Editing Vickers Vimy (section)

===Background===
Throughout the [[World War I|First World War]] both the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]] and the [[Central Powers]] made increasingly sophisticated use of new technologies in their attempts to break through the effective stalemate of [[trench warfare]]. One key advance made during the conflict was in the use of [[fixed-wing aircraft]], which were at that time rapidly advancing in capability, [[Aviation in World War I|for combat purposes]].{{sfn|Bruce|1965|page=3}} On 23 July 1917, in response to a bombing raid by German bombers on London, the [[Air Force Board|Air Board]], having determined that existing projects were not ambitious enough, decided to cancel all orders for experimental heavy bombers then underway. A week later, following protests from the Controller of the Technical Department, the Air Board placed an order for 100 [[Handley Page Type O|Handley Page O/100]] bombers, which was accompanied by orders for prototype heavy bombers being placed with  [[Handley Page]] and [[Vickers Limited]].{{sfn|Bruce|1965|page=3}}
On 16 August 1917 Vickers was issued with a contract for three prototype aircraft{{sfn|Bruce|1965|page=3}} and [[Rex Pierson]], chief designer of Vickers' aviation division, started designing a large twin-engine biplane bomber, to be powered by either a pair of [[RAF 4]]d or 200&nbsp;hp (150&nbsp;kW) [[Hispano Suiza]] engines.{{sfn|Bruce|1965|page=3}} Pierson discussed the proposed aircraft with Major J. C. Buchanan of the Air Board to establish the rough configuration of the aircraft, which was expected to meet the requirement for a night bomber which could attack targets within the [[German Empire]].{{sfn|Jarrett|1992|page=9}}{{sfn|Bruce|1965|page=3}}