Vultee V-1

On 19 February 1933, the V-1 prototype first flew. According to Jonathan Thompson, "Exceedingly clean in appearance, with an oval monocoque fuselage, a two-spar, 48-foot wing and landing gear retracting inward to lie flush within the center section, the 4275-lb transport was also extremely efficient, carrying the pilot and eight passengers 750 miles at a cruising speed of 195 mph.^[2]

The revised design production aircraft were designated the V-1A. American Airlines, the initial customer, required a crew of two, a raised fuselage roof line, increased wingspan, electrically operated split flaps, and the Wright R-1820 Cyclone engines increased from 650-hp to 735-hp. Range improved to 1000 miles with a cruising speed of 225 mph. Production ended in 1936 after 27 aircraft had been built.^[2][3]

A floatplane version was sold to the Soviet Union as the V-1AS, while an deluxe executive transport version, the V-1AD, was used by Cord, oil and gas companies, and the San Francisco Examiner.^[2]

 

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.^[4] 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.^[5]

In January 1935, Jimmy Doolittle set a transcontinental record in a V-1A called the Lady Peace.^[2]

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.^[6]

Sixteen V-1A and V-1AD aircraft were used by both sides in the Spanish Civil War.^[2] 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.^[7]

On August 6, 1936 Sigizmund Levanevsky and Левченко, Виктор Иванович [ru] began an 11,800+ mile multistage flight from Los Angeles to —Moscow in a Vultee V-1A floatplane.^[8] They arrived in Moscow in on September 11.^[9] For this flight Levanevsky was awarded with Order of the Red Banner of Labour, while Levchenko with given the Order of Lenin. A greeting telegram to the pilots was sent by Otto Schmidt, who was at that time on the icebreaker "Litke" and was making a through passage along the Northern Sea Route^[10]

The V-1 was used in the filming of Jungle Queen (1944) with Clark Gable, and The Tarnished Angels (1957).^[11]

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.

 

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.^[12] 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.

  Spanish Republic

• Spanish Republican Air Force – Republican Spain purchased 16 V-1s from various sources, including 10 from American Airlines. At least one was destroyed by sabotage before delivery and four more were seized by Nationalists during delivery.^[13]

  Nationalist Spain

• Aviación Nacional^[13]

  Canada

• Canadian Colonial Airways^[14]

  China

• China National Aviation Corporation^[15]

  United States

• American Airlines (1 V-1 and 10 V-1A)^[14]
• Bowen Airlines^[14]
• Crusader Oil Corporation^[16]
• William Randolph Hearst^[16]

 

Data from General Dynamic Aircraft and their Predecessors^[13]

General characteristics

• Crew: 2
• Capacity: 8 passengers
• Length: 37 ft 0 in (11.28 m)
• Wingspan: 50 ft 0 in (15.24 m)
• Height: 10 ft 2 in (3.10 m)
• Wing area: 348 sq ft (32.3 m²)
• Empty weight: 5,332 lb (2,424 kg)
• Gross weight: 8,500 lb (3,864 kg)
• Powerplant: 1 × Wright Cyclone R-1820-F2 , 735 hp (548 kW)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 235 mph (378 km/h, 204 kn)
• Cruise speed: 215 mph (346 km/h, 187 kn)
• Range: 1,000 mi (1,610 km, 870 nmi)
• Service ceiling: 20,000 ft (6,100 m)
• Rate of climb: 1,000 ft/min (5.1 m/s)

Related development

• Vultee V-11

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

• Airspeed Envoy
• Breese-Dallas Model 1
• General Aviation GA-43
• Heinkel He 70
• Junkers Ju 60
• Kharkiv KhAI-1
• Lockheed Model 9 Orion
• Manshū Hayabusa
• Polikarpov/Rafaelyants PR-12
• Tairov OKO-1
• Northrop Delta

• Andersson, Lennart. A History of Chinese Aviation: Encyclopedia of Aircraft and Aviation in China to 1949. Taipei, Republic of China: AHS of ROC, 2008. ISBN 978-957-28533-3-7.
• Arraez Cerda, Juan (December 1997). "Les Vultee V-1 durant la Guerre d'Espagne" [The Vultee V-1 During the Spanish Civil War]. Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (57): 28–31. ISSN 1243-8650.
• Arraez Cerda, Juan (January 1998). "Les Vultee V-1 durant la Guerre d'Espagne (2ème partie et fin)". Avions: Toute l'aéronautique et son histoire (in French) (58): 38–41. ISSN 1243-8650.
• Davies, R.E.G. Airlines of the United States. McLean, Virginia: Paladwr Press Inc, 1998. ISBN 1-888962-08-9.
• The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aircraft (Part Work 1982–1985). London: Orbis Publishing, 1985.
• King, Jack. Wings of Man: The Legend of Dick Merrill. Seattle: Aviation Book Co., 1981. ISBN 0-911721-91-6.
• Ogden, Bob. Aviation Museums and Collections of North America. Tonbridge, Kent: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, 2007. ISBN 0-85130-385-4. Page 541.
• Pattillo, Donald M. Pushing the Envelope: The American Aircraft Industry. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2001. ISBN 978-0-47208-671-9.
• Richard, Allen S. "Jerry Vultee's V1." Air Classics Magazine, Challenge Publications, June 1976.
• Wegg, John. General Dynamic Aircraft and their Predecessors. London: Putnam, 1990. ISBN 0-85177-833-X.

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vultee V-1.

• Vultee Aircraft, on Aerofiles