Vickers Vimy

The Vickers F.B.27 Vimy was the answer to the Air Board's request for a twin-engine heavy bomber. A series of prototypes with various engines began flying in November 1917, and some of them looked good, carrying a payload close to or exceeding the Handley-Page O/400. Large orders were placed, but continued refinement and experimentation delayed the first plane arriving in France until October 1918, arriving too late to see combat.

Three of them were on charge at the end of the war: two with experimental units and one with the Independent Force at Nancy, but none of them were used on operational missions. Vickers had only finished thirteen of them by the end of 1918.

It achieved a new form of fame after the war in long-distance flying. The Vimy was the first plane to fly non-stop across the Atlantic and also the first to fly from Britain to Australia.

1:144 Scale

 * Shapeways: Kampfflieger

1:300 Scale

 * Metal: Heroics & Ros GWA113