Vickers Type 170 Vanguard

Vickers Limited · United Kingdom · first flew 1923 · airliner

The Vickers Vanguard was a 1920s British airliner developed by Vickers Limited from the Victoria.

Recognition (WEFT)

W — Wings	Mid-mounted, straight
E — Engines	2 × piston, wing-mounted
F — Fuselage	Large twin-engined biplane with a wider fuselage than the Victoria it was developed from
T — Tail	Conventional

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Spot it by:

Large twin-engined biplane with a wider fuselage than the Victoria it was developed from
Seating for 22 passengers
Two Rolls-Royce Condor III V12 engines

A big twin-engined biplane airliner with a 22-seat fuselage. It crashed at Shepperton on 16 May 1929 at the start of flying trials, killing the pilot and the flight observer.

Specifications

The Vickers Type 170 Vanguard has a length of 16.41 m (54 ft).
It has a wingspan of 26.75 m (88 ft).
Its maximum speed is 180 km/h (112 mph).
Typical crew: 2.

Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.

History

Originally built for the Air Ministry as the Type 62 with two 450 hp Napier Lion engines, it first flew on 18 July 1923. It was re-engined in 1925 with two 650 hp Rolls-Royce Condor IIIs and redesignated the Type 103.

Variants

The Type 62 was the prototype with Napier Lion engines. The Type 103 was the same aircraft re-engined with Condor IIIs, and the Type 170 was the Type 103 reconditioned for Imperial Airways.

Where you'll see it

Handed over to Imperial Airways in 1925, it was described as the world's largest passenger aeroplane. After reconditioning in 1928 it made route-proving trials on the London to Paris service and set a world load-carrying record on 6 July 1928.

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