The Canadian Vickers Vanessa was a Canadian

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

transport floatplane of the 1920s evaluated by the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

(RCAF) and used briefly for delivering air-mail.

Design and development

The Vanessa was developed as a private venture commercial seaplane. It was a single-engine, twin-float cabin biplane of mixed construction. The enclosed cabin fuselage was constructed of steel tubing as were various support structures along with the tail surfaces. The wings were of wood construction and the entire aircraft was fabric covered. Its

interplane strut In aeronautics, bracing comprises additional structural members which stiffen the functional airframe to give it rigidity and strength under load. Bracing may be applied both internally and externally, and may take the form of struts, which act in ...

s were unusual in forming a pair of "X"s on each side, when viewed from the front which eliminated the need for wire bracing and improved access to the cabin. Ailerons were fitted to each of the equal span wings which were linked with connecting rods. As first built, these ran the full span of the wings, but were reduced to about half the span shortly afterwards.

Testing

One prototype, registered ''G-CYZJ'', was built, after which the Royal Canadian Air Force indicated an interest in the type as a communications aircraft. Testing indicated that the aircraft was under-powered and the Armstrong Siddeley Lynx was replaced with a

Wright Whirlwind The Wright Whirlwind was a family of air-cooled radial aircraft engines built by Wright Aeronautical (originally an independent company, later a division of Curtiss-Wright). The family began with nine-cylinder engines, and later expanded to in ...

. In September 1927, the Vanessa was used for several airmail flights. On 9 September 1927 at

Rimouski Rimouski ( ; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski, whose motto is ''Legi patrum fidelis'' (Faithful to ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

on the Saint Laurence River about east of

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

, its RCAF pilot received of mail from the west-bound RMS ''Empress of France''. While taxiing for takeoff, a wake from a passing vessel hit it, breaking a strut, which then allowed the aircraft's starboard float to be hit by the propeller, which sliced the float in half. The aircraft capsized, broke up, and sank but the pilot escaped and the mail was recovered, which continued on by rail. The wreck was salvaged but was found to be uneconomical to repair and development was abandoned. Despite a very brief career, the Vanessa has the distinction of being one of the first enclosed cabin aircraft designed in Canada.

Specifications (Vanessa–Lynx engine)

References

Bibliography

* {{Aircraft manufactured in Canada 1920s Canadian civil utility aircraft Vanessa Biplanes Single-engined tractor aircraft Floatplanes Single-engined piston aircraft