Vickers Vulcan

infobox Aircraft
name = Vickers Vulcan
caption =
type = Airliner
manufacturer = Vickers


designer =Rex Pierson
first flight = April 1922
introduced = 1 June 1922
retired = July 1928
number built =8
status =
produced = 1922–1925
unit cost =
variants with their own articles =
primary user = Instone Air Line
more users = Imperial Airways The Vickers Vulcan was a British single-engined biplane airliner of the 1920s built by Vickers Limited at Brooklands Aerodrome, Surrey. It carried 8 passengers and a pilot.

Development

The Vickers Vulcan was designed by Rex Pierson of Vickers and it first flew in April 1922 at the hands of the chief test pilot, S. Cockerell, at the Brooklands Aerodrome in Surrey, UK.

The Vulcan was based on Vickers Vimy Commercial, but featured many changes, including a much larger fuselage (taller) and one, instead of two, Rolls Royce Eagle VIII engines, with the intention being to get low operating costs. The shape of its fuselage, as well as its flying characteristics, earned it the nickname "Flying Pig". The first delivery took place in August 1922, to Instone Air Line Ltd. Other operators included Imperial Airways and Qantas (however, the latter returned the aircraft as their performance was too poor for the company's needs). The last Vulcan flying was a Type 74 with Imperial Airways. It crashed in July 1928.

Variants

* Type 61 - first production version
* Type 63 - cargo version based on the Type 61
* Type 74 - upgraded to 450 hp Napier Lion engine

Operators

;AUS
*Qantas;UK
*Imperial Airways
*Instone Air Line

Individual aircraft

# G-EBBL; Type 61 - Prototype, first flew in April 1922, delivered to Instone Air Line in June 1922 as "City of Antwerp", sold to Imperial Airways, scrapped at Croydon Airport in May 1924.
# G-EBDH; Type 61 - Delivered to Instone Air Line in July 1922, accident at Oxted, Surrey, in 1922. returned to Vickers at Brooklands and withdrawn from use in 1923.
# G-EBEA; Type 61 - Delivered to Instone Air Line in July 1922 as "City of Brussels", returned to Vickers at Brooklands and withdrawn from use in 1923.
# G-EBEK; Type 63 - Delivered to Air Ministry at Martlesham Heath in November 1922 with Eagle IX for freighter trials, converted to passenger layout in 1925, scrapped in 1926.
# G-EBEM; Type 61 - Delivered to Douglas Vickers MP in September 1922, competed in King's Cup Air Race in September 1922, taking 7th place, disappeared of the coast of Italy in May 1926.
# G-EBES; Type 61 - Intended for Qantas, scrapped before completion.
# G-EBET; Type 61 - Delivered to Qantas in November 1922, returned, fate unknown but probably scrapped.
# G-EBFC; Type 74 - Delivered to Douglas Vickers MP January 1923, competed in King's Cup Air Race in 1923 (retired from the race), sold to Imperial Airways in January 1925, withdrawn from service in December 1925 and scrapped at Croydon in 1927.
# G-EBLB; Type 74 - Delivered to Imperial Airways in May 1925, crashed at Purley July 1928.

pecifications (Vulcan Type 74)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=prop
ref="Vickers Aircraft Since 1908" Andrews and Morgan 1988, p.111.]
crew= 1
capacity= 6-8 passengers
length main= 38 ft
length alt= 11.58 m
span main= 49 ft
span alt= 14.94 m
height main=14 ft 3 in
height alt= 4.34 m
area main= 840 ft²
area alt= 78.1 m²
empty weight main= 4,400 lb
empty weight alt= 2,000 kg
loaded weight main=
loaded weight alt=
max takeoff weight main= 6,750 lb
max takeoff weight alt=3,062 kg
airfoil=High lift T64

engine (prop)= Napier Lion
type of prop= engine
number of props= 1
power main= 450 hp
power alt= 336 kW
max speed main= 112 mph
max speed alt= 180 km/h
max speed more=at sea level
range main= 430 miles
range alt= 692 km
ceiling main= 10,500 ft
ceiling alt= 3,200 m
climb rate main= 500 ft/min
climb rate alt= 2.5 m/s
climb rate more= (initial)
loading main= 8.03 lb/ft²
loading alt= 39.2 kg/m²
power/mass main=0.07 hp/lb
power/mass alt= 0.11 kW/kg
more performance=*Climb to 5,000 ft (1,520 m): 13 minutes

ee also

aircontent

related=
*Vickers Vimy

similar aircraft=
*De Havilland DH.18
*De Havilland DH.34

lists=

see also=

References

* Andrews, C.F and Morgan, E.B. "Vickers Aircraft since 1908". London:Putnam, 1988. ISBN 0 85177 815 1.