Fly Past

VICKERS VIMY 100 YEARS OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE

Above

Shown inside the

Grahame-White Factory

display hall at Hendon,

the RAF Museum’s Vimy

is presently kept at the

Stafford storage facility.

Built as a faithful replica

by the Vintage Aircraft

and Flying Association

and fi rst fl ew at

Brooklands on June

6, 1969. It carries the

name ‘Triple First’ on

the nose to denote the

fi rst Atlantic, Australia

and South Africa fl ights

undertaken by Vimys,

1919-1920. KEN ELLIS

Left

Vimy IV H657 fl ying

over Cairo in mid-

1926. It started off
      as Mk.III F2920 with
      Fiat A-12 engines built
      at the Royal Aircraft
      Establishment at
      Farnborough in mid-


1927. (The Royal Aircraft
      Factory was renamed
      as the RAE on April, 1,
      1918.) Rebuilt as a Mk.IV
      by Vickers at Brooklands
      in the early 1920s, it
      entered service with 216
      Squadron at Heliopolis,
      Egypt, in the spring of


1928. KEC

BOMBERS RAF CENTENARY CELEBRATION 13

winds, a flight time of about 8hrs.

But in the 1920s the German capital

was not envisaged as a target, nor

was any western European city.

Training regimes for the RAF’s

British-based Vimys included the

capability to hit warships – surface

vessels and submarines – and

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winds, a flight time of about 8hrs.

But in the 1920s the German capital

was not envisaged as a target, nor

was any western European city.

Training regimes for the RAF’s

British-based Vimys included the

“By January 1920 ...the RAF’s home-based

long-range striking force was reduced to just

100 Squadron at Spitalgate,

which fl ew Vimys alongside the

rest of the unit’s DH.9As.”

Manston, 58 at Worthy
Down and 99, also based at
Bircham Newton.
With a range of around 900
miles (1,448km) the Vimy could
fly from Kent or Norfolk, hit Berlin
and return to base – with favourable

Type: Three-seat heavy bomber

First fl ight: November 30, 1917, entered service July 1918

Powerplant: Two 360hp (368kW) Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII V

Dimensions: Span 68ft 1in (20.7m), Length 43ft 6½in (13.25m)

Weights: Empty 7,100lb (3,220kg), All-up 12,500lb (5,670kg)

Max speed: 100mph (160km/h) at 6,500ft (1,981m)

Range: About 900 miles (1,448km)

Armament: One machine gun in nose position, twin machine gun in dorsal

position. Up to 2,500lb (1,134kg) of bombs

Replaced: Handley Page O/400 from 1919

Taken on charge: circa 250

Replaced by: Vickers Virginia from 1924

VICKERS VIMY IV

maintaining a readiness to deploy to

‘hot spots’ as they developed in the

colonies.

From 1924 Vimys gave way to

Vickers Virginias, which were to

hold the line well into the 1930s.

Retired Vimys took up crew training

and trials roles, the last of the breed

being withdrawn in 1933.

AboveAboveAbove

Shown inside the Shown inside the Shown inside the Shown inside the

Grahame-White Factory Grahame-White Factory

maintaining a readiness to deploy to

‘hot spots’ as they developed in the