Vultee V-1

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title: "Vultee V-1" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["vultee-aircraft", "1930s-united-states-airliners", "single-engined-tractor-aircraft", "low-wing-aircraft", "aircraft-first-flown-in-1933", "aircraft-with-retractable-conventional-landing-gear", "single-engined-piston-aircraft"] description: "Vultee small propeller airliner introduced in 1934" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vultee_V-1" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Vultee small propeller airliner introduced in 1934 ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox aircraft"]

Field	Value
name	V-1
image	File:Vultee V-1A Spcl NC16099 VA Avn Msm 21.04.04R edited-2.jpg
caption	The sole V-1AD Special owned by Randolph Hearst and now preserved in the Shannon Air Museum.
type	Eight-passenger transport
manufacturer	Airplane Development Corporation
designer	Gerard Vultee
first_flight	19 February 1933
introduction	1934
status	Retired
primary_user	Spanish Republican Air Force
more_users	American Airlines and LAPE
produced	1933–1936
number_built	25 (including prototype)
developed_into	Vultee V-11
::

|name= V-1 |image= File:Vultee V-1A Spcl NC16099 VA Avn Msm 21.04.04R edited-2.jpg |caption=The sole V-1AD Special owned by Randolph Hearst and now preserved in the Shannon Air Museum. |type=Eight-passenger transport |manufacturer=Airplane Development Corporation |designer=Gerard Vultee |first_flight=19 February 1933 |introduction=1934 |retired= |status=Retired |primary_user=Spanish Republican Air Force |more_users=American Airlines and LAPE |produced=1933–1936 |number_built=25 (including prototype) |variants= |developed_into=Vultee V-11

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

Design and development

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.

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.

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.

Operational history

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Vultee_V-1A_at_Langley_EL-2002-00551.jpg" caption="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. 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.

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

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.

Sixteen V-1A and V-1AD aircraft were used by both sides in the Spanish Civil War.

On August 6, 1936 Sigizmund Levanevsky and began an 11,800+ mile multistage flight from Los Angeles to Moscow in a Vultee V-1A floatplane. They arrived in Moscow in on September 11. 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

The V-1 was used in the filming of It Happened One Night (1934), Jungle Queen (1944) with Clark Gable, and The Tarnished Angels (1957).

Variants

;V-1 :Prototype with a 650 hp 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 Wright Cyclone R-1820-F2 radial engine, 18-built and one converted from prototype. ;V-1AD :Deluxe executive variant with a 850 hp Wright Cyclone R-1820-G2 radial engine, six built. ;V-1AD Special :As V-1AD but fitted with a 1000 hp Wright Cyclone R-1820-G2 radial engine, one built. ;V-1AS Special :Special variant with either 775 hp R-1820-F52 or 850 hp R-1820-G2 radial engine, with twin floats, one built for the Russian government.

Survivors

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Vultee_V-1A_NC16099_TUC_12.10.73_edited-3.jpg" caption="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 Air Museum in Fredericksburg, Virginia. 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

• 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. ;Nationalist Spain
• Aviación Nacional

Civil operators

;Canada

• Canadian Colonial Airways ;
• China National Aviation Corporation ;
• American Airlines (1 V-1 and 10 V-1A)
• Bowen Airlines
• Crusader Oil Corporation
• William Randolph Hearst

Specifications (V-1A)

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Vultee_V-1A_3-view_L'Aerophile_July_1934.jpg" caption="Vultee V-1A 3-view drawing from L'Aerophile July 1934"] ::

|ref=General Dynamic Aircraft and their Predecessors |prime units? = imp |crew=2 |capacity=8 passengers |length m=11.28 |length ft=37 |length in=0 |span m=15.24 |span ft=50 |span in=0 |height m=3.10 |height ft=10 |height in=2 |wing area sqm=32.3 |wing area sqft=348 |empty weight kg=2,424 |empty weight lb=5,332 |gross weight kg=3,864 |gross weight lb=8,500 |eng1 number=1 |eng1 name=Wright Cyclone R-1820-F2 |eng1 kw=548 |eng1 hp=735 |max speed kmh=378 |max speed mph=235 |cruise speed kmh=346 |cruise speed mph=215 |range km=1,610 |range miles=1,000 |ceiling m=6,100 |ceiling ft=20,000 |climb rate ms=5.1 |climb rate ftmin=1,000

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Andersson, Lennart. A History of Chinese Aviation: Encyclopedia of Aircraft and Aviation in China to 1949. Taipei, Republic of China: AHS of ROC, 2008. .
• Davies, R.E.G. Airlines of the United States. McLean, Virginia: Paladwr Press Inc, 1998. .
• 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. .
• Ogden, Bob. Aviation Museums and Collections of North America. Tonbridge, Kent: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, 2007. . Page 541.
• Pattillo, Donald M. Pushing the Envelope: The American Aircraft Industry. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan Press, 2001. .
• 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. .

References

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. (1992). "Vultee Aircraft 1932-1947". Narkiewicz//Thompson.
3. Pattillo 2001, p. 80.
4. Davies 1998, pp. 178, 180
5. Davies 1998, pp. 198–199
6. Ogden 2007{{page needed. (December 2012)
7. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930043652/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,756627,00.html "Transatlantic Types."] ''Time'' magazine via ''time.com, '' September 28, 1936. Retrieved: December 31, 2010.
8. [http://aviadejavu.ru/Site/Crafts/Craft20749.htm Vultee V-1A] {{webarchive. link. (20160924105919 .)
9. link. (20150222202715 .)
10. [http://antarctic.su/books/item/f00/s00/z0000045/st010.shtml Лос-Анджелес — Москва] {{webarchive. link. (20150222202416 .)
11. Air Progress. (September 1971)
12. AOPA PILOT Magazine, February 2018 issue, page 71.
13. Andersson 2008, p. 289.
14. Wegg 1990, p. 153.
15. Wegg 1990, p. 154.
16. Wegg 1990, p. 155.

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