Vickers Venture
| Venture | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Role | Reconnaissance aircraft |
| Manufacturer | Vickers |
| First flight | 3 June 1924 |
| Primary user | Royal Air Force |
| Number built | 6 |
| Developed from | Vickers Vixen |
The Vickers Type 94 Venture was a British army co-operation biplane of the 1920s, designed and built by Vickers, as a development of the Vixen. While six were built for the Royal Air Force, they were found unsuitable and were used for experimental work.
Development and design
The Venture was a further development of the Vixen II to meet the requirements of Air Ministry Specification 45/23, six aircraft being ordered. The Venture, like the Vixen which formed its basis, was a single bay biplane with a steel tube fuselage and wooden wings. It used the wings of the Vixen II with the lengthened fuselage of the Vixen III. The first Venture flew at Vickers factory at Brooklands on 3 June 1924,[1] being sent to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Martlesham for evaluation. While demonstrating what was said to be "docile" handling,[1] further testing showed that the aircraft had poor longitudinal stability, had a long landing run and was considered too large for use in army co-operation, where it would be expected to operate out of small airstrips.[2] While it underwent brief Service trials with No. 2 Squadron, the six Ventures were relegated to experimental purposes, the final aircraft being struck off charge in January 1933.[2]
Operators
Specifications (Venture)
Data from The British Bomber since 1914 [2]
General characteristics
- Crew: Two
- Length: 32 ft 0 in (9.76 m)
- Wingspan: 40 ft 0 in (12.20 m)
- Height: 13 ft 3 in (4.04 m)
- Wing area: 526 ft² (48.9 m²)
- Empty weight: 3,140 lb (1,427 kg)
- Loaded weight: 4,890 lb (2,223 kg)
- Powerplant: 1 × Napier Lion I 12-cylinder water-cooled W-block, 450 hp (336 kW)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 112 kn (129 mph, 208 km/h) at 10,000 ft
- Service ceiling: 19,200 ft (8,730 m)
- Wing loading: 9.30 lb/ft² (45.5 kg/m²)
- Power/mass: 0.092 hp/lb (0.015 kW/kg)
Armament
- 2 × forward-firing .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns
- 1 × .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Gun on Scarff ring in observers cockpit
See also
- Related development
- Related lists
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vickers Venture. |
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