{{short description|Road trailer built to carry aircraft}} [[File:RAF Museum London 102 Edit.jpg|thumb|[[Bedford OY|Bedford OXC]] and "Queen Mary" semi-trailer carrying part of an [[Avro Anson]] aircraft at the RAF Museum London]] [[File:Air Ministry Second World War Official Collection ME(RAF)5659.jpg|thumb| [[Commer]] Q2 and "Queen Mary" trailer]] A '''Queen Mary trailer''' is a British [[semi-trailer]] combination designed for the carriage and recovery of aircraft. The trailer was made by [[Tasker Trailers]] of [[Andover, Hampshire|Andover]], with [[Bedford Vehicles|Bedford]], [[Commer|Commer Q2]] or [[Crossley Motors]] tractors.
== Description ==
Features included: * Very low floor and ground clearance, typically around {{convert|12|in|mm|-1}}. * 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 ocean liner [[RMS Queen Mary|RMS ''Queen Mary'']].
== Use == Nearly four thousand of these vehicles were used by the [[Royal Air Force]] and [[Royal Navy]] [[Fleet Air Arm]] during and after [[World War II]]. It also saw service with the air forces of commonwealth air forces, including New Zealand.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Queen Mary Trailer |url=https://www.airforcemuseum.co.nz/collections-research/conserve/current-projects/queen-mary-trailer/ |access-date=2022-03-11 |website=Air Force Museum |language=en-NZ}}</ref>
Post-war civilian operators included [[Silver City Airways]].
==Notes and references== {{reflist}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110605062216/http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/london/collections/aircraft/aircraft_histories/72-A-571%20%20Tempest%20TT5%20NV778.doc Reference to delivery on Queen Mary Trailer], [[RAF Museum]], Hendon * [http://www.crossley-motors.org.uk/history/military.html Crossley vehicles collection]
==External links== * [http://www.raf-lichfield.co.uk/No%202%20M.T%20Gallery.htm Photographs of Queen Mary trailer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080128202634/http://www.raf-lichfield.co.uk/No%202%20M.T%20Gallery.htm |date=2008-01-28 }} towed by a [[Bedford Vehicles|Bedford]] tractor at 2 M. T. [[RAF Lichfield]]; this is similar to the well-known [[Airfix]] model in the RAF Recovery set * [https://web.archive.org/web/20050330001445/http://members.aol.com/famjustin/Miles8.html Photograph and brief text], a [[Hawker Tempest]] on a Queen Mary trailer following a crash landing * [http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/3397805/Hulton-Archive Picture of a recovered crashed Lancaster bomber being transported on several Queen Mary trailers] * [http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1956/1956%20-%200184.html A picture of a de Havilland Comet airliner fuselage being carried on a Queen Mary trailer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221123208/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1956/1956%20-%200184.html |date=2014-02-21 }}
[[Category:Military trailers]] [[Category:World War II vehicles of the United Kingdom]]