Vickers Experimental Fighters

 

 

This page presents information relating to seven single-engine fighter projects, all of which failed to achieve large scale production. Each aircraft is presented with a photograph and short description, with specification tables for all the types following the main text.

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The Vickers Type 123 (G-EBNQ) was built as a private venture and was a single seat, single bay biplane designed a 480 hp 12-cylinder Hispano Suiza T52 engine. The aircraft was of all-metal construction, with fabric covered surfaces and the engine drove an all-metal propeller.

 

When first flown on 9th November 1926, the type demonstrated excellent speed and altitude performance. It was developed into the Vickers Type 141, following the installation of a Rolls-Royce FXI engine.

 

 

The Vickers Type 141 Scout was created from the Vickers Type 123 airframe, adapted to fit the Rolls-Royce FXI engine. The main external changes were a squared-off nose, the removal of the prop spinner and the fitment of a retractable, rectangular radiator in the lower front fuselage near the wing leading edge.

 

It was tested at Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) at Martlesham Heath in January 1928, along with several other single-seat fighter candidates demonstrating light controls, a top speed of 174 mph and a good speed range.

 

On return to Vickers Aviation, the aircraft was listed once again on the civil register (G-EBNQ) and fitted with a more rounded fin and rudder.

 

In its final form, it competed against Specification 21/26 for a Fleet Fighter, with a modified undercarriage and arrester gear, as well as a supercharged F.XIS engine with a chin radiator. The dihedral of the lower wing was also increased to five degrees.

 

After sea trials it was sent back to Vickers Aviation, who entered it as the 'scratch machine' in the 1929 King’s Cup Air Race, from which it was forced to retire mid-race.

 

 

The Vickers Type 141 was developed into the Vickers Type 143 land-based fighter and then into the Vickers Type 177 intended for shipboard use.

 

 

The country of Bolivia, which had recently purchased the Vickers Vespa III in 1929, also ordered six single-seat fighters based on the Vickers Type 141. These were to be powered by the 450 hp Bristol Jupiter VIA, the same engine as fitted to the Vickers Vespa aircraft.

 

Although developed from the Vickers Type 141, the Type 143 was visually quite different with a radial engine, split-axle undercarriage and a new streamlined fuselage to suit the radial engine.

 

The aircraft was flown on 11th June 1929 and was the first Vickers type to be flown by their newly appointed chief Test pilot Joseph 'Mutt' Summers.

 

The six aircraft were delivered to Bolivia from January 1930 and proved to be very popular with their pilots.

 

 

This aircraft originally began construction as a seventh type based on the Vickers Type 143 airframe.

 

The partially complete aircraft was modified to become a private venture prototype for a single seat shipboard fighter, designated the Vickers Type 177. This prototype flew for the first time on 26th November 1929, before undergoing trials at the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) from February 1930. During the trials it suffered an engine failure at 20,000 ft although it was landed in a field with minimal damage.

 

In June 1930, it underwent ship trials on board HMS Furious but it (together with its competitors) was not judged suitable for a production order.

 

The Vickers Type 177 was the last single-seat tractor biplane aircraft to be built by Vickers.

 

 

Known unofficially as the Vickers 'Jockey', the Vickers Type 171 was built to compete against Specification F.20/27. This, (in modern parlance) sought a ‘point defence interceptor', required to climb rapidly to engage formations of enemy bombers. In particular, those passing overhead at up to 20,000 ft and travelling at around 150 mph. As might be expected, speed, climb rate and manoeuvrability were needed as well as an unobstructed pilot’s view which was seen to be of primary importance.

 

The Vickers Jockey (J9122) was built as a cantilever low-wing monoplane, with a rectangular wing planform, powered initially be an un-cowled Bristol Mercury IIA engine.

 

Initial trials revealed vibration and a lack of rigidity in the rear fuselage although this was cured after Barnes Wallace redesigned the internal bracing.  The aircraft was also later fitted with a Townend ring, this being retained when it was re-engined with a Bristol Jupiter VIIF engine in January 1932. Wheel spats were also fitted and in this form it was redesignated the Vickers Type 171.

 

In June 1932, during testing at Woodbridge (Suffolk), the aircraft entered a flat spin from which it failed to recover. Fortunately, the pilot was able to bale out without injury, although the aircraft was destroyed.

 

Despite this accident, the design was further developed and re-emerged as the Vickers Type 279 Venom (initially known as the Jockey II) which was designed against Specification F.5/34.

 

 

The Vickers Type 161 (J9566) is one of several unconventional designs produced in response to Specification F.29/27.

 

This also sought a 'point defence interceptor', designed around the powerful COW 37mm (Coventry Ordnance Works) cannon. The gun was designed to fire upwards into the enemy aircraft and thus a steady gun platform was an important element of the requirements. The Vickers Type 161 configuration was almost a 'throw-back' to the First World War Vickers FB5 Gunbus, being a single seat biplane of pusher configuration.

 

Despite its unusual appearance, the machine flew well (after some initial problems with yaw stability), with the firing the gun producing no unusual effects on the aircraft or its performance. Power was provided by a Bristol Jupiter VIIF radial engine and the aircraft made its first flight on 21st January 1931.

 

Official trials took place in September 1931, and the type was well received by all of the service pilots that flew it.

 

However, no production order was ever received and the type remains a curiosity as the value of high calibre cannon armament for an interceptor fighter became readily apparent during the Second World War.

 

 

The Vickers Venom was a private venture design based on an updated Vickers Jockey produced against the requirements of Specification F.5/34, which was the first British fighter specification that sought an eight-machine-gun armament. The new design was in effect a Vickers Jockey with increased power (625hp Bristol Aquila AE-3S engine), increased armament, a closed cockpit and a retractable undercarriage.

 

The Vickers Venom carried PV (Private Venture) markings (PVO-10) and it made its first flight on 17th June 1936, almost three months after the first flight of the prototype Vickers Supermarine Spitfire.

 

Being late in the field, and under-powered when compared with both the Vickers Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane, there was little prospect of a production order.

 

Despite this, the aircraft was subject to both manufacturer’s and official trials, where it showed a very creditable performance and superior manoeuvrability in terms of roll rate and turn radius.

 

It was scrapped in 1939, as Britain geared-up for wartime production of both fighters and bombers.

Specification (Vickers Type 123)

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