Vultee V-1

V-1
The sole V-1AD Special owned by Randolph Hearst and now preserved in the Virginia Aviation Museum.
Role	Eight-passenger transport
Manufacturer	Airplane Development Corporation
Designer	Gerard Vultee
First flight	19 February 1933
Introduction	1934
Status	retired
Primary users	Spanish Republican Air Force American Airlines and LAPE
Produced	1933-1936
Number built	25 (including prototype)

The Vultee V-1 was a 1930s American single-engined airliner built by the Airplane Development Corporation, designed by Gerard Vultee and financed by automobile manufacturer Errett Cord.

The prototype (designated the V-1) was an all-metal low-wing cantilever monoplane with a retractable tailwheel landing gear. It had accommodation for a pilot and six passengers and first flew on February 19, 1933.

The production aircraft were designated the V-1A and had a slightly larger and longer fuselage for two pilots and eight passengers. Production ended in 1936 after 24 aircraft plus the prototype had been built.

A floatplane version, sold to the USSR along a manufacturing license was designated V-1AS and an executive transport version was designated V-1AD (for Deluxe). No production ensued in the USSR.

American Airlines bought at least 13 V-1As and the V-1 prototype (after it had been modified for two pilot operation) and they entered service in 1934. On introduction, they were the fastest commercial airliners of their day. They were used on routes from the Great Lakes to Texas. Bowen Airlines of Texas also operated the type. By 1936, they were sold, having been replaced with twin-engined aircraft when the Bureau of Air Commerce severely limited the use of single engine airliners.

V-1ADs were operated by several private companies or individuals as high-speed executive aircraft. The sole V-1AD Special was used prewar by newspaper magnate Randolph Hearst. It later served airlines in Panama and Nicaragua before returning to the United States postwar.

Fitted with twin floats and extra fuel tanks, the sole V-1AS Special was sold to the Soviet Union and used for a 10,000 mile Santa Monica to Moscow flight.

A V-1AD was used in 1936 during an attempt at the first New York-London-New York double crossing, flown by Harry Richman and Henry T. "Dick" Merrill, in the famous "Ping Pong" flight, when to ensure buoyancy in case of ditching, empty spaces in the aircraft were filled with ping pong balls. It was later used by Nationalist forces in Spain as a transport and high speed bomber.

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Wikipedia