When “Virginia” Ruled The Skies

Review

Share |

By the late 1910s, the small company founded by Edward Vickers and George Naylon had become a giant in the booming aero plane developing business. Chief among its designs was the venerable Vimy Bomber, the backbone of the Royal Air Force strategic forces since late 1918. But by the early 1920s, Vickers and the RAF became painfully aware than in the fast pace aircraft design world, its mainstay was rapidly approaching obsoleteness.

A new airplane was need. In the summer of 1921, the Air Ministry issued Specification Order Number 1/21 calling for a heavy bombing platform with more payload capacity. Vickers’ engineers commenced work on its entry in the fall of that same year and by November 1922, the first sample, Mk I (J-6856), was ready for test operations.

The prototype was structurally different from the Vimy. It had a lowered frontal gunner platform, a large wingspan and a longer frame. Its initial Napier Lion engines were housed in a rectangular nacelles structure. But all production aircraft featured smaller, oval section nacelles instead.

The new bomber took to the air for the first time in the morning of November 24th, 1922. The J-6856 was fitted with two Lion 335kg engines and its fuselage was basically built out of wood, fabric and heavy wire bracing. After a short testing phase, the Air Ministry gave Vickers the go-ahead for full production. A total of 124 Virginias were built for the RAF in ten different versions. Marks I to V are easy identified by the dihedral on the bottom of the wing only. The Mark VIIs introduced a longer and redesigned nose section, while the X was the first version to be constructed of metal alloys. Fifty of the 124 Virginias were Mark X.

Mk I-Test platform. Only one built.
Mk II-Test and operational bombing platform fitted with two Rolls-Royce 490kg engines. Only one built.
Mk III-Operational, heavy bomber powered by two Lion II 349 engines. Six built.
Mk IV-Operational, heavy bomber equal in specifications to the III. One built.
Mk V-Operational, heavy bomber fitted with an additional third tail rudder. Twenty two units built.
Mk VI-Operational bomber, fitted with a wing folding mechanism. Twenty five built.
Mk VII-Operational bomber with a revised nose section, longer fuselage and sweepback wing structure. Eleven built thirty eight conversions.
Mk VIII-Test aircraft. One built.
Mk IX-Operational bomber with automatic slats and a wheel break system. Eight built, twenty nine conversions.
Mk X-Operational bomber. Fifty built, fifty two conversions.

Besides being an all metal aircraft, the Mk X introduced the first operational auto-pilot mechanism. The X also had the distinction of being the most numerous bombing platform in the RAF from its introduction in 1924 until it was replaced by the Heyford in the fall of 1934.
After being removed from frontline service, the Virginias still were deployed as experimental assets. Mk Xs were use for early in-flight refueling experiments with a Westland Wapati as well as parachute design testing utilizing jump-off areas in the rear of the engine sections.
They remained in the experimental role until November 1941 when the last of the mighty Virginias were officially disbanded.

Power Plant: Two Napier Lion VBW-12 piston engines
Wingspan: 26.72m
Fuselage Length: 18.97m
Height: 5.54m
Total wing area: 202.34m square
Maximum takeoff weight: 7990kg
Top speed: 174kph
Operational ceiling: 4725m
Range 1585km
Climb rate: 152m per minute
Armament: One 7.7m heavy machine gun in nose area. Two more in the tail. Total bomb load was 1362kg.

An article by Raul Colon: rcolonfrias@yahoo.com