Vickers 61/74 Vulcan

In early 1921 design was initiated of the Vickers Vulcan transport, a 49 ft 0 in (14.94 m) span biplane with a deep oval-section fuselage completely filling the space between the equal-span wings. It accommodated the pilot in an open cockpit forward of the upper wing, with below and behind him a roomy enclosed cabin for six to eight passengers. To limit selling price to the minimum the low-cost war-surplus 360 hp (268 kW) Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII engine was installed in the first six aircraft (Type 61) to be completed, but as a number of performance problems were encountered the last two examples (Type 74) had the 450 hp (336 kW) Napier Lion. One of the early production aircraft was completed as a cargo carrier (Type 63) for Air Ministry evaluation, but was subsequently reconverted as a passenger carrier and used with one other Eagle-powered and the two Lion-powered aircraft by Imperial Airways on European service. However, their very limited reliability meant the Vulcan had only a short useful life, only one or two surviving in service beyond the mid-1920s.

Power Plant: One 360 h.p. Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII (Type 61) One 450 h.p. Napier Lion (Type 74)
Span: 49 ft 0 in
Length: 37 ft 6 in (61) 38 ft 0 in (74)
Height: 14ft 3 in
Weight (All-Up): 6,150 lb (61) 6,750 lb (74)
Max Speed: 105 m.p.h. (61) 112 m.p.h. (74)
Range: 360 miles (61) 430 miles (74)
Crew: 1
Passengers: 6-8
Cost: £2,500