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The Vultee V-1 was a 1930s American single-engined airliner built by the Airplane Development Corporation, designed by Gerard Vultee and financed by automobile manufacturer Errett Cord.[1]

V-1
The sole V-1AD Special owned by Randolph Hearst and now preserved in the Shannon Air Museum.
Role Eight-passenger transport
Manufacturer Airplane Development Corporation
Designer Gerard Vultee
First flight 19 February 1933
Introduction 1934
Status retired
Primary users Spanish Republican Air Force
American Airlines and LAPE
Produced 1933–1936
Number built 25 (including prototype)

Design and development


The prototype (designated the V-1) was an all-metal low-wing cantilever monoplane with a retractable tailwheel landing gear. It had accommodation for a pilot and six passengers and first flew on February 19, 1933.

The production aircraft were designated the V-1A and had a slightly larger and longer fuselage for two pilots and eight passengers. Production ended in 1936 after 24 aircraft plus the prototype had been built.[2]

A floatplane version, sold to the USSR along a manufacturing license was designated V-1AS and an executive transport version was designated V-1AD (for Deluxe). No production ensued in the USSR.


Operational history


Vultee V-1A at Langley
Vultee V-1A at Langley

American Airlines bought at least 13 V-1As and the V-1 prototype (after it had been modified for two pilot operation) and they entered service in 1934. On introduction, they were the fastest commercial airliners of their day. They were used on routes from the Great Lakes to Texas. Bowen Airlines of Texas also operated the type.[3] By 1936, they were sold, having been replaced with twin-engined aircraft when the Bureau of Air Commerce severely limited the use of single engine airliners.

V-1ADs were operated by several private companies or individuals as high-speed executive aircraft. The sole V-1AD Special was used prewar by newspaper magnate Randolph Hearst. It later served airlines in Panama and Nicaragua before returning to the United States postwar.[4]

Fitted with twin floats and extra fuel tanks, the sole V-1AS Special was sold to the Soviet Union and used for a 10,000 mile Santa Monica to Moscow flight.

A V-1AD was used in 1936 during an attempt at the first New York-London-New York double crossing, flown by Harry Richman and Henry T. "Dick" Merrill, in the famous "Ping Pong" flight, when to ensure buoyancy in case of ditching, empty spaces in the aircraft were filled with ping pong balls.[5] It was later used by Nationalist forces in Spain as a transport and high speed bomber.

Seven former American Airlines aircraft, plus eight others were used by the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War, with machine guns and under-fuselage bomb racks fitted. Four of the aircraft were captured by the Nationalists.[6]

The V-1 was used in the filming of Jungle Queen (1944) with Clark Gable, and The Tarnished Angels (1957).[7]


Variants


V-1
Prototype with a 650 hp (485 kW) Wright SR-1820-F2 Cyclone engine, one built, later modified to V-1A standard before delivery to American Airlines.
V-1A
Production variant with two crew and a 735 hp (548 kW) Wright Cyclone R-1820-F2 radial engine, 18-built and one converted from prototype.
V-1AD
Deluxe executive variant with a 850 hp (634 kW) Wright Cyclone R-1820-G2 radial engine, six built.
V-1AD Special
As V-1AD but fitted with a 1,000 hp (746 kW) Wright Cyclone R-1820-G2 radial engine, one built.
V-1AS Special
Special variant with either 775 hp (578 kW) R-1820-F52 or 850 hp (634 kW) R-1820-G2 radial engine, with twin floats, one built for the Russian government.

Survivors


The Vultee V-1AD Special NC16099 in 1973 after restoration and named Spirit of Pueblo
The Vultee V-1AD Special NC16099 in 1973 after restoration and named Spirit of Pueblo

The V-1AD Special NC16099 is the sole survivor of the type and is preserved on public display at Shannon Airport (Virginia) § Air Museum in Fredericksburg, Virginia.[8] It is painted as Lady Peace II to commemorate the original Lady Peace used for the double crossing attempt. It was restored and flown in 1971 by Harold Johnston from Colorado.


Operators


 Spanish Republic
 Nationalist Spain

Civil operators


 Canada
 China
 United States

Specifications (V-1A)


Vultee V-1A 3-view drawing from L'Aerophile July 1934
Vultee V-1A 3-view drawing from L'Aerophile July 1934

Data from General Dynamic Aircraft and their Predecessors[9]

General characteristics

Performance


See also


Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era


References



Notes


  1. Parker, Dana T. Building Victory: Aircraft Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Area in World War II, p. 107, Cypress, CA, 2013. ISBN 978-0-9897906-0-4.
  2. Pattillo 2001, p. 80.
  3. Davies 1998[page needed]
  4. Ogden 2007[page needed]
  5. "Transatlantic Types." Time magazine via time.com, September 28, 1936. Retrieved: December 31, 2010.
  6. "1936 Vultee V1-A." The Virginia Aviation Museum. Retrieved: August 1, 2010.
  7. Air Progress. September 1971. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. AOPA PILOT Magazine, February 2018 issue, page 71.
  9. Wegg 1990, p. 155.
  10. Wegg 1990, p. 153.
  11. Andersson 2008, p. 289.
  12. Wegg 1990, p. 154.

Bibliography





На других языках


[de] Vultee V-1

Die Vultee V-1 war ein einmotoriges Schnellverkehrs- und Geschäftsreiseflugzeug des US-amerikanischen Herstellers Airplane Development Corporation aus den 1930er-Jahren. Die Serienversion V-1A konnte zwei Piloten und bis zu acht Passagiere befördern. Von dem als Tiefdecker ausgelegtem Ganzmetallflugzeug wurden ein Prototyp, zwei Sondermodelle und 24 Serienmodelle hergestellt.
- [en] Vultee V-1

[fr] Vultee V-1

Le Vultee V-1 était un avion de ligne monomoteur américain des années 1930[1], construit par l'Airplane Development Corporation, conçu par Gerard Vultee[2] et financé par le constructeur automobile Cord Automobile[3].



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