The Vickers Type 121 Wibault Scout was a British fighter built by

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in ...

in the 1920s. It was a licensed version of the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with France ...

Wibault 7 The Wibault 7 was a 1920s French monoplane fighter designed and built by ''Société des Avions Michel Wibault''. Variants were operated by the French and Polish military and built under licence for Chile as the Vickers Wibault. Development De ...

aircraft An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines. ...

, with 26 being sold to

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...

in 1926, where they served until 1934.

Design and development

set up a partnership with the French aircraft manufacturer,

Société des Avions Michel Wibault The Wibault company or ''Société des Avions Michel Wibault'' was a French aircraft manufacturing company. Its workshops were located in Billancourt, in the Paris area. History The Wibault company was established in 1919 by Michel Wibault. T ...

to exploit the patented system of all-metal construction developed by

Michel Wibault Michel Henri Marie Joseph Wibault (born 5 June 1897, died 23 January 1963) was a French aircraft designer. He was a strong advocate of metal construction, and his airliners were important in the development of French commercial aviation in the 1 ...

. This used corrugated light alloy skin panels, and made for easy maintenance and inspection.Andrews and Morgan 1988, pp. 207–209. As part of this partnership, Vickers placed an order with Wibault for a single Wibault 7, re-engined with a

Bristol Jupiter The Bristol Jupiter was a British nine-cylinder single-row piston radial engine built by the Bristol Aeroplane Company. Originally designed late in World War I and known as the Cosmos Jupiter, a lengthy series of upgrades and developments tur ...

radial engine The radial engine is a reciprocating type internal combustion engine configuration in which the cylinders "radiate" outward from a central crankcase like the spokes of a wheel. It resembles a stylized star when viewed from the front, and is ...

, to act as a prototype for potential licensed production. The Wibault 7, and therefore the Vickers licensed copy, were single-engine high-wing

parasol An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally u ...

monoplane A monoplane is a fixed-wing aircraft configuration with a single mainplane, in contrast to a biplane or other types of multiplanes, which have multiple planes. A monoplane has inherently the highest efficiency and lowest drag of any wing confi ...

s. The prototype, which differed from the standard Wibault 7 by having a new undercarriage and British instruments, was delivered to Britain in February 1926Green and Swanborough 1994, p. 579. and was later fitted by Vickers with strengthened wing

strut A strut is a structural component commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy. Struts generally work by resisting longitudinal compression, but they may also serve in tension. Human anatomy Part of the functionality o ...

s. The durability of the aircraft's all-metal structure, together with promised good altitude performance, attracted the attention of the Chilean Military Air Service, which, after evaluating the prototype, placed an order for 26 aircraft, known as the Vickers Type 121, or Vickers-Wibault Scout.Andrews and Morgan 1988, pp. 209–210. The first Vickers built Type 121 flew at the end of June 1926, but crashed following an inverted spin on its first flight. This was found to be due to problems with the aircraft's centre of gravity, which were resolved by modifying the

tailplane A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplan ...

.Mason 1992, pp. 179–180.

Operational history

The first Type 121s were delivered to Chile in November 1926, partly equipping the ''Groupo Mixto de Aviación'' 1, with deliveries continuing until October 1927. Several were lost in accidents, with at least one losing its wing in flight, but it remained in service when the

Chilean Air Force "With full speed to the stars" , colours = Indigo White , colours_label = , march = Alte Kameraden , mascot = , anniversaries = 21 March ...

was formed from the air components of the Chilean Army and Navy, finally being retired in 1934.

Operators

; *

Chilean Air Force "With full speed to the stars" , colours = Indigo White , colours_label = , march = Alte Kameraden , mascot = , anniversaries = 21 March ...

Specifications (Type 121)

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Andrews, E.N. and Morgan, E.B. ''Vickers Aircraft Since 1908, Second edition''. London: Putnam, 1988. . * Green, William and Swanborough, Gordon. ''The Complete Book of Fighters''. New York: Smithmark, 1994. . * Mason, Francis K. ''The British Fighter since 1912''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1992. .

External links

{{Vickers aircraft 1920s British fighter aircraft

Wibault The Wibault company or ''Société des Avions Michel Wibault'' was a French aircraft manufacturing company. Its workshops were located in Billancourt, in the Paris area. History The Wibault company was established in 1919 by Michel Wibault. Th ...

Parasol-wing aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1926