M.Goodall, A.Tagg British Aircraft before the Great War (Schiffer)
Deleted by request of (c)Schiffer Publishing
WELLS Reo biplane (Wells Aviation Co. Ltd., 10a Elystan St., Chelsea, London SW)
This small concern was established in 1914 and went on to build this conventional single-seater tractor biplane, which appeared at Hendon in April 1915, reported to be ready for testing in a few days. The aircraft may also have been flown at an airfield at Cobnor, near Portsmouth, which were taken on by the firm in 1915. The low powered machine was not suitable for military use and proved to be purely a design exercise, which the firm was unable to build on. This was Wells' only original design but, in wartime, the firm went on to produce 100 Sopwith 1 1/2 strutters and 50 DH.9 aircraft, until liquidation in 1917, when it was absorbed into the Waring and Gillow organization.
The machine had two bay wings, all fitted with inversely tapered ailerons. The fin and tailplane extended well forward along the fuselage, and were fitted with semicircular divided elevators and a balanced rudder. The vee undercarriage was unusual; the struts of each ending in a fork into which the wheels were fitted. The rear legs of each vee were connected together but not attached directly to the fuselage, but through leaf springs below the longerons. Flat radiators were fitted to either side of the fuselage just forward of the cockpit.
Power: 35hp Green four-cylinder inline water-cooled.
J.Bruce British Aeroplanes 1914-1918 (Putnam)
Wells Reo
THE Wells Aviation Company, Ltd., were one of the comparatively small aircraft manufacturing companies of the early days of the war. They later built various types of aircraft designed by other manufacturers until the end of hostilities. The company went into liquidation early in 1917, but the works then came under the aegis of Sir Samuel Waring and continued to produce aircraft.
In June, 1915, the Wells company produced the Reo, a single-seat biplane powered by a 35 h.p. Green engine. The flat side radiators and very long-chord fin and tailplane gave the machine a rather Germanic look. The two-bay wings were of equal span and were slightly staggered; the ailerons had pronounced inverse taper.
The most remarkable and unpractical feature of the Reo was its peculiar undercarriage. Each leg of each vee was bifurcated at its lower end, and the wheels ran in the forks thus formed. The upper ends of the rear legs of the vees were not attached to the longerons in the conventional fashion; instead they were attached to what appeared to be a form of leaf spring.
SPECIFICATION
Manufacturers: The Wells Aviation Co., Ltd., 10a Elystan Street, Chelsea, London.
Power: 35 h.p. Green.
