The Vickers Vimy was a
British heavy bomber aircraft developed and manufactured
by Vickers Limited. Developed during the latter stages of the First
World War to equip the Royal Flying Corps (RFC), the Vimy was
designed by Rex Pierson, Vickers' chief designer.
Only a handful of Vickers Vimy aircraft had entered
service by the time the Armistice of 11 November 1918 came into
effect, so the type did not serve in active combat operations during the war,
but the Vimy became the core of the Royal Air
Force (RAF)'s heavy bomber force throughout the 1920s. The Vimy
achieved success as both a military and a civil aircraft, the latter using
the Vimy Commercial variant. A dedicated transport derivative
of the Vimy, the Vickers Vernon, became the first troop-transport aircraft
operated by the RAF.
During the interwar period the Vimy set
several records for long-distance flights, the most celebrated and significant
of these being the first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic Ocean,
performed by John Alcock and Arthur Brown in June 1919. Other
record-breaking flights were made from the United Kingdom to destinations such
as South Africa and Australia. The Vimy continued to be operated until the
1930s in military and civil capacities.