Vickers Viget

Vickers

Industry	Aerospace
Headquarters	United Kingdom

Template:Infobox aircraft The Vickers Viget represented Vickers' submission to the inaugural Lympne light aircraft competition held in 1923. It was designed as a single-seat, single-engine biplane featuring foldable wings.

Development

In 1923, the Royal Aero Club (RAeC) organised the event now known as the Lympne Light Aeroplane Trials, although the RAeC labelled the competing machines as motor-gliders. The competition mandated single-seat designs with the objective of fostering affordable private flying. To this end, engines were restricted to a maximum capacity of 750 cc. Financial backing for prizes came from various sponsors, notably £1500 jointly contributed by the Duke of Sutherland and the Daily Mail. The trials occurred between 8 and 13 October 1923. Numerous British manufacturers entered aircraft, including the de Havilland Humming Bird and Gloster Gannet. Vickers submitted their Type 89 Viget for consideration.

The Viget was a compact single-bay biplane with wings of constant chord and no stagger. Dihedral was applied only to the lower wing. Both upper and lower wings were equipped with full-span ailerons. The lower wing was attached at the base of the fuselage, while the upper wing was positioned well above the pilot’s open cockpit. The wings could fold to meet competition requirements for convenient storage. The fuselage was relatively deep compared to its width and ended in a conventional, somewhat squared tail assembly with unbalanced control surfaces. Its undercarriage consisted of a single axle supported by struts braced to the front and rear wing spars near their roots, with splayed legs to increase track width. Power came from a horizontally mounted 750 cc Douglas motorcycle engine, with cylinder heads extending on either side below the propeller hub.

Piloted by Stan Cockerell, the Viget demonstrated adequate flight performance during the Lympne trials but did not secure any awards. It gained some attention following an incident when a rocker arm failure forced an emergency landing approximately six miles from Lympne. Cockerell folded the wings and manually pushed the aircraft back, pausing at a public house along the way. Upon resuming his journey for the final segment, he encountered an amused crowd who had mistaken the folded aircraft for a Punch and Judy show booth.

In 1924, Vickers sought to market the Viget by advertising it as suitable for "Sports, commercial and training purposes". Although the advertisement suggested potential installation of either a Bristol Cherub or an unspecified Blackburne engine, there is no record confirming that these engines were ever fitted. Only one example—the sole Viget—was constructed and registered as G-EBHN. This registration was recorded on 3 August 1923 and cancelled on 21 January 1929.

Ground handling

References

Bibliography

• Andrews, CF; Morgan, E.B. (1988). Vickers Aircraft since 1908 (2nd ed.). London: Putnam. ISBN 0-85177-815-1.
• Riding, Richard (February 1985). "British pre-war ultra-lights: No 46 Vickers Viget". Aeroplane Monthly. Vol. 13, no. 2. pp. 104–106. ISSN 0143-7240.