The Viking was a twin-engined 24-27-seat transport and was the first completely new post-World War II airliner to fly in the world. For speed and cheapness parts of the Wellington bomber were used, particularly in the wings. The fuselage, of stressed skin construction, was new.
British European Airways operated a fleet of 49 on its European network and total production was 163. BEA aircraft were modified to allow them to carry up to 34 or 38 tourist-class passengers when required. Four also flew with the Queen’s Flight.
On 1 September 1946 the first Viking joined the British European Airways (BEA) fleet. BEA were to eventually operate 75 Vikings, fitted for 21 passengers.
In December 1946, the Vikings were grounded due to the icing up of control surfaces. After extensive modifications to the elevators and de-icing system, the Vikings were back in the air the following April.
On 30 October 1954 two farewell flights marked the retirement of BEA Vikings and the last commercial service from RAF Northolt.
Engines 2 x 1,690 hp Bristol Hercules Length 65.1 ft (19.8 m) Wing span 89.25 ft (27.2 m) Weight empty 22,910 lb (10, 400 kg.) Seats: 2 crew and 21 passengers Cruise speed 210 mph (340 kph) Ceiling 22,000 ft (6,700 km) fully loaded Range 1,875 miles (3,000 km)
Viking IB Engines: 2 x Bristol Hercules 634, 1260kW Max take-off weight: 15354 kg / 33850 lb Empty weight: 10546 kg / 23250 lb Wingspan: 27.2 m / 89 ft 3 in Length: 19.86 m / 65 ft 2 in Height: 5.94 m / 20 ft 6 in Wing area: 81.94 sq.m / 881.99 sq ft Cruise speed: 338 km/h / 210 mph Ceiling: 7240 m / 23750 ft Range w/max.payload: 837 km / 520 miles Crew: 3-4 Passengers: 21-38
The final attempt by Vickers to develop a fighter for the RAF began in 1939 with a design for a twin-engined heavy fighter featuring an armament of a 40mm Vickers cannon in a dorsal turret. As the Type 414, this corresponded with the requirements of Specification F.22/39 for a 400 mph (644 km/h) two-seat fighter. The aircraft was to carry four 20-mm cannons, with the possibility of later mounting two 40-mm cannons.
Under a design team led by Rex Pierson, Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd. (Vickers) had been working on a fighter with a single flexibly-mounted 40-mm cannon installed in the aircraft’s nose. The twin-engine aircraft was powered by Rolls-Royce Griffon engines and met the requirements of F.6/39, aside from its armament. Vickers met with the Air Ministry in April 1939 to discuss the aircraft’s potential. The Air Ministry was sufficiently impressed and issued Specification F.22/39 that covered the Vickers fighter, which carried the internal designation Type 414. Specification F.6/39 was subsequently cancelled in November 1939.
Turret development began in a Wellington test-bed but, in the course of 1940, the requirement was changed via Specification F.16/40, to emphasise high-altitude performance, as there were growing fears that the Luftwaffe would be able to launch operations over Britain at altitudes beyond the capabilities of existing RAF fighters. A more conventional armament of 20mm cannon was adopted in the revised Vickers 420 design to the new specification, but further changes were called for in Specification F.7/41, including a pressure cabin.
Two Type 414 prototypes were ordered on 30 August 1939, and they were assigned serial numbers R2436 and R2437. After inspection of the Type 414 mockup in early February, the Air Ministry inquired about the possibility of installing several 20-mm cannons in place of the single 40-mm cannon. Vickers responded with aircraft proposals incorporating eight 20-mm cannons or two 40-mm cannons.
Vickers designated the fighter with 20-mm cannons as the Type 420. Two cannons were positioned in the aircraft’s nose, and three were on each side of the cockpit. Vickers and the Air Ministry discussed the Type 420 in June 1940, and Specification F.16/40 was issued for the aircraft’s development. The Type 420 was given a high priority, and an order for two prototypes was expected. The order for two Type 414 prototypes was still in place. However, the Type 420 took precedence, and work on the Type 414 slowed substantially.
In early January 1941, the Air Ministry requested a design change to reduce the number of 20-mm cannons to six. At the same time, Vickers had designed a high-altitude fighter that used many components from the Type 420. The high-altitude aircraft was armed with four 20-mm cannons and powered by two Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. The Air Ministry was interested in Vickers’ proposal, as they felt there was an urgent need for a heavily armed, high-altitude fighter aircraft to intercept high-altitude German bombers that were expected in the skies over Britain. However, high-altitude German bombing raids were never undertaken en masse and did not present a significant threat to Britain during World War II.
In March 1941, work on the Type 414 was stopped completely, and discussions with Rolls Royce commenced regarding the acquisition of Merlin engines. In May 1941, Vickers detailed the specifics of the high-altitude aircraft, which it had designated as Type 432. The Vickers response to this final requirement was Type 432, completely re-stressed and with an armament of six 20mm cannon in a ventral blister. The original contract for the Type 414/420s was cancelled in 1941 and a new one substituted for two Type 432s. Design work on the Type 432 continued, resulting in the switch to a single-seat cockpit placed in the nose of the aircraft and six 20-mm cannons installed in a ventral fairing. Each cannon had 120 rounds of ammunition. The Air Ministry ordered two Type 432 prototypes on 9 September 1941, and the aircraft would be built to the new Specification F.7/41. The two Type 432 prototypes were issued serial numbers DZ217 and DZ223.
As finally built, the Type 432 was the first Vickers aircraft of wholly stressed-skin construction of stressed-skin aluminum panels that were flush-riveted to the closely-spaced circular structures that made up the airframe, and it made use of a so-called “lobster-claw” design for the wing torsion box, in which heavy-gauge skin had a thickened section to house the span wise spar booms, giving a profile shaped like a lobster claw so that conventional wing spars and ribs were omitted. Fabric covered the aft section of the wings and the aircraft’s control surfaces. The fuselage was a streamlined tube and the coolant radiators for the engines were buried within the wing. The pilot was accommodated in a relatively small, self-contained pressure cabin, his head being enclosed by a small, double-glazed dome, or “bubble”, which hinged to one side for access and egress.
The Type 432 mockup was inspected in late December 1941, and the first prototype, DZ217, was built throughout 1942. The aircraft was built at Foxwarren, a special Vickers dispersal site for experimental work near Brooklands in Surrey, England. The site did not have an airfield, so the Type 432 was disassembled and transported to Royal Aircraft Establishment Farnborough for its first flight.
The Vickers Type 432 prototype DZ217 appears shortly after its completion at Foxwarren.
Powered by two Rolls-Royce Merlin 61 12-cylinder Vee-type engines rated at 1520hp (1,178 kW) at 23,500 ft (7,163 m), the first prototype Type 432 was flown on 24 December 1942, piloted by Tommy Lucke, initial trials revealing serious handling difficulties on the ground, the aircraft snaking while taxying and necessitating 3 in (76 mm) aft movement of the mainwheels to correct the bad tracking. The impossibility of making a three-point landing was only rectified by replacement of the Irving-type ailerons with surfaces of Westland type and alteration of tail settings. The competitive Westland Welkin was ordered into production and the second prototype of the Vickers fighter, the Type 446, was cancelled on 1 May 1943 before completion. This decision was not made official until 1 May 1943.
The first prototype was retained by Vickers for test purposes until the end of 1944. The estimated maximum speed of 700km/h at 8535m was never attained as the Merlin 61 engines did not run satisfactorily above 7010m.
The sole Type 432 aircraft continued to fly occasionally until November 1944. Some efforts were made throughout the aircraft’s existence to improve its handling and flight qualities, as the Type 432 was noted as having heavy controls. Only 28 flights were made, and the aircraft was never submitted for official trials or tested to its maximum performance. Additionally, the 20-mm armament and the pressurized cabin were never installed. Although the Type 432 exceeded 400 mph (644 km/h) in a slight dive, the highest speed obtained in level flight was 380 mph (612 km/h), recorded on 14 May 1943. One of the factors that limited flight testing was that the Merlin engines installed in the Type 432 did not run well above 23,000 ft (7,010 m). Since the Type 432 had no future as a production aircraft, the performance issues of its Merlins were never fully investigated.
The entire Type 432 program was cancelled at the end of 1943.
Aircraft observers were a regular fixture during World War II, keeping an eye out for any enemy action in the skies over Britain. The rarely-seen and oddly-shaped Type 432 was only listed as “AP1480” in the recognition handbooks. This non-descript designation led the spotters to dub the Type 432 as the “Tin Mossie” on account of the aircraft’s resemblance to the wooden de Haviland Mosquito.
Engines: Rolls-Royce Merlin 61, 1520hp Wingspan: 17.34 m / 56 ft 10 in Length: 12.38 m / 40 ft 7 in Height: 4.19 m / 13 ft 9 in Wing area: 40.97 sq.m / 441.00 sq ft Fuel capacity: 506 USG / 421 Imp gal / 1,914 lt Max take-off weight: 9148 kg / 20168 lb Empty weight: 7427 kg / 16374 lb Top speed est: 320 mph (515 km/h) at sea level Top speed est: 435 mph (700 km/h) at 28,000 ft (8,534 m) Top speed est: 400 mph (644 km/h) at 40,000 ft (12,192 m) Cruise speed est: 400 mph (644 km/h) at 29,500 mph (8,992 m) Service ceiling: 43,500 ft (13,259 m) Initial climb rate: 2,750 fpm (14.0 m/s Range: 2400 km / 1491 miles
The Wellington was designed to meet an Air Ministry requirement for a long-range medium bomber under Specification B.9/32 and evolved as a mid-wing monoplane with a fuselage of oval cross-section. Both of these major structures were of the geodetic construction which Barnes Wallis had introduced in the Wellesley. But experience with the latter and development of the geodetic concept made it possible for the individual components (which were built up into the ‘basket-weave’ structure) to be smaller and lighter in weight without any loss of structural integrity by comparison with the Wellesley. Wings, fuselage and tail unit were fabric-covered; power plant comprised two wing-mounted engines; and the tailwheel-type landing-gear units were hydraulically retractable.
‘Heavy’ defensive armament – comprising five machine-guns in nose and tail turrets and a ventral dustbin – would, it was believed, enable a flight of these aircraft to put up such a curtain of fire that fighter escort would be superfluous. Those who held such beliefs (as for the Boeing B-17 Fortress developed in America) were to discover their error very quickly.
Though it had been planned to fit Rolls-Royce Goshawk inlines or Bristol Mercury radials the engine selected was the Pegasus. The prototype Wellington made its first flight on 15 June 1936, but it was not until October 1938 that production aircraft began to enter RAF service. The variant that entered service with No. 99 Squadron in October 1938 was the Wellington Mk I, of which 181 were built with Pegasus XX radials. By the outbreak of war Bomber Command had six operational Wellington squadrons.
Less than one year later (on 4 September 1939) Wellingtons were in action against targets in Germany. Wellingtons and Blenheims shared the honour of being the first Royal Air Force aircraft to attack Germany when they bombed ships at Brunsbüttel on 4 September 1939. Early deployment on daylight raids showed that these and other British bomber aircraft were extremely vulnerable to fighter attack. Following the loss of ten Wellingtons from a force of 24 despatched on an armed reconnaissance of Wilhelmshaven on 18 December 1939, the type was withdrawn from daylight operations. As a night bomber, however, the Wellington proved an invaluable weapon during the early years of Bomber Command’s offensive against Germany.
Wellington production was to total 11,461 aircraft and embraced many versions. These included Mk I bombers (782kW Bristol Pegasus XVIIIs) and the DWI with degaussing ring to trigger magnetic mines. Other variants developed before the war were the Mk IA with a Nash and Thompson turret, the Mk IC with the ventral turret replaced by beam guns.
Differing engines distinguished the 853kW Rolls-Royce Merlin X-powered Mk II; 1,021kW Bristol Hercules XI Mk III; and Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp Mk IV.
Wellington Mk.II
The Merlin engined Mk.II entered service in 1941.
Vickers Wellington III
The Wellington Mk V was a high-altitude aircraft with pressurised cabin, no nose turret and increased wing span, followed by the high-altitude Mk VI with 1,192kW Rolls-Royce Merlin 60 or 62 R6SM engines. Mk VII was designated an experimental model and Mk VIII was the first of many reconnaissance versions. Mk IX aircraft were Mk Is modified as troop carriers. The Mk X with Hercules VI or XVI engines was the last bomber. Wellingtons Mk XI, XII and XIII were ASV radar-equipped aircraft for Coastal Command. The Mk XIV with Hercules XVII engines was the final reconnaissance version. In addition to these specific versions there were many variants, and Wellingtons were also used for training and transport.
The last Wellingtons produced, Mk X RP590 being delivered from Squires Gate on October 13, 1945.
The Vickers Wellington bomber provided the mainstay of Bomber Command’s night attacks on Germany in the early stages of the Second World War. To the extent that at one period it equipped no fewer than 21 squadrons, and when the first 1,000 bomber raid was mounted against Cologne, in May 1942, more than half of the aircraft involved were Wellingtons.
Wellingtons dropped 42,440 tons of bombs on sorties from Britain, including the first 4,000 lb (900 kg) block busters.
Designed as a bomber, it became an effective torpedo carrier and submarine killer in Coastal Command before going on to Transport and Training Commands.
On 3 December 1942, Dr. R.V. Jones, chief of the scientific branch of the secret service in the British Air Ministry, obtained Churchill’s permission to send a Wellington bomber full of measuring instruments to Frankfort am Main. The plane, DV819, was to be used as a decoy in the hope that the crew could find out at least the megahertz frequency of new German target-locator system radar. The plane was shot down a short distance from the coast of Britain, but the crew were saved at the last minute and reported: ‘It was 490 megahertz’.
The Wellington Mk.XVI transport were conversions of the early IC model.
Mk.1A Engines: 2 x Bristol Pegasus, 1050 hp Wingspan: 86 ft Length: 61 ft 3 in Height: 17 ft 6 in MAUW: 31,500 lb
Mk IC Type: five/six-seat long-range medium night bomber Engines: 2 x Bristol Pegasus XVIII, 746kW (1,000 hp) Span: 26.26m (86ft 2in) Length: 19.68m (64ft 7in) Armament: 6 x 7.7-mm 0.303-in) machine-guns Bombload: 2041 kg (4,500 lb) internally MTOW: 12928 kg (28,500 lb) Max speed: 235 mph at 15,500ft Operational range: 2,550 miles
406 Mk II Engines: 2 x Rolls-Royce Merlin X, 853-kW (1,145-hp)
Mk III Engines: 2 x Bristol Hercules III, 1025-kW (1,375-hp) Length: 64.6 ft. (19.7 m) Wing span: 86.1 ft. (26.2 m.) Weight empty: 15,887 lb. (7,233 kg.) Crew: 6 Armament: 8 mg Max. bomb load: 4,500 lb. (2,000 kg.) Max. Speed: 255 m.p.h. (410 km.p.h.) Ceiling: 22,000 ft. (6,700 m.) fully loaded Range: 1,470 miles (2,365 km.)
B Mk.III Engines: 2 x Bristol Hercules XI, 1535 hp
Wellington Mk X Engines: 2 x Bristol Hercules XI, 1119kW Max take-off weight: 13381 kg / 29500 lb Empty weight: 8417 kg / 18556 lb Wingspan: 26.26 m / 86 ft 2 in Length: 18.54 m / 61 ft 10 in Height: 5.31 m / 17 ft 5 in Wing area: 70.0 sq.m / 753.47 sq ft Max. speed: 410 km/h / 255 mph Ceiling: 5790 m / 19000 ft Range w/max.payload: 2478 km / 1540 miles Crew: 4 Armament: 8 x 7.7mm machine-guns Bombload: 2041kg
The Warwick was a slightly enlarged version of the Wellington and employed the same geodetic form of construction. It was designed originally to Specification B. 1/35 to replace the Wellington. But because the generation of four-engined bombers was also being produced at the same time, it was subsequently adapted for reconnaissance duties with Coastal Command and first went into service in 1943. Other models were built for transport and air-sea rescue duties. The final version, the GR.V, entered service in 1945 and carried bombs, mines or depth-charges. About 840 production Warwicks were built.
Warwick GR Mk.II Engines: 2 x Bristol “Centaur VI”, 1864kW / 2466 hp Max take-off weight: 23247 kg / 51251 lb Empty weight: 14118 kg / 31125 lb Wing load: 51.05 lb/sq.ft / 249.0 kg/sq.m Wingspan: 29.48 m / 96 ft 9 in Wing area: 1006.003 sq.ft / 93.46 sq.m Length: 20.88 m / 68 ft 6 in Height: 5.64 m / 18 ft 6 in Max. speed: 228 kts / 422 km/h / 262 mph Service ceiling: 5790 m / 19000 ft Range: 3460 km / 2150 miles Bombload: 6900kg Crew: 6
The Barnes Wallis geodetic construction, introduced on the Vickers Wellesley and used later on the Vickers Wellington and Vickers Warwick, was highly successful. To exploit its physical characteristics fully, however, a very big aeroplane was desirable. Vickers’ designer, Rex Pierson, used geodetics in evolving a four-engined bomber to meet Specification B.13/36, but the Short Stirling was awarded the contract. Another opportunity came with Specification B.1/39, but this was again unsuccessful, and it was not until the submission to Specification B.5/41 that the Vickers tender was accepted. The requirement was for a high-altitude heavy bomber with pressurized crew compartment, and an ability to fly at 555km/h at 9450m. Two prototypes of the new bomber were ordered, but changes resulted in a new specification, B.3/42, being drawn up. Vickers designated their design the Type 447, and the name Windsor was given to the aircraft. Various armament trials were carried out on a Warwick prototype, and the first Windsor flew from Farnborough, where it had been assembled, on 23 October 1943. It attained a speed of 486km/h at 7620m, and had completed almost 34 hours of flight testing before being written off in a forced landing, caused by problems with a propeller constant-speed unit. The second prototype, Type 457, contained armour plating and other modifications, and flew from Wisley on 15 February 1944, demonstrating similar performance to the first aircraft. This aircraft was grounded in June 1946, and broken up. A third Windsor, Type 480, was flown on 11 July 1944, with some further changes incorporated. This aircraft was fitted later with defensive barbettes in the outboard engine nacelles, each barbette having two remotely-controlled rear-firing 20mm cannon. Trials for these were carried out by a Lancaster, but although further tests continued for some 10 months, the Windsor programme was cancelled on 15 March 1946, with the third aircraft finishing its days as an instructional airframe. A fourth Windsor, originally Type 471 but later changed to Type 483, was almost complete when the programme finished.
Engines: 4 x Rolls Royce Merlin 65, 1613 hp Max take-off weight: 24500 kg / 54014 lb Empty weight: 17500 kg / 38581 lb Wingspan: 35.71 m / 117 ft 2 in Length: 23.42 m / 76 ft 10 in Height: 7.01 m / 23 ft 0 in Wing area: 115.94 sq.m / 1247.97 sq ft Max. speed: 275 kts / 510 km/h / 317 mph Ceiling: 8305 m / 27250 ft Range: 2511 nm / 4650 km / 2889 miles Armament: 2 x 7.7mm machine-guns, 2 x 20mm cannon Bombload: 5500kg
In 1935, to meet Air Ministry Specification F5/34, calling for a single seat monoplane interceptor armed with six or eight machine guns, a retractable undercarriage was required and an enclosed cockpit; a speed of at least 275mph (442kph) at 15,000ft (4,572m) was stipulated. This requirement was taken up by a number of firms. Bristol produced the Type 146 (835hp/622kW Bristol Perseus). Vickers brought their Jockey Mk II into approximate line with the requirements as the Venom (625hp/466kW Bristol Aquila). Henry Folland produced his last design for Gloster, the G.38 (840hp/626kW Bristol Mercury IX). James Martin also looked at F5/34 and surprisingly found it to his taste. None of the aircraft built to this specification achieved production status.
Fundamentally a redesigned and improved Type 151 Jockey and, indeed, initially known as the Jockey II, the Type 279, for which Vickers adopted the name Venom, was intended to meet the requirements of Specification F.5/34. Powered by a 625hp Bristol Aquila AE.3S nine-cylinder sleeve-valve radial engine enclosed by a long-chord NACA cowling, the Venom was a highly sophisticated aircraft, with a metal monocoque fuselage, its stressed skin being affixed by countersunk rivets. It was unique at the time it entered flight test, on 17 June 1936, in having 90°-deflection flaps. The Venom retained the sideways-hinging engine feature of the Type 151, and a battery of eight 7.7mm machine guns was mounted in the wings from the start of test flying. The Venom proved exceptionally manoeuvrable, with outstanding roll rate and turning radius, but it lacked the power to compete seriously with its Rolls-Royce liquid-cooled Vee-type-engined contemporaries, and, as no sufficiently compact British air-cooled radial of adequate power was available for installation, it was scrapped in 1939.
Engine: Bristol Aquila, 625hp/466kW Max take-off weight: 1885 kg / 4156 lb Wingspan: 9.98 m / 33 ft 9 in Length: 7.36 m / 24 ft 2 in Height: 3.27 m / 11 ft 9 in Wing area: 13.56 sq.m / 145.96 sq ft Max. speed: 502 km/h / 312 mph Ceiling: 9755 m / 32000 ft
Air Ministry Specification G.4/31 called for a General Purpose aircraft, capable of level bombing, army co-operation, dive bombing, reconnaissance, casualty evacuation and torpedo bombing. The Vickers Type 253 won against the Fairey G.4/31, Westland PV-7, Handley Page HP.47, Armstrong Whitworth AW.19, Blackburn B-7, Hawker PV-4 and the Parnell G.4/31.
Designed by Rex Pierson, the Type 253 was the first aircraft built which partly used the Barnes Wallis geodetic design in the fuselage. Despite an order for 150, Vickers offered their private venture monoplane design the Type 246. This used the same geodetic design principles for both the fuselage and the wings, and first flew on 19 June 1935. It had superior performance to the 246 but did not attempt to meet the multi-role requirement, being a day and night bomber only. First flown with PV 0-9 markings, the 253 showed a lower tare weight, better performance and larger payload, partly as a result of the 8.85 – 1 high aspect ratio wing.
The Wellesley evolved from Vickers’ design for a general-purpose day and night bomber and coastal-defence torpedo-carrier biplane to satisfy Air Ministry Specification G.4/31, the company having decided to develop and build a monoplane aircraft to meet the same specification. When evaluated there was little doubt that the monoplane was superior, with the result that the Air Ministrv contract for the biplane was cancelled, being replaced on 10 September 1935 by one for 96 examples of the monoplane under a rewritten G.22/35 specification. The RAF ultimately ordered 176, named Wellesely, to a newly written specification 22/35, with a 14 month production run starting in March 1937.
Named the Wellesley, it was the first RAF aircraft to utilise the geodetic form of construction devised by Barnes (later Sir Barnes) Wallis; offering a lightweight structure of great strength, it was adopted later for the Wellington. The other highly unusual feature was the provision of a pannier beneath each wing to serve as a bomb container. The low-set monoplane wing was also of geodetic construction, the main landing gear was hydraulically retractable, and power plant comprised a single Bristol Pegasus radial piston engine.
To avoid disrupting the geodetic structure, the bombload was carried in two streamlined panniers under the wings. The Wellesly Mk.1 had two separate cockpits, but this was changed in the Mk.II to a single piece cockpit canopy covering the pilot and navigator positions.
Wellesley Mk Is entered RAF service in April 1937 but by the outbreak of World War II most of them had been transferred to the Middle East, where they remained operational into 1941. The RAF received the first Welleselys in April 1937, for 76 Sqn at Finningley, and eventually equipped six RAF Bomber Command squadrons in the UK, Nos 35, 76, 77 and 148 Sqdns. Later a number were sent out to No.223 Sqdn, and as the home based machines were replaced, they too were sent out to the Middle East.
The primary use of the Wellesely during the econd World War was maily in the Middle East with only four examples remaining in Britain at the start of the war. Among its significant wartime operations was the bombing of Addis Ababa in August 1940, and Wellesleys of 223 Sqn were among aircraft that wiped out an Italian destroyer flotilla attack on Port Sudan in April 1941. Losses to Italian CR.42 fighters did occur when intecepted, as the Wellesley’s defensice armament of one fixed gun flexibly mounted firing aft was poor. They remained in the region until 1941 performing maritime reconnaissance duties.
No.14 Squadron based on Port Sudan, East Africa
The type is remembered especially in service with the RAF’s Long Range Development Flight, which was established at RAF Upper Heyford, Oxon, in January 1938. Equipment comprised six Wellesley Mk.Is modified by the installation of 28.7 lt 1010 hp / 753 kW Pegasus Mk XXII engines installed in NACA long-chord cowlings, and driving 3 blade Rotol ‘Incredible Hub’ constant-speed propellers; plus other changes which included strengthened landing gear, increased fuel capacity and the introduction of an autopilot. Adding a third crew member and a rest bunk and a folding pilot’s seat to allow mid-air pilot exchange. Between 5 and 7 November 1938, two of a flight of three of these aircraft (led by Sqn Ldr R. Kellett) succeeded in establishing a new world long-distance record, covering non-stop the 11,526km between Ismailia, Egypt, and Darwin, Australia, in just over 48 hours.
Wellesley Mk.I Engine: 1 x Bristol Pegasus XX, 690kW / 937 hp Max take-off weight: 5035 kg / 11100 lb Empty weight: 2889 kg / 6369 lb Wingspan: 22.73 m / 74 ft 7 in Length: 11.96 m / 39 ft 3 in Height: 3.76 m / 12 ft 4 in Wing area: 58.53 sq.m / 630.01 sq ft Max. speed: 198 kts / 367 km/h / 228 mph Service ceiling: 10600 m / 34,700 ft Range: 964 nm / 1786 km / 1110 miles Crew: 2 Armament: 2 x 7.7mm machine-guns Bombload: 900kg
During the mid ‘twenties, the Air Ministry accepted the philosophy that the primary concern of the RAF’s fighter element should be interception of intruding enemy bombers. Accordingly, a specification was drawn up for a single-seat day interceptor capable of overtaking an enemy aircraft flying at 241km/h at 6100m. This specification, F.20/27, resulted in contending monoplanes being ordered from de Havilland, Vickers and Westland.
The Vickers design, the Type 151, was constructed on Wibault principles, but the rear portion of the fuselage was fabric covered. Power was provided by a nine-cylinder Bristol Mercury IIA radial engine rated at 480hp at 3960m, provision was made for an armament of twin 7.7mm Vickers guns, and the manufacturer assigned the appellation of Jockey to the fighter. Among features embodied by the Type 151 was a sideways-hinging engine mounting to ease accessibility for maintenance, all controls, wiring and piping, and even the Constantinesco gun synchronisation equipment hinging without disconnection.
Designed by Rex Pierson and J Bewsher, the Type 151 was flown in April 1930, but oscillation and inadequate torsional rigidity in the rear fuselage were encountered. Various palliatives were applied, such as wing root leading-edge slots to rectify the buffeting that was believed to create the problems, but these proved ineffectual, and in January 1932, when the Mercury IIA gave place to a 530hp Jupiter VIIF, structural redesign of the rear fuselage was undertaken. It was intended to re-engine the Type 151 once more, this time with a Mercury IVS2 supercharged power plant, but, in June 1932, before this change could be made, the fighter failed to recover from a flat spin while undergoing trials at Martlesham Heath. Progressive redesign of the Type 151 was subsequently undertaken as the Jockey II, which, in its definitive form, was submitted to meet Specification F.5/34 as the Venom.
Max take-off weight: 1434 kg / 3161 lb Empty weight: 1025 kg / 2260 lb Wingspan: 9.90 m / 33 ft 6 in Length: 7.01 m / 23 ft 0 in Height: 2.51 m / 8 ft 3 in Wing area: 13.93 sq.m / 149.94 sq ft Max. speed: 351 km/h / 218 mph
The first prototype flew on 1 October 1930 powered by 3 x 201kW Armstrong Siddeley Lynx Major. Two production Viastra IIs were powered by two 391kW Bristol Jupiter XIFs and one Viastra VI – by one Jupiter XIF.
The Wibault system of metal airframe construction, with which Vickers had gained experience in building the Type 121 Wibault Scout, was utilised for a low-powered shipboard fighter to Specification 17/25. Submitted to the Air Ministry on 15 December 1925, this type, to be named Vireo, was awarded a one-aircraft contract. Intended to use either wheel or float undercarriage, and suitable for launching from a catapult, the Vireo was powered by a 230hp supercharged Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IV seven-cylinder radial air-cooled engine and had provision for two wing-mounted 7.7mm machine guns firing outside the propeller disc. The structural design of the Vireo followed closely that of the Type 121, with the airframe virtually entirely covered by corrugated metal skinning. Flown early in March 1928 – flight testing having been delayed by extensive aerodynamic and structural tests undertaken at the Royal Aircraft Establishment – the Vireo was evaluated at Martlesham Heath in April and deck trials then took place aboard HMS Furious on 12 July. The Vireo was fitted with a twin-float undercarriage, but, in the event, seaplane trials that were to have taken place at the MAEE, Felixstowe, were not proceeded with. The speed performance of the Vireo was inevitably poor owing to the combination of low engine power and high drag resulting from the corrugated surfaces, and it suffered extremely unpleasant stalling characteristics. In consequence, development was terminated.
Max take-off weight: 1157 kg / 2551 lb Empty weight: 885 kg / 1951 lb Wingspan: 10.67 m / 35 ft 0 in Length: 8.43 m / 28 ft 8 in Height: 3.48 m / 11 ft 5 in Wing area: 19.88 sq.m / 213.99 sq ft Max. speed: 193 km/h / 120 mph Ceiling: 4495 m / 14750 ft
All Aero 