Following the first Lympne trials held in 1923 for single-seat motor-gliders, the Air Ministry organised a similar event in 1924, this time for low-powered two-seat aircraft. The engine capacity limit was set at 1,100 cc. and, as before, the wings had to fold for easy transport and storage.

The Vickers Type 98 Vagabond was Vickers’ entrant for the second Lympne light aircraft competition, held in 1924. Designed by R.K. Pierson, it was a single-bay, wire-braced biplane with wings of constant chord except towards the rounded trailing tips. The wings had equal span and carried marked stagger. There were ailerons on both upper and lower wings, with flaps inboard on the lower wings which could be folded to assist wing-folding. The pilot and passenger sat in open cockpits, the latter under the upper wing. The pilot’s upward view was enhanced by a small cutout in the trailing edge of the top wing. The fuselage had a more rounded cross-section than that of the earlier Viget, Vickers’ single-seat entry to the 1923 competition, extending a little below the lower wing. The 32 hp (24 kW) Bristol Cherub III flat twin engine was mounted in a smooth nose with the finned cylinders exposed for air cooling. The horizontal tail was similar to that of the Viget, but the fin and rudder were much more rounded. Because of the stagger, the mainwheels were in front of the lower wing, braced to the lower fuselage logeron aft to the front wing spar and forward to a point roughly below the upper wing leading edge.

A most unusual feature of the Vagabond was the method of longitudinal trimming. Rather than changing the angle of the tailplane with respect to the fuselage, the whole rear part of the fuselage was hinged just ahead of the lower wing’s trailing edge. This was controlled via a handwheel between the two cockpits; the rear fuselage was raised at the start of a landing descent to increase drag and slow the aircraft.

Early flight trials, with H.J.Pain as pilot revealed a need to stiffen the engine mountings. When this was done, the Vagabond, now fitted with a three-cylinder 1,095 cc Blackburne Thrush radial engine flew well enough at Lympne, but was eliminated in the preliminary rounds. The trials took place between 29th September and 4th October 1924.

Nevertheless, the aircraft and engine performance were improved once it had been eliminated from the main event and it subsequently took part in the 100-mile Grosvenor Challenge Cup Race, which was won by Bert Hinkler flying the Avro Avis.

Only one Vagabond, registered as G-EBJF on 1 July 1924 was built. It was deregistered on 24 January 1928.

Powerplant: 1 × Bristol Cherub III, 32 hp (24 kW), later 1,095 cc Blackburne Thrush
Wingspan: 28 ft 0 in (8.53 m)
Wing area: 235 sq ft (21.8 m2)
Width: 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m) (width wings folded)
Length: 21 ft 10 in (6.65 m)
Empty weight: 527 lb (239 kg)
Gross weight: 887 lb (402 kg)
Maximum speed: 77 mph (124 km/h, 67 kn)
Crew: 1
Capacity: 1 passenger

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 246 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 253. 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. An initial order for 96 Type 246s was substituted for the Type 253 order.

One prototype, first flown on 6 August 1934. No production.

Engine: 1 x 635hp Bristol Pegasus IIM.3
Max take-off weight: 3791 kg / 8358 lb
Empty weight: 1982 kg / 4370 lb
Wingspan: 16.03 m / 52 ft 7 in
Length: 11.28 m / 36 ft 0 in
Height: 3.81 m / 12 ft 6 in
Wing area: 53.79 sq.m / 578.99 sq ft
Max. speed: 259 km/h / 161 mph
Ceiling: 6614 m / 21700 ft
Crew: 2

Designed by R.K Pierson & Barnes Wallis, the Vickers Type 207 was a single-engined two-seat biplane. Often known as the Vickers M.1/30, for it was built to Air Ministry specification for a carrier based torpedo bomber to replace the Blackburn Ripon. The Air Ministry paid Vickers for a single prototype; its competitors were the Blackburn M.1/30 and the Handley Page H.P.46.

Like Blackburn, Vickers chose the 825 hp (615 kW) Rolls Royce H10 engine, later called the Buzzard IIIMS, a liquid cooled V-12 to power their aircraft. The Type 207 was a single bay biplane, without sweep or stagger and with wings of almost equal span. The upper wing carried Handley Page slots and Frise ailerons; the lower wing alone had dihedral. Both wings used the relatively thick and still novel Raf34 aerofoil section; they folded for storage. The rudder was balanced and the braced tailplane carried aerodynamic servo-assisted elevators operated via trailing edge tabs. Barnes Wallis had recently been appointed chief structural engineer for Vickers aircraft and he brought to the Type 207 new methods of duralumin construction in both wings and fuselage from his previous work on airships. Typically, these structures were complicated but light. The aircraft was fabric covered throughout.

The upper wing was well above the fuselage, braced to it by two pairs of V-form struts on either side; two single struts from the same points on the upper fuselage braced each lower wing. The pilot sat below the wing leading edge and the observer, equipped with a Lewis gun, sat well aft. The split axle undercarriage allowed torpedo dropping from under the aircraft and was fitted with wheel brakes as its ship-borne role required, together with an arrester hook and tail wheel. The Buzzard’s underslung radiator was positioned between the forward undercarriage legs.

The Type 207 flew for the first time on 11 January 1933, with Mutt Summers at the controls. The only notable modification was the addition of 2o of dihedral to the previously flat upper wing. The aircraft but neither of its crew was lost in the first fast diving test on 23 November 1933, when structural breakup was initiated by a tailplane failure. In the end there were no orders for any of the M.1/30 entrants.

Only one was built.

Engine: 1 × Rolls Royce Buzzard IIIMS, 825 hp (615 kW)
Wingspan: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)
Length: 43 ft 7 in (13.69 m)
Height: 14 ft 5 in (14.42 m)
Wing area: 724 sq.ft (67.3 sq.m)
Empty weight: 5,200 lb (2,359 kg)
Gross weight: 9,600 lb (4,354 kg)
Maximum speed: at 4,000 ft (1,220 m) 159 mph (256 km/h)
Rate of climb: to 4,000 ft (1,220 m) 800 ft/min (4.1 m/s)
Armament:
1× 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis gun
1×torpedo of a 2000 lb (907 kg) or 1000 lb (453 kg) bomb under fuselage; or 4×500 lb ((227 kg)bombs under inner wings
Crew: 2

In the mid ‘twenties, the British Air Ministry found attractive the possibility of the 37mm COW (Coventry Ordnance Works) gun for use against bombers. Accordingly, Specification F.29/27 was issued calling for a single-seat dedicated bomber-interceptor armed with this large and heavy weapon. The specification called for the gun to be mounted in a fixed position to fire forward and upward at an oblique angle of at least 45°. Provision was to be made for oversize and automatically-fed ammunition clips totalling 50 shells, the entire COW gun mechanism had to be easily accessible to the pilot and steadiness as a gun platform was a prime requisite. Vickers submission to this Specification, the Type 161, was extraordinary in that it reverted to the long-abandoned pusher biplane formula with tail surfaces carried by booms. Despite its archaic configuration, however, the Type 161 embodied some advanced features and became the subject of a single-aircraft Air Ministry contract. An unequal-span two-bay biplane with comparatively high aspect ratio wings with duralumin plate and tube structure, it had a metal mono-coque nacelle, accommodating the pilot to port and the COW gun to starboard, which was faired into the upper wing and raised above the lower wing by splayed N-type struts. The 530hp Bristol Jupiter VIIF nine-cylinder radial carried at the rear of the nacelle drove a four-bladed propeller, aft of which was a curious, long tapered cone which, intended to promote directional stability, was supported by struts from the tubular tail-booms and the tailplane. The Type 161 was flown for the first time on 21 January 1931, and after provision of a broader-chord rudder, it flew extremely well, arriving at Martlesham Heath in September 1931 for official evaluation. Development was discontinued when official interest in promoting the quick-firing COW gun lapsed.

Max take-off weight: 1520 kg / 3351 lb
Empty weight: 1080 kg / 2381 lb
Wingspan: 9.75 m / 32 ft 0 in
Length: 7.16 m / 24 ft 6 in
Height: 3.76 m / 12 ft 4 in
Wing area: 25.08 sq.m / 269.96 sq ft
Max. speed: 298 km/h / 185 mph