Vickers Valentia

The Vickers Valentia was a 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. Two were cancelled when the First World War ended, and the third went to the S.E.Saunders works at Cowes for completion. Stanley Cockerell began test-flying it over the Solent in March 1921.^[1] Airframe crashed and was written off, June 1922.^[2]

The name was later re-used for a transport aircraft.

Specifications (Valentia)

Data from Vickers Aircraft since 1908 ^[3]

General characteristics

• Length: 58 ft 0 in (17.68 m)
• Wingspan: 112 ft 0 in (34.15 m)
• Height: ft in (m)
• Empty weight: 10,000 lb (4,545 kg)
• Loaded weight: 21,300 lb (9,682 kg)
• Powerplant: 2 × Rolls-Royce Condor piston engine, 600 hp (448 kW) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 105 mph (168 km/h, 91 kn)
  
• Endurance: 4 hours 30 min^[4]

• Guns: Provision for two Lewis guns. Tested with COW 37 mm gun^[4]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vickers Valentia.

• 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.