The Vickers Valparaiso was a British

light bomber A light bomber is a relatively small and fast type of military bomber aircraft that was primarily employed before the 1950s. Such aircraft would typically not carry more than one ton of ordnance. The earliest light bombers were intended to dro ...

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

of the 1920s. It was designed by

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

as a development of its

Vixen Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

for export, being sold to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Development and design

The Vickers Valparaiso was a derivative of the Vixen I for export purposes. It was renamed Valparaiso to distinguish it from the Vixen, which as it used classified government equipment, was unavailable for export. Two versions were available, one powered by the same

Napier Lion The Napier Lion is a 12-cylinder, petrol-fueled 'broad arrow' W12 configuration aircraft engine built by D. Napier & Son from 1917 until the 1930s. A number of advanced features made it the most powerful engine of its day and kept it in produ ...

as the Vixen, known as the Type 93 Valparaiso I, while the Type 92 Valparaiso II was powered by the

Rolls-Royce Eagle The Rolls-Royce Eagle was the first aircraft engine to be developed by Rolls-Royce Limited. Introduced in 1915 to meet British military requirements during World War I, it was used to power the Handley Page Type O bombers and a number of oth ...

engine Donald 1997, p.892. Other than their engines, the Valparaisos were very similar to the Vixen I, both being single-bay biplanes with wooden wings and steel tube

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...

s. Both versions were purchased by

, which ordered ten Valparaiso Is and four Valparaiso IIs, with the Lion-powered aircraft to serve as

reconnaissance In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities. Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped ...

s and the lower powered Valparaiso IIs to serve as advanced trainers.Lopes 1985, p.46. In 1928, Portugal decided to license-produce a modified Valparaiso powered by a

Gnome et Rhône Gnome et Rhône was a major French aircraft engine manufacturer. Between 1914 and 1918 they produced 25,000 of their 9-cylinder Delta and Le Rhône 110 hp (81 kW) rotary designs, while another 75,000 were produced by various licen ...

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

radial engine, and a single Valparaiso was modified by Vickers to use the Jupiter, followed by the production of 13 aircraft, designated Type 168 Valparaiso III by

OGMA OGMA – Indústria Aeronáutica de Portugal S.A. is a Portuguese aerospace company focused on aircraft maintenance and manufacturing. History OGMA was founded as part of the reorganisation of the Portuguese Army's Aeronautic Service on June 2 ...

(''Oficinas Gerais de Material Aeronáutico'').Andrews and Morgan 1988, p.181.

Operational history

The Portuguese aircraft proved to be successful in service, with two carrying out a long distance tour from Portugal to its

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

n colonies of

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

and

Mozambique Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...

and back in 1928, with the success of the aircraft resulting in the decision to license-produce the Valparaiso III. The radial-powered Valparaisos also proved successful in Portuguese service, remaining operational until 1943, finally being replaced by

Westland Lysander The Westland Lysander is a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft that was used immediately before and during the Second World War. After becoming obsolete in the army co-operation role, the aircraft's ...

s.Lopes 1985, p.48. A single Valparaiso I (actually the prototype), was sold by Vickers to

in 1924.Andrews and Morgan 1988, p.180. It was successful in Chilean service, resulting in an order for a further 18 modified aircraft, which reverted to the original name of Vixen, as the Vixen V.Andrews and Morgan 1988, p.184.

Variants

;Type 93 Valparaiso I :Napier Lion-powered export version of

Vickers Vixen The Vickers Vixen was a British general-purpose biplane of the 1920s. Designed and developed by Vickers in a number of variants, with 18 Vixen Mark V sold to Chile. A prototype of a version with metal wings was built as the Vickers Vivid. The V ...

. 11 built. ;Type 92 Valparaiso II :Rolls-Royce Eagle-powered version. Four built. ;Type 168 Valparaiso III :Version powered by Jupiter radial for Portugal. 13 licensed-built by OGMA.

Operators

; *

Chilean Air Force "With full speed to the stars" , colours = Indigo White , colours_label = , march = Alte Kameraden , mascot = , anniversaries = 21 March ...

; * ''Aeronáutica Militar'' (Portuguese Army Aviation)

Specifications (Valparaiso I)

References

* * *

External links

''Vickers Valparaiso I e II'' (in Portuguese)
{{Vickers aircraft 1920s British military reconnaissance aircraft Chilean Navy Valparaiso Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1923