Verville VCP
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The Verville VCP was an American single-engined
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 ...
fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...
of the 1920s. A single example of the VCP-1 was built by the
United States Army Air Service The United States Army Air Service (USAAS)Craven and Cate Vol. 1, p. 9 (also known as the ''"Air Service"'', ''"U.S. Air Service"'' and before its legislative establishment in 1920, the ''"Air Service, United States Army"'') was the aerial warf ...
's
Engineering Division The Engineering Division was a division of the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps in the United States Department of War. It was formed on 31 August 1918, under the direction of Lt Col Jesse G. Vincent, to study and design American versions of f ...
, which was later rebuilt into a successful racing aircraft, while a second, modified fighter was built as the PW-1.


Design and development


VCP-1

In 1918, Virginius E. Clark, in charge of the Plane Design section of the U.S. Army Air Service's Engineering Division and
Alfred V. Verville Alfred Victor Verville (November 16, 1890 â€“ March 10, 1970) was an American list of aviation pioneers, aviation pioneer and aircraft designer who contributed to Civil aviation, civilian and military aviation. During his forty-seven years i ...
, who had recently joined the Engineering Division from private industry, started design of a single-seat fighter (known as "pursuit" aircraft to the U.S. Army), the VCP-1 (Verville-Clark Pursuit).Angelucci and Bowers 1987, p. 197. Drawing from the experience of the French and their
SPAD S.XIII The SPAD S.XIII is a French biplane fighter aircraft of the First World War, developed by ''Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés'' (SPAD) from the earlier and highly successful SPAD S.VII. During early 1917, the French designer Louis Bé ...
, the desire was to make a sleeker and more maneuverable fighter.Boyne 2001, p. 8. The VCP-1 was powered by a Wright-built
Hispano-Suiza 8 The Hispano-Suiza 8 is a Internal combustion engine cooling, water-cooled V8 engine, V8 SOHC aero engine introduced by Hispano-Suiza in 1914 that went on to become the most commonly used liquid-cooled engine in the aircraft of the Entente Powers ...
V-8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder (engine), cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V engine, V configuration. Origins The first known V8 was the Antoinette (manufactu ...
and had tapered single-
bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...
biplane wings. The fuselage was a
monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...
structure constructed of
plywood Plywood is a composite material manufactured from thin layers, or "plies", of wood veneer that have been stacked and glued together. It is an engineered wood from the family of manufactured boards, which include plywood, medium-density fibreboa ...
, while the wings were of wood and fabric construction. The engine was cooled with an unusual
annular Annulus (or anulus) or annular indicates a ring- or donut-shaped area or structure. It may refer to: Human anatomy * ''Anulus fibrosus disci intervertebralis'', spinal structure * Annulus of Zinn, a.k.a. annular tendon or ''anulus tendineus com ...
radiator.Green and Swanborough 1994, p. 193.Boyne 2001, p. 9. Two were built, but only one was flown, making its maiden flight on June 11, 1920. The aircraft demonstrated good performance, reaching , but the radical annular radiator was unsuccessful, having to be replaced to a more conventional unit. Because of its performance, it was decided to modify the VCP-1 to a racing aircraft, replacing the Wright-Hispano engine with a Packard 1A-2025
V12 engine A V12 engine is a twelve-Cylinder (engine), cylinder Internal combustion engine#Reciprocating engines, piston engine where two banks of six cylinders are arranged in a V engine, V configuration around a common crankshaft. V12 engines are more c ...
, becoming the VCP-R (later again rebuilt as the Verville R-1 Racer).Angelucci and Bowers 1987, pp. 197–198.


PW-1

In 1920, work commenced on two new fighter aircraft based on the VCP-1, featuring an easier to build fabric covered steel-tube fuselage instead of the plywood monocoque of the VCP-1. The aircraft retained the tapered wings of the VCP-1 and was powered by a Packard 1A-1237 engine, cooled by a tunnel-style radiator located under the engine.Angelucci and Bowers 1987, p. 198.Boyne 2001, p. 11. The new design was initially known as the VCP-2, but was soon redesignated as PW-1 (Pursuit, Water-CooledDorr and Donald 1990, p. 23.) in the U.S. Army Air Service's new designation system. The first aircraft was used for static testing, while the second prototype flew in November 1921, reaching a speed of . It was rebuilt later that year with a new untapered set of wings using a
Fokker Fokker (; ) was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer that operated from 1912 to 1996. The company was founded by the Dutch aviator Anthony Fokker and became famous during World War I for its fighter aircraft. During its most successful period in the 19 ...
style thick
airfoil An airfoil (American English) or aerofoil (British English) is a streamlined body that is capable of generating significantly more Lift (force), lift than Drag (physics), drag. Wings, sails and propeller blades are examples of airfoils. Foil (fl ...
, becoming the PW-1A, but performance was reduced, and the aircraft was refitted with its original wings, reverting to the designation PW-1.Dorr and Donald 1990, pp. 24–25. While plans were prepared for more powerful versions fitted with revised wings, no production ensued.


Operational history

The VCP-R made its racing debut at the 1920 Gordon Bennett Cup race held at
Étampes Étampes () is a Communes of France, commune in the functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southwest from the Kilometre zero#France, center of Paris (as the crow flies). Étampes is a Subprefectures in ...
near
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
on 28 September. Its radiator proved to be insufficient to deal with the powerful, high-compression Packard engine, however, and it retired after the first lap. It was taken back to the U.S. and quickly modified with a larger radiator for entry in the Pulitzer Trophy air-race, held at
Mineola, New York Mineola is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village and the county seat of Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on Long Island, Long Island, New York, United States. The population was 20,800 at the time of the 2020 United Stat ...
on 25 November that year. This time it was successful, winning the race at a speed of . The U.S. Armed Forces did not compete in the 1921 Pulitzer Trophy race, but for the 1922 race the VCP-R was fitted with a revised tail, becoming the R-1. It finished in sixth place at a speed of .''Flight'' 19 October 1922, pp. 603–605.


Variants

;VCP-1 :Single-seat biplane fighter, powered by 300 hp Wright-Hispano engine. Two built, one flown. ;VCP-R :Modification of VCP-1 for air-racing, with 660 hp Packard 1A-2025 engine, and capable of reaching a speed of . ; R-1 :Modification of VCP-R for 1922 Pulitzer Trophy race. Maximum speed . ;PW-1 :Modified fighter aircraft with steel-tube fuselage and 350 hp Packard 1A-1237 engine. Two built but only one flown. ;PW-1A :PW-1 fitted with new, Fokker-style wings. Speed reduced to .Angelucci and Bowers 1987, p. 199.


Specifications (PW-1)


See also


References

;Notes ;Bibliography *Angelucci, Enzo and Peter M. Bowers. ''The American Fighter''. Sparkford, UK:Haynes Publishing Group, 1987. . * Boyne, Walter J. "The Treasures of McCook Field: America's First Aero Engineering and Testing Centre, Part 1". ''The Best of Wings Magazine''. Washington DC:Brassey's, 2001. pp. 1–9. . *Boyne, Walter J. "The Treasures of McCook Field: America's First Aero Engineering and Testing Centre, Part 2". ''The Best of Wings Magazine''. Washington DC:Brassey's, 2001. pp. 10–18. . *Dorr, Robert F. and David Donald. ''Fighters of the United States Air Force''. London:Temple Press/Aerospace, 1990. .
"Gordon-Bennett 1920: The Cup Goes to France"
''
Flight Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...
'', 7 October 1920. pp. 1055–1059. *Green, William and Gordon Swanborough. ''The Complete Book of Fighters''. New York: Smithmark, 1994. .
"Reports and Memoranda: The Pulitzer Trophy Race"
''Flight'', 2 December 1920, p. 1244.

''Flight'', 19 October 1922, pp. 603–605.

''Flight'', 1 December 1921, p. 805.


External links

* http://www.americancombatplanes.com/biplane_army_1.html {{DEFAULTSORT:VCP, Verville 1920s United States fighter aircraft VCP Engineering Division aircraft Single-engined tractor aircraft Biplanes Aircraft first flown in 1920 Single-engined piston aircraft Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear