Queen Mary trailer

File:RAF Museum London 102.jpg

"Queen Mary" semi-trailer carrying part of an Avro Anson aircraft at the RAF Museum London

A Queen Mary trailer is a type of semi-trailer combination designed for the carriage and recovery of aircraft. The trailer was made by Tasker Trailers of Andover with Bedford or Crossley Motors tractors.

It was used by the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm during and after World War II.

Key features included:

• Very low floor and ground clearance, typically around 12 inches (305 mm).
• Single axle.
• Wheels outboard of load area.
• Side rails to allow carriage of wings upright, resting on their leading edges.

Load was 5 tons "distributed evenly".

These features were a natural result of the intended load, aircraft being typically light but long. The name is presumed to derive from its length, a reference to the RMS Queen Mary of the Cunard Line.

Post-war civilian operators included Silver City Airways.

Notes and references

• Reference to delivery on Queen Mary Trailer, RAF Museum, Hendon.
• Crossley vehicles collection

External links

• Photographs of Queen Mary trailer towed by a Bedford tractor at 2 M. T. RAF Lichfield; this is similar to the well-known Airfix model in the RAF Recovery set.
• Photograph and brief text, a Hawker Tempest on a Queen Mary trailer following a crash landing.
• Picture of a recovered crashed Lancaster bomber being transported on a Queen Mary trailer
• A picture of a de Havilland Comet airliner fuselage being carried on a Queen Mary trailer