Vickers Vulcan

Vulcan
Vickers Vulcan Type 61
General information
TypeAirliner
ManufacturerVickers
Designer
Primary usersInstone Air Line
Number built8
History
Manufactured1922–1925
Introduction date
1 June 1922
First flightApril 1922
RetiredJuly 1928

The Vickers Vulcan was a British single-engine biplane airliner of the 1920s built by Vickers Limited at Brooklands Aerodrome, Surrey. It carried eight passengers and a pilot.

Development

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

The Vulcan was based on a civil version of the Vimy bomber, but featured many changes, including a much larger, taller fuselage and one, instead of two, Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII engines, the intention being 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 while on a test flight from Croydon Airport.

Variants

Operators

 Australia
 United Kingdom

Accidents and incidents

Specifications (Vulcan Type 74)

Vickers Vulcan 2-view drawing from L'Aéronautique March,1922

Data from Vickers Aircraft Since 1908

General characteristics

Performance

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References

  1. ↑ Andrews and Morgan 1988, p.111.

Sources