Viking/Vulture/Vanellus
|
|
The Vickers Viking prototype in 1919
|
Role
|
Biplane amphibian
Type of aircraft
|
Manufacturer
|
Vickers
/
Canadian Vickers
|
First flight
|
1919
|
Produced
|
1919
?
1923
|
Number built
|
31 (Viking)
2 (Vulture)
1 (Vanellus)
|
The
Vickers Viking
was a British single-engine
amphibious aircraft
designed for military use shortly after
World War I
. Later versions of the aircraft were known as the
Vickers Vulture
and
Vickers Vanellus
.
Design and development
[
edit
]
Research on
Vickers
' first amphibious aircraft type began in December
1918
with tests of alternative fuselage/hull designs occurring in an experimental tank at
St Albans
in
Hertfordshire
, England. A prototype, registered G-EAOV, was a five-seat cabin
biplane
with a
pusher
propeller driven by a
Rolls-Royce Falcon
water-cooled
V 12
engine. Sir
John Alcock
died taking this aircraft to the
Paris exhibition
on 18 December 1919, whilst trying to land at Cote d'Evrard, near
Rouen
,
Normandy
in foggy weather.
[1]
[2]
The next example, G-EASC, known as the
Viking II
, had a greater wing span and a 360 hp
Rolls-Royce Eagle
VIII motor. The
Viking III
machine, piloted by Captain Stan Cockerell, won first prize in the amphibian class in
Air Ministry
competitions held in September and October, 1920.
The Type 54
Viking IV
incorporated further refinements and had a wider cabin above a hull one foot wider, an example being G-EBBZ in which
Ross Smith
and J.M. Bennett (partners in the 1919
England to Australia flight
) died on 13 April 1922 just outside the
Brooklands
racetrack near
Weybridge
in
Surrey
. Most of these Mark IV Vikings had a
Napier Lion
engine.
[3]
The next version was the
Viking V
; two were built for the RAF for service in
Iraq
.
A further development with a redesigned wing structure using the 450 hp (340 kW)
Napier Lion
would have been the
Viking VI
(Vickers designation
Type 78
) but known as the
Vulture I
. A second with a Rolls-Royce Eagle IX (360 hp, 270 kW) was the
Type 95 Vulture II
. Both Vultures were used for an unsuccessful around the world attempt in 1924 after the Eagle engine of the Vulture II was replaced with a Lion. With registration G-EBHO, the first set off from
Calshot Seaplane Base
on 25 March 1924, the other was shipped as a spare machine to
Tokyo
. After mechanical difficulties in earlier stages G-EBHO crashed at
Akyab
where it was replaced by G-EBGO on 25 June. Encountering heavy fog on the
Siberian
side of the
Bering Sea
G-EBGO crashed. Vickers salvaged a large proportion.
The Viking Mark VII ("Type 83" in Vickers numbering) was a development of the Vulture, a three-seat open-cockpit fleet spotter to
Air Ministry specification
46/22 given the service name "Vanellus" when taken on for evaluation by the RAF against the
Supermarine Seagull
design.
Operational history
[
edit
]
The last Viking amphibians were built during 1923, but the name was re-used for the twin-engine
VC.1 Viking
airliner
some 22 years later, which saw service as the
Valetta
with the
RAF
and other air arms.
Canadian Vickers
Limited, a subsidiary company in
Montreal
with no previous aircraft manufacturing experience, assembled two Viking IV amphibians and built a further six for the
Royal Canadian Air Force
. Their involvement with the Viking led to a future line of indigenous flying boats beginning with the
Canadian Vickers Vedette
.
[4]
No Vikings survive today although a full-size replica built for the film
The People That Time Forgot
(1977) is displayed at
Brooklands Museum
in Surrey.
Operators
[
edit
]
-
Argentina
- Argentine Air Force
[
citation needed
]
- Argentine Naval Aviation
? four Type 84 (Viking IV) delivered in 1923, supplemented by two ex-civil Viking IVs in 1925.
[5]
- River Plate Aviation Company (
Compania Rio Platense de Aviacion
) ? One Type 73 and one Type 77 (both Viking IVs) delivered in 1923. Sold to Argentine Navy in 1925.
[5]
-
Canada
-
France
- French Navy
? One Type 54 (Viking IV) delivered in 1921 with civilian markings.
-
Japan
-
Netherlands
-
Russian SFSR
- One Type 64 (Viking IV) ordered by the Russian Trade Delegation delivered in 1922.
-
United Kingdom
-
United States
- United States Navy
? one Type 58 (Viking IV) purchased by the US Navy in 1921 and delivered in 1923.
Specifications (Viking IV)
[
edit
]
Data from
British Flying Boats
[7]
General characteristics
- Crew:
1
- Capacity:
3 passengers
- Length:
34 ft 2 in (10.41 m)
- Wingspan:
50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)
- Height:
14 ft 0 in (4.27 m)
- Wing area:
635 sq ft (59.0 m
2
)
- Empty weight:
4,040 lb (1,833 kg)
- Gross weight:
5,790 lb (2,626 kg)
- Powerplant:
1 ×
Napier Lion
12-cylinder water-cooled
broad arrow
piston engine, 450 hp (340 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed:
113 mph (182 km/h, 98 kn)
- Cruise speed:
91 mph (146 km/h, 79 kn)
- Range:
925 mi (1,489 km, 804 nmi) (with long range tanks)
- Endurance:
4 hr 45 min
- Time to altitude:
3.2 min to 3,000 ft (910 m)
[8]
See also
[
edit
]
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era
Related lists
References
[
edit
]
- Notes
- ^
Andrews and Morgan 1988, pp. 112?113.
- ^
"The Death of Sir John Alcock".
Flight
, 25 December 1919, p. 1646.
- ^
Milberry 1979, p. 30.
- ^
Molson and Taylor 1982, p. 174.
- ^
a
b
Rivas 2019, p. 11
- ^
Molson and Taylor 1982, pp. 447?448.
- ^
London 2003, pp. 266?267.
- ^
Andrews and Morgan 1988, p. 129.
- Bibliography
- Andrews, C.F. and E.B. Morgan.
Vickers Aircraft since 1908
. London: Putnam, 1988.
ISBN
0-85177-815-1
.
- London, Peter.
British Flying Boats
. Stroud, UK: Sutton Publishing, 2003.
ISBN
0-7509-2695-3
.
- Milberry, Larry.
Aviation in Canada.
Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., 1979.
ISBN
0-07-082778-8
.
- Molson, Ken M. and Harold A. Taylor.
Canadian Aircraft Since 1909
. Stittsville, Ontario: Canada's Wings, Inc., 1982.
ISBN
0-920002-11-0
.
- Rivas, Santiago.
British Combat Aircraft in Latin America
. Manchester, UK: Crecy Publishing, 2019.
ISBN
978-1-90210-957-2
.
External links
[
edit
]
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