Vickers Valetta

what is it?

The Vickers Valetta is a twin-engine military transport aircraft developed and produced by the British manufacturing company Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd. Developed from the Vickers VC.1 Viking compact civil airliner, it was an all-metal mid-wing monoplane with a tailwheel undercarriage. Development of the Valetta commenced during immediate postwar years as a consequence of Royal Air Force (RAF) interest in a military transport model of the Viking.

🔎How to recognise it: 2 piston engines with propellers · mid-wing aircraft · retractable tailwheel (taildragger) · 27.2 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 415 km/htop speed
• seats 34passengers
• size 16.6 tmax take-off weight
• built 262made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 79 years ago, in 1947.
• 🏎️Top speed is 3.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 27.2 m: about 6 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 3 African elephants (~6 t each).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1947-06-30

introduced

1948

retired

1969

status

retired

number built

262

role

military transport aircraft

origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

makers

Vickers

engines

2× Bristol Hercules 230

crew

4

passengers

34

length

19.2 m

wingspan

27.2 m

height

6 m

max take-off weight

16.6 t

top speed

415 km/h

cruise speed

277 km/h

range

—

ceiling

6,553 m

wings

mid-wing aircraft

landing gear

retractable conventional landing gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.