Vickers Type 279 Venom

The Vickers Type 279 Venom was a British low-wing monoplane single-seat, single-engine, eight-gun fighter, powered by a radial engine.

It was fast and manoeuvrable, its engine lacked the power and development potential of a Rolls-Royce Merlin, it and other designs built to the same specification which included the Bristol Type 146, Gloster F.5/34, and Martin-Baker MB 2, were all passed over, and only one Venom was built.

Specifications

Crew

One

Length

24 ft 2 in (7.37 m)

Wingspan

32 ft 9 in (9.98 m)

Height

10 ft 9 in (3.28 m)

Wing area

146 sq ft (13.6 m2)

Gross weight

4,156 lb (1,885 kg)

Powerplant

1 × Bristol Aquila AE-3S 9-cylinder sleeve valve radial , 625 hp (466 kW)

Performance

Maximum speed

312 mph (502 km/h, 271 kn) at 16,500 ft (5,000 m)

Service ceiling

32,000 ft (9,800 m)

Rate of climb

3,000 ft/min (15 m/s)

Armament

8 × 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns.