Editing Vickers Vimy (section)

===Design===
[[File:Vickers F.B.27 Vimy side view.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.7|Vickers F.B.27 Vimy side view]]

The Vickers F.B.27 Vimy is an equal-span twin-engine four-bay biplane, with balanced ailerons on both upper and lower wings. The engine [[nacelle]]s were positioned mid-gap and contained the fuel tanks. It has a biplane [[empennage]] with elevators on upper and lower surfaces and twin rudders. The main undercarriage consists of two pairs of wheels, each pair carried on a pair of tubular steel V-struts. There is a tail-skid and an additional skid mounted below the nose of the fuselage to prevent nose-overs.

The aircraft was designed to accommodate a three-man crew and a payload of 12 bombs.{{sfn|Bruce|1965|page=3}} In addition to the pilot's cockpit, which was positioned just ahead of the wings, there were two positions for [[Air gunner|gunner]]s, one behind the wings and the other in the nose, each with a pair of [[Scarff ring]]-mounted [[Lewis gun]]s;{{sfn|Bruce|1965|page=3}} the rear cockpit mounting was commonly not fitted during the interwar period. Provision for a maximum of four spare drums of ammunition were present in the nose position, while up to six drums could be carried in the rear position.{{sfn|Bruce|1965|page=10}}

The majority of the Vimy's payload of {{cvt|250|lb}} bombs were stowed vertically inside the fuselage between the spars of the lower centre section; a typical load consisted of 12 bombs.{{sfn|Bruce|1965|page=3}} In some variants further bombs could be stowed externally for a total of 18 bombs, if the particular engine used provided enough power.{{sfn|Bruce|1965|pages=6,10}} For [[anti-surface warfare]] in the maritime environment, the Vimy could also be armed with a pair of [[torpedo]]es. To improve bombing accuracy, the Vimy was equipped with the High Altitude Drift Mk.1a [[bombsight]]. Standard equipment also included two [[Michelin]]-built Mk.1 [[flare]] carriers.{{sfn|Bruce|1965|page=10}}

The Vimy was powered by a range of different engines. Owing to engine supply difficulties, the prototype Vimys were tested with a number of different engine types, including [[Sunbeam Maori]]s, [[Salmson 9 (water-cooled engine)|Salmson 9Zm]] water-cooled [[radial engine|radial]]s, and [[Fiat A.12]]bis engines, before production orders were placed for aircraft powered by the 230&nbsp;hp (170&nbsp;kW) [[Siddeley Puma|BHP Puma]], 400&nbsp;hp (300&nbsp;kW) Fiat, 400&nbsp;hp (300&nbsp;kW) [[Liberty L-12]] and the 300&nbsp;hp (270&nbsp;kW) [[Rolls-Royce Eagle|Rolls-Royce Eagle VIII]] engines, with a total of 776 ordered before the end of the First World War. Of these, only aircraft powered by the Eagle engine, known as the Vimy IV, were delivered to the RAF.{{sfn|Mason|1994|page=96}} Due to the number of engine types used there are multiple conflicting official reports on the production numbers of each sub-variant of the Vimy.{{sfn|Bruce|1965|page=5–6}}

Design and production of the prototypes was extremely rapid; the detailed design phase of what had become internally designated as the Vickers '''F.B.27''' and the manufacture of the three prototypes was completed within four months.{{sfn|Bruce|1965|page=3}}