Vickers Victoria

The Vickers Type 56 Victoria was a British biplane freighter and troop transport aircraft used by the Royal Air Force in the 1920s and 1930s. Two prototypes were ordered by the Air Ministry in April 1921 to Specification 5/20: the first, serial J6860, was the Type 56 Victoria I and the second, J6861, the Type 81 Victoria II. It first flew in 1922 and was chosen for production over the Armstrong Whitworth Awana. The Type 56 had two 450 hp Napier Lion engines. Later aircraft were built or converted with a metal structure, the Victoria IV and V, which suited the hot and humid regions where the type served much better than the wooden airframe. Ninety-seven Victorias were built, and many were later converted into Valentias.