The Vickers Type 94 Venture was a British army cooperation biplane of the 1920s, designed and built 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 i ...

, as a development of the

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 ...

. While six were built 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) an ...

, they were found unsuitable and were used for experimental work.

Development and design

The Venture was a further development of the Vixen II to meet the requirements of

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 ...

Specification 45/23, six aircraft being ordered. The Venture, like the Vixen which formed its basis, was a single-bay biplane with 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 aircraf ...

and wooden wings. It used the wings of the Vixen II with the lengthened fuselage of the Vixen III. The first Venture flew at the Vickers factory at

Brooklands Brooklands was a motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfie ...

on 3 June 1924, being sent to the

Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment The Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment (A&AEE) was a research facility for British military aviation from 1918 to 1992. Established at Martlesham Heath, Suffolk, the unit moved in 1939 to Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, where its wo ...

Martlesham Martlesham is a village in Suffolk, England about two miles (3 km) South-West of Woodbridge and East of Ipswich. It is often referred to as "old Martlesham" by locals in order to distinguish this old village from the much more recent Martl ...

for evaluation. While demonstrating what was said to be "docile" handling, further testing showed that the aircraft had poor longitudinal stability, had a long landing run and was considered too large for use in army cooperation, where it would be expected to operate out of small airstrips. While it underwent brief service trials with No. 4 Squadron, the six Ventures were relegated to experimental purposes, the final aircraft being struck off charge in January 1933.

Operators

; *

Specifications (Venture)

References

* * {{Vickers aircraft 1920s British military reconnaissance aircraft

Venture Venture may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music *The Ventures, an American instrumental rock band formed in 1958 *"A Venture", 1971 song by the band Yes *''Venture'', a 2010 EP by AJR Games * ''Venture'' (video game), a 1981 arcade gam ...

Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1924

Development and design

Operators

Specifications (Venture)

See also

References