Engineering:Vickers Valentia
| Valentia | |
|---|---|
| |
| Valentia (N126) at the Marine and Armament Experimental Establishment, Isle of Grain, April 1923.[1] | |
| Role | Flying boat |
| National origin | United Kingdom |
| Manufacturer | Vickers-Armstrongs |
| First flight | 5 Mar 1921 |
| Introduction | 1921 |
| Retired | 1924 |
| Primary user | Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment |
| Number built | 3 |
The Vickers Valentia was a 1920s British flying boat designed during the First World War.
History
Three Valentia prototypes were built by the Vickers Company at their Barrow works (Walney Island perhaps), having been ordered in May 1918 as a potential replacement for the Felixstowe F.5. The hull was built by S.E.Saunders works at Cowes. The first of the three (Serial Number N124) first flew on 5 March 1921, when Stanley Cockerell began test-flying it over the Solent.[2] N124 was damaged on landing in June 1921 and was dismantled, the second N125 forced landed on its delivery flight on 15 March 1922[3] The third flying boat N126 was delivered in 1923 and used for trials until it was withdrawn from use in November 1924.
The name was later re-used for a transport aircraft, the Vickers Type 264 Valentia.
Specifications (Valentia)
Data from Vickers Aircraft since 1908 [4]
General characteristics
- Crew: 5[5]
- Length: 58 ft 0 in (17.68 m)
- Wingspan: 112 ft 0 in (34.14 m)
- Empty weight: 10,000 lb (4,536 kg)
- Gross weight: 21,300 lb (9,662 kg)
- Powerplant: 2 × Rolls-Royce Condor water-cooled V12 engine, 650 hp (480 kW) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 105 mph (169 km/h, 91 kn)
- Endurance: 4 hr 30 min[6]
- Time to altitude: 9.5 min to 6,000 ft (1,800 m)[5]
Armament
- Guns: Provision for two Lewis guns. Tested with COW 37 mm gun[6]
See also
- Canadian Vickers – Felixstowe F-III built for transatlantic attempt
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
- Felixstowe F.5
- Phoenix P.5 Cork
- Short N.3 Cromarty
- Supermarine Swan
- Saunders A.14
References
- ↑ Chorlton, Martyn, ed (2012). Aeroplane Collectors' Archive: Golden Age of Flying-boats. Kelsey Publishing Group, Cudham, Kent. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-907426-71-1.
- ↑ "Air Ministry's New Flying Boat", The Times, 8 March 1921
- ↑ Wixey, Ken, "Flying Boats of the RAF: 1920s 'One-offs' ", FlyPast No. 106, Stamford, Lincs., U.K., May 1990, page 68.
- ↑ Andrews and Morgan 1988, p.482.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "The Vickers-Saunders flying boat "Valentia"". Flight XIII (11): 191. 17 March 1921. https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1921/1921%20-%200191.html.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 London 2003, pp.266–267.
- Andrews, C.F and Morgan, E.B. Vickers Aircraft since 1908. London:Putnam, 1988. ISBN:0-85177-815-1.
- London, Peter. British Flying Boats. Stroud, UK:Sutton Publishing, 2003. ISBN:0-7509-2695-3.
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