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Subject: Vickers Vimy
Date: 25 Dec 2016 16:28:21 -0800
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_Vimy
The Vickers Vimy was a British heavy bomber aircraft of the First World War and
post-First World War era. It achieved success as both a military and civil
aircraft, setting several notable records in long-distance flights in the
interwar period, the most celebrated of which was the first non-stop crossing of
the Atlantic Ocean by Alcock and Brown in June 1919.
Reginald Kirshaw "Rex" Pierson, chief designer of Vickers Limited (Aviation
Department) in Leighton Buzzard, designed a twin-engine biplane bomber, the
Vickers F.B.27 to meet a requirement for a night bomber capable of attacking
targets in Germany, a contract being placed for three prototypes on 14 August
1917. Design and production of the prototypes was extremely rapid, with the
first flying on 30 November 1917, powered by two 200 hp (150 kW) Hispano Suiza
engines. It was named after the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
Owing to engine supply difficulties, the prototype Vimys were tested with a
number of different engine types, including Sunbeam Maoris, Salmson 9Zm
water-cooled radials, and Fiat A.12bis engines, before production orders were
placed for aircraft powered by the 230 hp (170 kW) BHP Puma, 400 hp (300 kW)
Fiat, 400 hp (300 kW) Liberty L-12 and the 360 hp (270 kW) Rolls-Royce Eagle
VIII engines, with a total of 776 ordered before the end of the First World War.
Of these, only aircraft powered by the Eagle engine, known as the Vimy IV, were
delivered to the RAF. Total Vimy production was 239 aeroplanes of which 134 were
built at Brooklands.
Role
Heavy bomber
Manufacturer
Vickers Limited
Designer
Reginald Kirshaw Pierson
First flight
30 November 1917
Introduction
1919
Retired
1933
Primary user
Royal Air Force
Variants
Vickers Vernon
By October 1918, only three aircraft had been delivered to the Royal Air Force,
one of which had been deployed to France for use by the Independent Air Force.
The war ended, however, before it could be used on operations. The Vimy only
reached full service status in July 1919 when it entered service with 58
Squadron in Egypt. The aircraft formed the main heavy bomber force of the RAF
for much of the 1920s. The Vimy served as a front line bomber in the Middle East
and in the United Kingdom from 1919 until 1925, when it was replaced by the
Vickers Virginia, but continued to equip a Special Reserve bomber squadron, 502
Squadron at Aldergrove in Northern Ireland until 1929. The Vimy continued in use
as a training aircraft, many being re-engined with Bristol Jupiter or Armstrong
Siddeley Jaguar radial engines. The final Vimys, used as Target aircraft for
searchlight crews, remained in use until 1938.
The Vimy was used in many pioneering flights.
* The most significant was the first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by
Alcock and Brown in June 1919 (their aircraft is preserved in the London Science
Museum);
crew to fly an aeroplane from England to Australia. Keith Macpherson Smith, Ross
Macpherson Smith and mechanics Jim Bennett and Wally Shiers completed the
journey from Hounslow Heath Aerodrome to Darwin via Singapore and Batavia on 10
December 1919 (their aircraft G-EAOU is preserved in a museum in Smith's
hometown Adelaide, Australia); "The trip from Darwin to Sydney took almost twice
as long as the flight to Australia."
*In 1920, Lieutenant Colonel Pierre van Ryneveld and Major Quintin Brand
attempted to make the first England to South Africa flight. They left Brooklands
on 4 February 1920 in the Vimy G-UABA named Silver Queen. They landed safely at
Heliopolis, but as they continued the flight to Wadi Halfa they were forced to
land due to engine overheating with 80 miles (130 km) still to go. A second Vimy
was lent to the pair by the RAF at Heliopolis (and named Silver Queen II). This
second aircraft continued to Bulawayo in Southern Rhodesia where it was badly
damaged when it failed to take off. Van Ryneveld and Brand then used a South
African Air Force Airco DH.9 to continue the journey to Cape Town. The South
Specifications (Vimy)
General characteristics
Length: 43 ft 7 in (13.28 m)
Wingspan: 68 ft 1 in (20.75 m)
Height: 15 ft 8 in (4.77 m)
Empty weight: 7,104 lb (3,222 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 10,884 lb (4,937 kg)
Performance
Maximum speed: 100 mph (161 km/h)
Range: 900 mi (1,448 km)
Service ceiling: 7,000 ft (2,134 m)
Power/mass: 0.07 hp/lb (0.11 kW/kg)
Armament
ring in mid-fuselage
Bombs: 2,476 lb (1,123 kg) of bombs
*
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