Country of origin:

United Kingdom

Description:

Commercial airliner

Power Plant:

One 269 kw (350 hp) Rolls Royce Eagle VIII twelve-cylinder VEE liquid-cooled engine

Specifications:

History:

The Vickers Vulcan (known as the Flying Pig) was designed for Vickers by Rex Pierson following the success of the Vickers Vimy Commercial, work beginning on the new transport in February 1921, and the prototype G-EBBL (c/n 1 – City of Antwerp) was flown for the first time at Brooklands in Surrey, UK in April 1922.  It was a single-bay biplane with biplane tailplane and elevators, and twin fins and rudders.  It has been described as “one of the ugliest aeroplanes built in Britain, was a failure, and must have been something of an economic disaster for Vickers”.

The fuselage was short, round, had an interior height of 2.43 m (8 ft) and had a length of 3.04 m (10 ft).  The pilot sat in an open cockpit forward of the cabin.  At the rear of the cabin was a toilet and luggage compartment. Accommodation was provided for eight passengers. The fuselage was of monocoque construction, the structure being covered with panels of three-ply screwed to the framework and covered with fabric.  The rear fuselage carrying the tailplane and tail-skid was of tubular steel construction and fabric covered.  The wings were of wooden box spar construction with ribs built from spruce and covered with fabric.

On 31 January 1922 Qantas tendered to the Australian Government for the subsidised Charleville to Cloncurry, QLD route, part of the England to Australia mail route, using two Vickers Vulcans and a de Havilland DH.4 as a back-up.  At this time the Larkin Aircraft Supply Co and its associate, Australian Aerial Services Ltd, had secured a section of the route, was proposing to tender for this section using a Handasyde, and wanted Qantas to use a similar type.

At that time the Vickers Vulcan was close to flying in the UK and Colonel H C Brinsmead, Comptroller of Civil Aviation in Australia, recommended the type to Qantas.  Two aircraft were ordered.  At this time another company tendered with a proposal to use four Vulcans.  Qantas won the tender but it was required to use experienced English pilots.  Hangars were built at Charleville, Longreach and Cloncurry in Queensland.  Charleville to Longreach was 429 km (266 miles), and Longreach to Cloncurry was 500 km (310 miles).

On test in the UK it was found the Vulcan could only climb to 3,048 m (10,000 ft) in 20 minutes against the 13½ mins stipulated.  Qantas refused to take delivery of the aircraft but Vickers at its own expense decided to send an aircraft to Australia.  Vickers had guaranteed the performance of the aircraft and its ability to climb to 3,048 m (10,000 ft) in 13½ minutes with a full load.

One example (G-EBET), a Type 61, was shipped to Melbourne, VIC, on board the SS Cooee, arriving on 14 February 1923 and was assembled at Point Cook, VIC assembly taking a month. The machine was tested before being flown to Longreach.  In January 1923 Hudson Fysh (later Sir), one of the founders of Qantas, wrote to the Department stating ”I contend that a Vulcan in our conditions and on a hot day would not get off the ground with a full load.”  On 13 February Colonel Brinsmead wrote back agreeing that the Vulcan would not meet requirements efficiently in the summer months and granted permission to cancel the contract with Vickers.

Geoffrey Wigglesworth tested the Vulcan at Point Cook and reports state “its climb performance was shocking.”  The aircraft left for Longreach for final testing at Vickers’ expense on 14 March 1923 accompanied by Bristol Tourer G-AUCA, both aircraft reaching their destination on 27 March.  Hudson Fysh rode in the aircraft part of the way and said ”the Vulcan…was an advanced aeroplane indeed with its beautifully upholstered cabin holding eight passengers.”

On 27 March 1923 it was tested for the Qantas Directors at Longreach, four of which were on board.  Fysh in his book ‘Qantas Rising’ said “Wigglesworth climbed into the high cockpit, the prop was swung, the Rolls came to life with a roar, chocks were away, and without any preliminary run up or taxiing out to the runway, opened up full out and careered away over the soft open downs country of the aerodrome. We cleared the fence by inches.  At 500 ft we just stuck there; not another inch of climb could Wigglesworth get out of her…The result of the test was that after some 45 mins in the air carrying only approximately half of the stipulated payload we had not even reached the contracted height, let alone the time stipulated to get there.  All we could manage was 1,753 m (5,750 ft).”

The two Vulcans ordered for Qantas were Type 61s (G-EBES – c/n 6 and G-EBET – c/n 7) and differed from other Vulcans in having modified ailerons.  G-EBES was never completed.  G-EBET was flown back to Melbourne by Wigglesworth with H C “Horrie” Miller as a passenger.  It was dismantled, was shipped back to the United Kingdom, and was probably burnt later with other Vulcans.  Some documents indicate G-EBES was in fact completed, was registered on 11 August 1922, and was shipped to Qantas with the other aircraft but this did not occur, the aircraft was not completed, and it was scrapped.

Intone Airlines in the UK also had trouble with the performance of the Vulcan and it was not until it was fitted with the 336 kw (450 hp) Napier Lion engine that it got near the performance required.