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Vimy History Articles Air Mail and Early Aviation History Excerpt from Profile Publications #5: The Vickers F.B.27 Vimy Photo of Vimy Landing in 1919 Ad Featuring Alcock & Brown's Vimy London to Cape Town 1920 Photos of the Vimy's Propellers Vimy Propellers Repaired at Ipswich Related Links (Off-Site) Flights of Inspiration: Long Flight

Excerpt from Profile Publications #5: The Vickers F.B. 27 Vimy by Maria Langer, Webmaster 24-June-01 (pamphlet originally published 1965) I'm always looking for new Vimy information to add to the Web site. Recently, I obtained a copy of Profile Publications, Ltd. pamphlet #5 titled "The Vickers F.B. 27 Vimy," written by J.M. Bruce and published in 1965. The pamphlet has a wealth of information about the Vimy's development, with many photos and drawings of actual Vimy aircraft. I've been trying for about two weeks to track down the publisher and author to get reprint permission but, so far, have been unsuccessful. I will keep trying. (If anyone out there can help me get permission—or at least point me in the right direction—please do!) In the meantime, I decided that an excerpt about the Vimy's historic flights, taken from the end of the publication, would probably be okay. Here it is. Although the Vimy's R.A.F. career was unspectacular, it gained immortality by its successes in early long-rang flights. The Vimy's first achievement in this field, the first Atlantic direct crossing, as of such a magnitude that it almost eclipsed the other two major flights. The aircraft in which Captain John Alcock, D.S.C., and Lt. Arthur Whitten-Brown covered the 1,890 miles between Lester's Field, St. Johns, Newfoundland and Clifden, Co. Galway, Ireland, was specially built for the Atlantic flight. Its engines were two 360-h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagles VIII; additional tanks increased its fuel capacity to 865 gallons and gave the aircraft a range of 2,440 miles. The nose cockpit was faired over, and the pilot and navigator sat side-by-side in the main cockpit; behind them an enlarged turtle-back fairing extended over the fuel tanks. In place of the nose skid, a wheel was fitted, but it and the tailplane skids were removed for the Atlantic flight. At Vickers there was at one time some division of opinion as to whether one or two special Vimys should be built. The pressing need to make haste settled the matter, however, and only one was constructed. Such was the simplicity and speed of aircraft design work at the time that Rex Pierson wrote on 21st February 1919: "At present I am getting out drawings of (1) New oil tanks, (2) New water tank of increased capacity, (3) Petrol system, and I hope to let muller have these by tomorrow morning. Alcock made the first test flight in the Vimy on 18th April 1919, and he and Brown made several flights in it before it was dismantled and shipped to Newfoundland. After overcoming many difficulties, not the least of which was the finding of a field suitable for the take-off, the Vimy was airborne at 4.13 p.m. (G.M.T.) on 14 June 1919, and cross the Newfoundland coast fifteen minutes later. At 8:40 a.m. (G.M.T.) on the following day it landed in Derrygimla Bog, Clifden, damaging the lower wings and the forepart of the fuselage. The Vimy as repaired and presented to the Science Museum, South Kensington, in December 1919; it can still be seen there. In November 1919 another Vimy began another historic long-distance flight. A price of £10,000 had been offered in March 1919 by the Australian Government for the first flight made by Australians from Britain to Australia in a British aircraft. It was stipulated that the flight must be accomplished within 720 hours, and the take-off was to be made from Hounslow aerodrome or Calshot seaplane station. In view of the Vimy's recent Atlantic conquest, it was natural that Vickers should enter an eaircraft of the same type for the Australian flight. The Vimy selected was F8630, which was given the civil identity G-EAOU; this registration was irrevently interpreted as meaning "God 'elp all of us." The pilot was Captain Ross Smith, the redoubtable "Hadji" of No. 1 Squadron, Australian Flying Corps, adn a Bristol Fighter pilot of distinction; his brother Lt. Keith Smith was navigator; and their mechanics were Sgts. J.M. Bennett and W.H. Shiers. Ross Smith took off from Hounslow at 8 a.m. on 12 November 1919 and G-EAOU had an adventurous journey before reaching Darwin at 4.10 p.m. on 10th December. The 11,130 miles from Hounslow had been covered in just under twenty-eight days elapsed time, 135 hrs. 55 mins. flying time. Vickers Ltd. presented G-EAOU to the Australian Government. It was allotted the Australian serial A5-1, but it is doubtful whether the aircraft ever bore this marking. It was exhibited in the Australian War Memorial at Canberra until 1957, when it was moved to Adelaide to form the centre of a memorial to the four men who had made the first flight to Australia. Although severely damaged by fire on 3rd November 1957 while in transit from Caberra, the Vimy was carefully restored and installed in the memorial. The third long-distance flight undertaken by a Vimy began on 4th February 1920, when Lt. Col Pierre van Ryneveld, D.S.O., M.C., and Major C.J. Quintin Brand, D.S.O., M.C., D.F.C., with two mechanics, took off from Brooklands bound for Cape Town. The flight was sponsored by the South African Government; the aircraft was an Eagle-powered, registered G-UABA and named Silver Queen; the prize was again £10,000, put up by the Daily Mail for a flight from Cairo to Cape Town. The Silver Queen had as competitors the Handley Page 0/400 G-EAMC and the Vickers Vimy Commercial G-EAAV. On 10th February 1920 van Ryneveld and Brand left Heliopolis after dark; next day, when they were 530 miles from Cairo and still eighty miles short of Wadi Halfa, the radiator tap on the Starboard engine opened, the egine soon stopped, and an emergency landing was made at Korosko. The Vimy was wrecked on the boulder-strewn ground, but the crew unhurt. At the request of the South African Government the Royal Air Force placed another Vimy at the disposal of van Rynevenld and Brand. The engines and instruments of Silver Queen were salvaged and returned to Cairo for installation in the replacement aircraft, which was named Silver Queen II. The new Vimy took off from Heliopolis on 22nd February; Bulawayo was reached one week later, but there Silver Queen II was wrecked while taking off for Pretoria, her take-off performance having been greatly reduced by heat and the altitude of the aerodrome at Bulawayo. Again van Rynveld and Brand were unhurt, and they completed their flight to Cape Town in the D.H.9 H5648, reaching their destination on 20th March. The photos and drawing here are also taken from the pamphlet. The color drawing is © R. Ward and is just an excerpt from a page that includes five different Vimys. This is just a short excerpt from the pamphlet. The remaining information details Vimy development and provides information about configurations. If you're interested in obtaining a copy, I suggest searching the Internet with a search phrase like "Profile Publications Vimy" to locate bookstores and hobby shops with used copies for sale. I paid about $10 with shipping for my copy and it's in excellent condition.

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