AEW Wellington….any ideas?

Thanks, that’s great, may I quote you on another forum? It’s a diecast model forum where someone was giving the highlights of Wimpy service, I added it had been trialed as AEW, now it seems we invented JSTARS too!

-Nick

There was an article in Flypast in April 1987 entitled ‘The First AWACS’ which described a Wellington with a modified ASV equipment whch was used as an airborne control for Beaufighters trying to shoot down Heinkel He 111s which were air-launching V1s.

However, there was also a Wellington equipped with a specifically designed radar for controlling interceptions. This was known as ACI (Air Controlled Interception) as opposed to GCI (Ground Controlled Interception) which was the name for the ground radar stations which guided night fighters. This Wellington, R1629, was equipped with a rotating dorsal aerial array, the purpose being to try and counter the threat from Fw 200 Condors in the NW Approaches. TRE designed the radar with the design, manufacture and installation of the aerial blade with mouting and turning gear the responsibility of RAE Farnborough. Trials were carried out off The Lizard in April 1942.

A change of role came the following month, with plans to use the aircraft to control interceptions of E-boats by MGBs or aircraft. Trials were carried out from Bircham Newton. With the introduction of 10 cm ASV from January 1942, the project was considered obsolete and was dropped. A full account appeared in the Air-Britain magazine, Aviation World, in Spring 2004 and in ‘Air controlled interception’ by R Hodges in Radar Development to 1945 edited by R W Burns.