Vickers Victoria

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Vickers Victoria
Victoria J7924 of No.  70 Sqn.  in Iraq.  It was destroyed in a storm near Ur in May 1928
Victoria J7924 of No. 70 Sqn. in Iraq. It was in May 1928 during a storm near Ur destroyed
Type: Transport plane
Design country:

United KingdomUnited Kingdom United Kingdom

Manufacturer:

Vickers (Aviation) Ltd.

First flight:

August 22, 1922

Commissioning:

1926

Production time:

1922-1933

Number of pieces:

94

The Vickers Victoria was a troop-carrier made by the British manufacturer Vickers (Aviation) Ltd. from the 1920s and 1930s. It was developed to replace the Vickers Vernon from the Vickers Virginia bomber . This corresponded to the procedure that Vickers already used with the Vernon, which was based on the Vickers Vimy . The aircraft had two Napier Lion IXA engines (2 × 330 kW) and could carry 22 soldiers in full equipment.

development

According to the requirements of the Air Ministry Specification 5/20, Vickers built two prototypes (RAF serial numbers J6860 and J6861), after which the J6860 took off on August 22, 1922 for its maiden flight.

After extensive tests, also with the help of the second prototype J6861, Vickers received a first order for 15 Mk.III. Further orders brought production to 46 Mk.III / IIIA. The Mk.IV was a prototype for the metal construction of the wings. 17 Mk.III and Mk.IIIA were modified accordingly. Then 37 Mk.Vs with Napier Lion VIIB (2 × 570 PS) and metal wings were procured. The K2340 received first Bristol-Jupiter and later Bristol-Pegasus engines for improvement. Then it was decided to equip all other Victorias with Pegasus engines (2 × 622 HP). This version was called Mk.VI; however, the Air Ministry decided in 1932/1933 to rename this version to Valentia. A total of 60 Victorias were converted into Valentias while the new production was 28 Valentias.

construction

The load-bearing structures of the Victoria were made of a wood-metal composite construction. The front half of the fuselage had a half-shell construction with plywood planking, while the rear half was conventionally designed as a metal-tube lattice construction with molded wooden parts to achieve an oval fuselage cross-section. The wings, which were also conventionally constructed, had a metal structure covered with fabric.

production

Acceptance of Vickers Victoria and Valentia by the RAF:

version 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 total
Mk.I 1                               1
Mk.II   1                             1
Mk.III         31                       31
Mk.IIIA           2 13                   15th
Mk.IV             1                   1
Mk.IV conversion             (14) (3)                 (17)
Mk.V               7th 6th 6th 13 5         37
Mk.V conversion               (1) (4) (1)             (6)
Mk.VI                       11         11
Valentia                         16 6th 6th   28
Mk.VI/Valentia conversion                   (1) (1) (4) (15) (28) (10) (1) (60)
total 1 1 0 0 31 2 14th 7th 6th 6th 13 16 16 6th 6th 0 125

commitment

The Victoria / Valentia had a long service life, being flown almost exclusively as a transporter for the 70 Squadron in Iraq and the 216 (Bomber Transport) Squadron in Egypt. Only during the Abyssinia crisis in 1935 were six Valentias armed in Egypt, but they did not fly any combat missions. At the beginning of the war, the 216 Squadron Bristol Bombays, with which the bombing missions were flown. During the uprising in Iraq in 1941, the Valentias reinforcements flew in from India. The Valentias were also used for troop movements during the occupation of Iran in the same year. The 70 Squadron gave their Valentias to the Bomber Transport Flight in Ambala / India (later 31 Squadron) in 1939 after the conversion to Vickers Wellington. There the aircraft were used at the Air Landing School until 1943. The last Valentia K3600 broke on July 28, 1944 on the Iran & Persia Communications Flight.

Technical specifications

Parameter Victoria V
crew 2
Passengers 22 soldiers
length 18.15 m
span 26.64 m
Wing area 202.34 m²
height 5.41 m
Empty mass 4554 kg
Max. Takeoff mass 8063 kg
drive two Napier Lion XI with 570 hp each
Top speed 176 km / h at sea level
Range 1230 km
Service ceiling 4940 m

literature

  • Owen Thetford: Aircraft of the Royal Air Force since 1918 , Putnam, 1957, sixth edition 1976, ISBN 0-370-10056-5 , p. 513 f.
  • James J. Halley: The K File: The Royal Air Force of the 1930s , Tunbridge Wells, 1995, p. 365 ff.
  • Dennis Thompson: Royal Air Force Aircraft J1 – J9999 , Tonbridge 1987
  • AERO - The illustrated compilation of aviation, issue 149, p. 4166 f.

Web links

Commons : Vickers Victoria  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. Alec Lumsden: African Queens - Vickers Victorias of 216 Sqn (Part 1) . In: Airplane Monthly March 1998, p. 19
  2. Halley, James J .: The K File. The Royal Air Force of the 1930s , Tunbridge Wells, 1995, p. 365 ff .; Thompson, Dennis: Royal Air Force Aircraft J1 – J9999 , Tonbridge 1987