Vultee V-1

Vultee V-1A
The sole V-1AD Special owned by Randolph Hearst and now preserved in the Virginia Aviation Museum.
Role	Eight-passenger transport
Manufacturer	Airplane Development Corporation
Designer	Gerard Vultee
First flight	1933
Introduction	1934
Primary user	American Airlines
Number built	24 (+1 V-1 Prototype)

The Vultee V-1A was a 1930s American single-engined airliner built by the Airplane Development Corporation, designed by Gerard Vultee and financed by automobile manufacturer Errett Cord.

Design and development

The prototype (designated the V-1) was an all-metal low-wing cantilever monoplane with a retractable tailwheel landing gear. It had accommodation for a pilot and six passengers and first flew on 19 February 1933.

The production aircraft were designated the V-1A and had a slightly larger and longer fuselage for two pilots and eight passengers. Production ended in 1936 after 24 aircraft plus the prototype had been built.

Operational history

American Airlines bought at least 13 V-1As and the V-1 prototype (after it had been modified for two pilot operation) and they entered service in 1934. On introduction, they were the fastest commercial airliners of their day. They were used on routes from the Great Lakes to Texas. Bowen Airlines of Texas also operated the type.^{[1][page needed]} By 1936, they were sold, having been replaced with twin-engined aircraft.

A number of aircraft were operated by private companies or individuals as high-speed executive aircraft. The sole V-1AD Special was used prewar by newspaper magnate Randolph Hearst. It later served airlines in Panama and Nicaragua before returning to the United States postwar.^{[2][page needed]}

One V-1A was fitted with twin floats and sold to the Soviet Union. Another aircraft was used in 1936 during an attempt to make the first New York-London-New York return flight, flown by Harry Richman and Henry T. "Dick" Merrill, in the famous "Ping Pong" Flight.^[3] It was later used by Nationalist forces in Spain. Seven former American Airlines aircraft were used by the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, with machine guns and under-fuselage bomb racks fitted. Four of the aircraft were captured by the Nationalists.^[4]

Survivors

The V-1AD Special NC16099 is the sole survivor of the type and is preserved on public display at the Virginia Aviation Museum at Richmond Airport, Virginia.^{[2][page needed]}

Operators

Military operators

 Spanish Republic

• Spanish Republican Air Force

 Nationalist Spain

Civil operators

 United States

• American Airlines
• Bowen Airlines

 Soviet Union

• 1 aircraft Полярная Aвиация (Polar Aviation)

Specifications (V-1A)

Data from General Dynamic Aircraft and their Predecessors^[5]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Capacity: 8 passengers
• Length: 37 ft 0 in (11.28 m)
• Wingspan: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)
• Height: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)
• Wing area: 348 ft² (32.3 m²)
• Empty weight: 5,332 lb (2,424 kg)
• Gross weight: 8,500 lb (3,864 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Wright Cyclone R-1820-F2, 735 hp (548 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 235 mph (378 km/h)
• Cruise speed: 215 mph (346 km/h)
• Range: 1,000 miles (1,610 km)
• Service ceiling: 20,000 ft (6,100 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,000 ft/min (5.1 m/s)

References

Notes

1. ^ Davies 1998
2. ^ ^{a b} Ogden 2007
3. ^ "Transatlantic Types." Time magazine via time.com, September 28, 1936. Retrieved: December 31, 2010.
4. ^ "1936 Vultee V1-A." The Virginia Aviation Museum. Retrieved: August 1, 2010.
5. ^ Wegg 1990, p. 155.

Bibliography

• Davies, R.E.G. Airlines of the United States. McLean, Virginia: Paladwr Press Inc, 1998. ISBN 1-888962-08-9.
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982-1985). London: Orbis Publishing, 1985.
• King, Jack. Wings of Man: The Legend of Dick Merrill. Seattle: Aviation Book Co., 1981. ISBN 0-91172-191-6.
• Ogden, Bob. Aviation Museums and Collections of North America. Tonbridge, Kent: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, 2007. ISBN 0-85130-385-4.
• Wegg, John. General Dynamic Aircraft and their Predecessors. London: Putnam, 1990. ISBN 0-85177-833-X.