Design and Development
The Vendace I was a two-bay biplane with folding wooden wings and a steel tube fuselage, powered by a Rolls-Royce Falcon engine. Its undercarriage could be changed from floats to wheels in 10 minutes, while its fuel supply was held in two streamlined tanks above the upper wing.
The first Vendace first flew at Brooklands by March 1926, and then underwent successful trials as a landplane, including operation from the aircraft carrier HMS Furious. In 1927, these were followed by testing in seaplane configuration at the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment, Felixstowe. Despite the successful trials, the RAF did not order production, although it did retain the aircraft for experimental purposes.
Vickers built a second aircraft, the Type 157 Vendace II, as a private venture, with an ADC Nimbus (an inline six-cylinder engine derived from the Siddeley Puma) that replaced the Falcon of the Vendace I. It first flew in November 1927, and was sold to the Aircraft Operating Company for survey operations in South America.
Development continued with the Type 155 Vendace III powered by a Hispano-Suiza 8F, and three were sold to Bolivia for use as trainers.
Read more about this topic: Vickers Vendace
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