The Vickers Vendace was a 1920s

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

trainer aircraft. It was originally designed as a

floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...

trainer for the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

Background

In October 1924, the British

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the Secretary of State ...

issued Specification 5A/24 for a floatplane trainer. To meet this requirement,

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 ...

designed a two-seat

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 ...

, the Vickers Type 120 Vendace I. In August 1925, the Air Ministry placed an order for a single prototype, in addition to competing aircraft from

Parnall Parnall was a British aircraft manufacturer that evolved from a wood-working company before the First World War to a significant designer of military and civil aircraft into the 1940s. It was based in the west of England and was originally known a ...

and

Blackburn Blackburn () is an industrial town and the administrative centre of the Blackburn with Darwen borough in Lancashire, England. The town is north of the West Pennine Moors on the southern edge of the Ribble Valley, east of Preston and north-n ...

, (the Parnall Perch and Blackburn Sprat).Andrews and Morgan 1988, p. 194Jackson 1968, p. 233

Design and development

The Vendace I was a two-bay biplane with

folding Fold, folding or foldable may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Fold'' (album), the debut release by Australian rock band Epicure * Fold (poker), in the game of poker, to discard one's hand and forfeit interest in the current pot *Abov ...

wooden wings and a 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 ...

, powered by a

Rolls-Royce Falcon The Rolls-Royce Falcon is an aero engine developed in 1915. It was a smaller version of the Rolls-Royce Eagle, a liquid-cooled V-12 of 867 cu in (14.2 L) capacity. Fitted to many British World War I-era aircraft, production ceased in 1927. ...

engine. Its

undercarriage Undercarriage is the part of a moving vehicle that is underneath the main body of the vehicle. The term originally applied to this part of a horse-drawn carriage, and usage has since broadened to include: *The landing gear of an aircraft. *The ch ...

could be changed from floats to wheels in ten 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 An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

.Andrews and Morgan 1988, p. 195 In 1927, these were followed by testing in seaplane configuration at the

Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment The Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment (MAEE) was a British military research and test organisation. It was originally formed as the Marine Aircraft Experimental Station in October 1918 at RAF Isle of Grain, a former Royal Naval Air Serv ...

Felixstowe Felixstowe ( ) is a port town in Suffolk, England. The estimated population in 2017 was 24,521. The Port of Felixstowe is the largest container port in the United Kingdom. Felixstowe is approximately 116km (72 miles) northeast of London. His ...

.Donald 1997, p. 893 The trials were successful, with the Vendace being selected to meet the RAF's needs. The requirement was soon cancelled as a cost saving measure, although the RAF did retain the aircraft for experimental purposes.Donald 1997, p. 893Jackson 1968, p. 235 Vickers built a second aircraft, the Type 157 Vendace II, as a private venture, with an

ADC Nimbus The ADC Nimbus was a British inline aero engine that first ran in 1926. The Nimbus was developed from the Siddeley Puma aero engine by Frank Halford of the Aircraft Disposal Company, the goal was to develop the Puma to produce its intended po ...

(an inline six-cylinder engine derived from the

Siddeley Puma The Siddeley Puma was a British aero engine developed towards the end of World War I and produced by Siddeley-Deasy. The first engines left the production lines of Siddeley-Deasy in Coventry in August 1917, production continued until December 1 ...

) that replaced the Falcon of the Vendace I. It first flew in November 1927, and was sold to the

Aircraft Operating Company The Aircraft Operating Company was a British aerial photography company, that took over Aerofilms in 1925. In 1940, its staff and equipment were requisitioned by the Air Ministry, and in 1944 the company itself was taken over by Hunting Aerosurvey ...

for survey operations in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

.Andrews and Morgan 1988, p. 196. Development continued with the Type 155 Vendace III powered by a

Hispano-Suiza 8F The Hispano-Suiza 8 was a water-cooled V8 SOHC aero engine introduced by Hispano-Suiza in 1914, and was the most commonly used liquid-cooled engine in the aircraft of the Entente Powers during the First World War. The original Hispano-Suiza 8A ...

, and three were sold to

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

for use as trainers,Andrews and Morgan 1988, p. 197 at a cost of £ 9,997 for the three aircraft.Hagedorn and Sapienza 1997, p. 115

Operational history

In July 1929, the three Bolivian Vendaces entered service with the Escuela Militar de Aviación.Klaus, Erich
"Bolivia Air Force Aircraft Types: Vickers 155 Vendace III"
''Aeroflight.co.uk'', 15 March 2007. Retrieved 23 February 2008. While the Vendaces maintained good performance at the high altitude of Bolivia's training airfield at

La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...

, they experienced engine problems, blamed on dusty conditions in the Bolivian summer, resulting in the aircraft being grounded several times while waiting for spare parts for the engines to be delivered from France.Hagedorn and Sapienza 1997, pp. 113, 115Andrews and Morgan 1988, p. 198 Two Vendaces were listed as still being in service in 1933, with one being used as a communications aircraft during the

Chaco War The Chaco War ( es, link=no, Guerra del Chaco, gn, Cháko Ñorairõ

Variants

;Type 120 Vendace I : Prototype convertible landplane/seaplane for RAF, powered by

III engine. One (

serial number A serial number is a unique identifier assigned incrementally or sequentially to an item, to ''uniquely'' identify it. Serial numbers need not be strictly numerical. They may contain letters and other typographical symbols, or may consist enti ...

''N208'') built. ;Type 157 Vendace II : Private venture aircraft powered by ADC Nimbus engine. One ( registered ''G-EBPX'') built, converted for airborne survey purposes. ;Type 155 Vendace III :Trainer for Bolivia, powered by Hispano-Suiza 8F engine. Three built.

Operators

; *

Bolivian Air Force The Bolivian Air Force ( es, Fuerza Aérea Boliviana or 'FAB') is the air force of Bolivia and branch of the Bolivian Armed Forces. History By 1938 the Bolivian air force consisted of about 60 aircraft (Curtiss Hawk fighters, Curtiss T-32 Co ...

; *

Specifications (Vendace III)

Vickers Vendace 3 view NACA Aircraft Circular No

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Vickers aircraft 1920s British military trainer aircraft Vendace