Vickers Valentia

For the troop transport, see Vickers Type 264 Valentia.

Valentia
Valentia (N126) at the Marine and Armament Experimental Establishment, Isle of Grain, April 1923.[1]
General information
TypeFlying boat
National originUnited Kingdom
ManufacturerVickers-Armstrongs
Primary userMarine Aircraft Experimental Establishment
Number built3
History
Introduction date1921
First flight5 Mar 1921
Retired1924

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delivery flight on 15 March 1922[3] The third flying boat N126 was delivered in 1923 and used for trials until it was withdrawn from use in November 1924.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

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vickers Valentia.
  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "Air Ministry's New Flying Boat", The Times, 8 March 1921
  3. ^ Wixey, Ken, "Flying Boats of the RAF: 1920s 'One-offs' ", FlyPast No. 106, Stamford, Lincs., U.K., May 1990, page 68.
  4. ^ Andrews and Morgan 1988, p.482.
  5. ^ a b "The Vickers-Saunders flying boat "Valentia"". Flight. XIII (11): 191. 17 March 1921.
  6. ^ a b 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.