Vickers Vampire
title: "Vickers Vampire" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1910s-british-fighter-aircraft", "single-engined-pusher-aircraft", "vickers-aircraft", "aircraft-first-flown-in-1917", "sesquiplanes", "biplanes", "aircraft-with-fixed-conventional-landing-gear"] topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_Vampire" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox aircraft"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | F.B.26 Vampire |
| image | Vickers F.B.26 Vampire front quarter view.jpg |
| aircraft_type | Fighter |
| national_origin | United Kingdom |
| manufacturer | Vickers |
| status | Prototype |
| number_built | 4 |
| first_flight | May 1917 |
| developed_from | Vickers F.B.12 |
| :: |
| name = F.B.26 Vampire | logo = | logo_size = | image = Vickers F.B.26 Vampire front quarter view.jpg | alt = | caption = | long_caption = | other_names = | aircraft_type = Fighter | aim = | outcome = | related = | national_origin = United Kingdom | manufacturer = Vickers | design_group = | designer = | builder = | issuer = | status = Prototype | owners = | primary_user = | more_users = | service = | major_applications = | proposals = | prototypes = | number_built = 4 | construction_number = | civil_registration = | military_serial = | radio_code = | requirement = | aircraft_carried = | flights = | total_hours = | total_distance = | construction_date = | introduction = | retired = | first_flight = May 1917 | initiated = | in_service = | last_flight = | expected = | developed_from = Vickers F.B.12 | variants = | developed_into = | preservation = | fate = | predecessors = | successors = | concluded = ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8a/Vickers_F.B.26_Vampire_rear_quarter_view.jpg"] ::
The Vickers F.B.26 Vampire was a British single-seat pusher biplane fighter built by Vickers during the First World War.
Four were built by Vickers at Bexleyheath, one of these was subsequently modified to become the F.B.26A.
Design and development
The design was a development of the earlier Vickers F.B.12 prototypes; and was a two-bay biplane with a high-mounted nacelle for the pilot and an initial armament of two .303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Guns. Behind this was a water-cooled 200 hp (150 kW) Hispano-Suiza engine driving the propeller. The tailplane was mounted on four booms with a single fin and rudder. After modifications to the radiator layout and wing structure and re-armed with three Lewis guns in an Eeman mounting capable of firing up at a 45° angle to engage enemy bombers from below, being numbered B1484, the FB.26 was passed to the Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at Martlesham Heath for evaluation. The prototype was destroyed on 25 August 1917 when Harold Barnwell, the Vickers test pilot failed to recover from a spin.
A second aircraft, B1486, was built and was operated first by No. 39 Squadron at Woodford and then passed to No. 141 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps in February 1918. Service evaluation was unfavorable: although performance was satisfactory, its handling qualities were poor. A third aircraft, B1485, powered by a 230 hp (170 kW) Bentley rotary engine and modified for ground-attack was built in 1918 but by the time it was built the Sopwith Salamander had already been ordered for production and development was abandoned. Three further aircraft had been ordered and allocated service numbers but it is not known whether any of these were built.
Operators
;
Specifications (F.B.26 Vampire I)
|ref=Vickers Aircraft since 1908 |prime units?=imp General characteristics
|genhide=
|crew=1 |capacity= |length m= |length ft=23 |length in=5 |span m= |upper span ft=31 |upper span in=6 |lower span ft=29 |lower span in=0 |height m= |height ft=9 |height in=5 |wing area sqm= |wing area sqft=267 |wing area note= |aspect ratio= |airfoil= |empty weight kg= |empty weight lb=1470 |empty weight note= |gross weight kg= |gross weight lb=2030 |gross weight note= |fuel capacity= |more general= Powerplant
|eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Hispano-Suiza 8 |eng1 type=water-cooled V-8 |eng1 kw= |eng1 hp=200
|prop blade number= |prop name= |prop dia m= |prop dia ft= |prop dia in= |prop note= Performance
|perfhide=
|max speed kmh= |max speed mph=121 |max speed kts= |max speed note=at 5000 ft |cruise speed kmh= |cruise speed mph= |cruise speed kts= |range km= |range miles= |range nmi= |endurance=3 hr |ceiling m= |ceiling ft=20500 |ceiling note=
- Absolute ceiling: 22500 ft |climb rate ms= |climb rate ftmin= |time to altitude=10 min to 10000 ft |more performance= Armament -- |guns= 2 × 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Lewis Guns |avionics=
References
Notes
Bibliography
- Andrews, C.F and Morgan, E.B. Vickers Aircraft since 1908. London:Putnam, Second edition 1988. .
- Bruce, J.M. War Planes of the First World War: Volume Three Fighters. London:Macdonald, 1969. .
- Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. The Complete Book of Fighters. New York: Smithmark, 1994. .
- Lamberton, W.M. Fighter Aircraft of the 1914–1918 War. Herts, UK:Harleyford Publications, 1960.
- Mason, F.K. The British Fighter Since 1912 London, Putnam, 1992
- Flight p764 12 June 1919
References
- Bruce 1969, p.126.
- Lamberton, 1960. p 78.
- Mason 1992 p.108
- Andrews and Morgan 1988, p.75
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