosquito fuselage built. On the back of the photo are some names : there seem to be many Wrightons in the front row.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]237441[/ATTACH]

A bit of web searching found another photo which looks like it was taken two days earlier with factory staff, but a wing has been added to the fuselage.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]237442[/ATTACH]

With 1,000 Mosquitos built in this works by 1944, it seems F Wrighton & Sons was the most significant UK sub contractor for Mosquito timber work. I assume the code WAL stands for Wrighton Aircraft Limited and was applied to fuselage and wing dataplates.

I understand Wrightons continued to make furniture after the war until the firm closed in 1979. Whatever became of Wrighton Aircraft ? I understand during the war further work was done on flying boats. Some anecdotes found on the web from a former employee describe the wartime production targets being kept on display in the factory until the 1960’s at least. Does anyone know if anything was saved of this significant Mosquito production legacy?

Nice photo’s.

My grandfather worked for Wrightons as a carpenter…… There is clearly a family connection with my current project
😉

There’s also a very nice print on here –

http://boroughphotos.org/walthamforest/production-of-mosquito-planes/

Found this on https://dspace.lboro.ac.uk/dspace-jspui/bitstream/2134/9471/6/Technology%20Doc%20latest.pdf

To give an idea of the range of work undertaken, the 1945 press release from furniture
manufacturers, F. Wrighton and Co. of Walthamstow, London explained:
During the period the thousand work-people at the factories have manufactured well
over one million wood and metal components sub-assemblies and main assemblies
for aircraft of all types including Mosquito fuselages, Mosquito wings, Hamilcar
cockpits complete with controls, Proctor centre sections, Oxford empennages,
Albemarle main planes, Stirling coupes, Spitfire and Seafire Elevators, Horsa glider
ailerons, Mosquito jettison tanks, as well as being entrusted with the prototype
manufacture of aircraft still on the secret list.(Cabinet Maker, 16.06.1945)