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Wackett
Widgeon Notes
By
Greg Sharpe
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Wackett
Widgeon Mk.1 |
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| The
Mk.1 had the civilian G-AEKB registration, after Mr. E.K. Bowden
the then Australian Minister for Defense, and was equipped with an
inline Armstrong Siddeley Puma 230hp engine with a large square
radiator, and later fitted with a more powerful 30hp Nimbus.
It
cracked up on taxi trials in a rough swell on Botany Bay when it
hit a sand bank in 1925. After much embarrassment is was recovered
and repaired and was later transferred to No.1 FTS RAAF in 1927
for sea boat training at Point Cook, Victoria still registered as
G-AEKB. It
was reduced
to components in 1929 and was the only one built. |
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Wackett
Widgeon Mk.2 |
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| The
Mk.2 was actually built for the RAAF in military markings,
Red/White/Blue roundels and coded, fitted with a 440hp Armstrong
Siddeley Jaguar engine. The Mk.2 was actually quite successful as
it completed an unescorted 9000 mile series of survey flights
circumnavigating Australia in 1927.
It was actually
introduced into the RAAF in 1928 and crashed in Hobson's Bay, Port
Phillip, Victoria on 6th January 1930. It was the only one built.
One point to note
is that the humpback on the rear hull top was actually a timber dinghy
for emergency use. |
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Colour
Schemes |
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| The Mk1 hull was originally finished in high gloss varnish
over diagonal ply strips, roughly mahogany in colour. Wing colours are
harder to identify, possibly clear doped linen. They were later
painted overall, but the actual colour is as yet unidentified.
The
Mk.2 is also unknown, but was probably a light grey overall based
upon a half-scale model held by the Powerhouse museum in Sydney. |
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