Vickers Vimy History
The Vickers Vimy was designed by Reginald Kirshaw
Pierson for Vickers in 1917. Although it was designed as a long range heavy bomber in WW1,
by the time it was ready to be brought into service
the war had nearly ended and only three aircraft were delivered before
Armistice day. Although too late for use in WW1, this was an
excellent aircraft and replaced the
Handley Page Type O
biplane bomber. The Vimy served with the RAF until 1933 when newer
enclosed cockpit biplane bombers like the
Boulton Paul Sidestrand
were designed.
Vickers Vimy Bomber
Reliability
It is of note that the reliability and endurance of this aircraft was so good that Alcock and Brown
were able to use one to make their first non-stop crossing of the
Atlantic Ocean in June 1919. The flight began at St. John's,
Newfoundland and ended at Galway, Ireland sixteen hours later. The
fact that they'd also carried a small amount of mail meant that they had also
made the first
transatlantic airmail flight.
Vickers Vimy
Atlantic Crossing Prize
A £10,000 prize for the first
non-stop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean was awarded to Alcock and
Brown by the Daily Mail newspaper for their record breaking flight
in this bomber. It was presented to them by
Winston Churchill.
Various scale
models, model kits and plans of this aircraft have been available in
the market place.
Vickers Vimy
Specifications:
Vickers Vimy Length: 43 ft 7 in (13.28 m)
Vickers Vimy Wingspan: 68 ft 1 in (20.75 m)
Vickers Vimy Height: 15 ft 8 in (4.77 m)
Vickers Vimy Empty weight: 7,104 lb (3,222 kg)
Vickers Vimy Max takeoff weight: 10,884 lb (4,937 kg)
Vickers Vimy Engines: Twin 360 hp (268.45 kW) Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII liquid
cooled V12 engines
Vickers Vimy Maximum speed: 100 mph (161 km/h)
Vickers Vimy Range: 900 miles (1,448 km)
Vickers Vimy Service ceiling: 7,000 ft (2,134 m)
Vickers Vimy Armament:
Bombs:
2,476 lb (1,123 kg) of bombs
Guns:
Two .303 (7.7 mm) Lewis gun
mounted singly in nose and mid-fuselage on Scarff rings.
|