Canadian Vickers Varuna

The Canadian Vickers Varuna was a Canadian flying boat of the 1920s built by Canadian Vickers as a twin-engined, unequal-span biplane, with a wooden hull and steel tube structure.

The Varuna was developed in response to a Royal Canadian Air Force requirement for a flying boat to transport men and equipment to forest fires.

It was a large-scale twin-engined version of the Vedette.

Most Varunas spent their service in Manitoba operating in their intended role; all Varuna IIs were withdrawn in 1930 and the sole Varuna I was struck off in 1932.

Variants

Varuna I

Powered with the Wright J-6 Whirlwind radial engines, one built.

Varuna II 

Powered with Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IV radial engines.

Specifications

Varuna II

Crew

4

Length

36 ft 10 in (11.23 m)

Upper wingspan

55 ft 1 in (16.8 m)

Lower wingspan

47 ft 4 in (14.42 m)

Height

13 ft 9 in (4.19 m)

Wing area

715 sq ft (66.4 m²)

Empty weight

3,369 lb (1,528 kg)

Gross weight

5,299 lb (2,404 kg)

Fuel capacity

90 imp gal (110 US gal; 410 L) in two wing tanks,

Optional

60 imp gal (72 US gal; 270 L) ferry tank in the hull

Powerplant

2 × Armstrong Siddeley Lynx IV,

7-cyl air-cooled radial piston engine,

187 hp (139 kW) each

Performance

Maximum speed

82 kn (94 mph, 151 km/h)

Alighting speed

44 mph (38 kn; 71 km/h)

Service ceiling

14,000 ft (4,300 m)

Time to altitude

5,000 ft (1,500 m) in 9 minutes

Wing loading

7.4 lb/sq ft (36 kg/m²)

Power/mass

0.0377 hp/lb (0.0620 kW/kg).