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Aviation History
1926
1926 - 0912.PDF
22 DECEMBER 2, 1926 VrCKERS Limited. THE wide range of Vickers' aircraft types, designed andconstructed at their Weybridge factory, which adjoins Brooklands aerodrome, does not permit of more than a verybrief reference to some of their most recent productions. In addition to the usual activity in the manufacture of bigtwin-engined machines—" Virginia " Long-Distance Heavy Night Bombers and "Victoria" 24-seater Troop Carriers,for the British Royal Air Force—Vickers, during the past 12 months, have produced several very interesting types ofsmaller craft. Of these, perhaps the most interesting, as being a distinct departure from normal design, is the " Vickers-Wibault " Single-Seater Fighting Scout, which is an all-metal tractor (Bristol " Jupiter ") monoplane landplane, built undera novel and patented system of construction. The fuselage is a framed structure of " L " and " T " section duralumincovered with sheet duralumin, which is made rigid by longitu- dinal corrugations. The monoplane wing is rectangular inplan, with a recess above the cockpit; its spars are of box type, the front and rear spars being braced by a system ofdiagonal tubes. Ribs are formed of flat duralumin sheet pierced for lightening and riveted to the spars by small angles.Wing covering is made from thin duralumin sheet pleated for attachment to the ribs and corrugated for rigidity. Allriveting is done from the outside, and in the event of damage it is thus possible to repair by riveting-on a patch. The " Vixen " flew the course of 1,480 miles at a speed whichaveraged 142-2 m.p.h. for the whole distance. Another adaptation of the " Vixen " is as a float seaplane, in whichform she has proved herself to possess exceedingly fine qualities, having a particularly efficient and surprisingly lightsystem of controls giving great ease of manoeuvrability both in the air and on the water. Pilots who- have handled theVixen seaplane have specially commented upon her clean running and the facility with which she takes off and alights. The " Vendace " is another new type worthy of specialmention ; designed as an advanced training machine, with Rolls-Royce " Falcon III " engine, which provides a generousreserve of power, this aircraft in official trials has proved itself a highly successful deck-landing craft. The pilot whoconducted her trials reported that the " Vendace " could not have better flying capabilities for deck landings ; the largereserve of power makes a rapid take-off possible and makes for easy handling. Controls are amply large and at the sametime light and positive in operation. It was found that there was no tendency for the machine to sway after landing on thedeck and she pulled up very quickly. The " Vendace " is easily and quickly convertible from landplane form tofloat-seaplane. The " Vespa " (Bristol " Jupiter " engine) has beenspecially designed for reconnaissance work, and is one of the Vickers' l\Vixen " Military Two-seater (Napier"Lion" Engine). leading edge is formed of a rolled sheet riveted longitudinallyto the skin. Construction of fin, rudders, tail plane and elevator follows that of the wing. Tail adjustment gear isprovided. The oleo undercarriage comprises two wheels mounted on cantilever axles which can move independently.For economy of first cost and maintenance this type of con- struction has many advantages to offer. A considerablenumber of these Scouts are being supplied to South America. The " Vixen " military two-seater tractor biplane has beendeveloped considerably, many improvements being introduced in the latest examples of this class, with which several foreignGovernments have equipped their air services. Originally designed for a general purpose military craft to meet BritishAir Ministry requirements, the " Vixen," according to the equipment carried, is adaptable either as a Two-seater Fighter,a Day Bomber, or as a Reconnaissance machine, the power unit being either a 450 h.p. Napier " Lion " motor, or a Bristol" Jupiter " of the latest type. The Vixen landplane with Napier " Lion " engine has several long-distance flightsamongst its achievements, including flights of several machines from Santiago in Chile to Buenos Aires in Argentina and back,the South American High Altitude Record with a passenger, and the completion of the King's Cup Race circuit in GreatBritain in 1924 and again this year. In this contest, the Canadian-Vickers' " Varuna " Seven-seater Seaplane (Forestry Fire Fighter). finest examples of this class of aircraft available at the presentday, possessing all those qualities which are necessary for reconnaissance duties, viz. : a very quick take-off, a very lowlanding speed, a high service ceiling, a steep gradient of climb. A brief mention should be made of the two seaplanesdesigned and constructed in Montreal by Vickers' Canadian branch (Canadian Vickers, Ltd.). The "Vedette" was thefirst to be turned out ; this is a three-seater boat seaplane, designed especially for forestry patrol for duty on the Canadianlakes and waterways. This type, of which several examples have been built with different types of power unit, has beenparticularly successful. The second is the " Varuna," a seven-seater boat seaplane with twin radial engines, havinggenerous accommodation for the stowage of the equipment of the Forestry fire fighters, for the transport of whom fromtheir base to the scene of operations this type has been specially designed. It is some fifteen years since Vickers became activelyengaged in the production of aircraft, and during this period they have manufactured successfully every class of machinefrom the smallest to the largest, for every purpose—naval, military and civil. Some data concerning the types mentioned above arecontained in the following table :— Type. Motors. VirginiaVictoria Wibault VendaceLandplane Vespa VedetteVixen VixenVixen . 2. 2 . 11 . 1 . i. l . I. l LionsLions .. Jupiter.. Falcon. Jupiter..Falcon .. LionLion Lion Class. Bomber, heavyTroop carrier One-seater scoutTwo-seater training and deck landingReconnaissance Three-seater seaplane Landplane, heavy Landplane, light .".Seaplane, naval recon- naissance • Height. ft in.18 4 17 310 3 12 7 10 3 11 9 13 0 13 014 1 Length. ft. in.51 9 51 725 6 32 3 31 3 34 0 32 9 32 936 9 Span. ft. in.86 6 86 636 1 44 7 50 0 42 0 45 1 45 145 1 Weight.Bare. 9,86010,155 1,9732,626 2,387 2,436 3,338 3,3383,888 Laden. 16,75018,100 3,0603,500 3,900 3,480 5,550 5,0005,550 Speed.Full. m.p.h.108 104 139 at 4,500 w.118 115 110 126J 130 at 3,000 m.117 at 3,000 m. DurationMin. m.p.b46 48 48 — 44 45 51 48 51 Cruising . Miles.985 400 600 510 415 460 750 515 455 Climb.. Minutes to Heights. 15 mins. to 1,500 m.20 mins. to 1,500 m. 12-5 mins. to 4,500 m — 19-5 mins. to 4,500 m 8 mins. to 1,500 m. 16 mins. to 3,000 m. 13J mins. to 3,000 m18 mins. to 3,000 m. 786v
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