Percival Vega Gull

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Percival Vega Gull
Type Civil touring aircraft, military trainer and communications aircraft
Manufacturer Percival Aircraft Limited
Designed by Edgar W. Percival
Maiden flight November 1935
Retired 1945
Primary users Royal Air Force
Fleet Air Arm
Produced November 1935-July 1939
Number built 90
Variants Percival Gull
Percival Proctor

The Percival Vega Gull was a 1930s British, four-seater touring aeroplane built by Percival Aircraft Limited. It was a single-engine, low-wing, wood-and-fabric monoplane with a fixed tailwheel undercarriage.

Contents

[edit] Development

Built by Percival Aircraft Limited of Gravesend, the Vega Gull was a development of their earlier Gull. The major changes from the earlier machine were the provision of an additional - fourth - seat, dual controls and flaps. It retained the de Havilland Gypsy Six air-cooled inline engine introduced in the D.3 Gull Six of 1934. The prototype first flew from Gravesend in November 1935.[1].

[edit] History

Two early aircraft were entered into the Schlesinger Race from England to Johannesberg, South Africa. Aircraft registered G-AEKE was the only finisher landing at Rand Airport on 1 October 1936. The aircraft had left Portsmouth 52 hours 56 minutes 48 seconds earler. With the publicity of the win, Percival set up a production line at larger premises at Luton. The new type was an immediate success with production running to ninety, the last aircraft first flew on 27 July 1939.

In addition to civil orders, 15 were ordered by the Air Ministry. Of these, eleven served with 24 Squadron Royal Air Force on communications duties and two were issued to the Fleet Air Arm, which was yet to come under Admiralty control. The remaining two were used by the British air attachés in Buenos Aires and Lisbon. A third aircraft for use by the British air attaché in Berlin was seized by the germans at the outbreak of war. It remains unclear whether the Luftwaffe used this machine subsequently.

After the outbreak of war, some numbers of Vega Gulls were requisitioned for military used. In the UK, 21 were impressed in 1939-40, fourteen for the RAF and seven for the FAA. Two aircraft were impressed in each of Australia and India, while one other was called to the colours in New Zealand. [2]

By the end of the war, the Vega Gull had been largely supplanted by its younger sibling, the Proctor, of which more than 1,100 were manufactured.

[edit] Variants

[edit] Aircraft markings

[edit] Operators

[edit] Military operators

[edit] Specifications (Vega Gull)

Data from {British Aircraft of World War II}[2]

General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Capacity: 3 passengers
  • Length: 25 ft 6 in (7.77 m)
  • Wingspan: 39 ft 6 in (12.04 m)
  • Height: ft in (m)
  • Wing area: 184 ft² (17.09 m²)
  • Empty weight: 1,740 lb (789 kg)
  • Loaded weight: 3,250 lb (1,474 kg)
  • Useful load: lb (kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: lb (kg)
  • Powerplant: 1× de Havilland Gipsy Six six-cylinder air-colled inline 2-blade, 200-hp (149-kW)

Performance

[edit] References

  1. ^ Fleet Air Arm Archive.
  2. ^ a b British Aircraft of World War II.
  • Jackson, A.J. (1974). British Civil Aircraft since 1919 Volume 3. London: Putnam. ISBN 0 370 10014 X. 

[edit] External links

[British Aircraft Directory]

[edit] Related content

Related development

Comparable aircraft

Related lists

List of aircraft of the Royal Air Force
List of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm

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