So just how did Valentia warplanes get their name?
IT is intriguing to note that the name ’ Valentia’ is very much associated with British war aviation of times past. The Vickers-Valentia was a 1920s British flying boat designed during the First World War.
Three Valentia prototypes were built by the Vickers Company at their Barrow works ( Walney Island perhaps), having been ordered in May 1918 as a potential replacement of the Felixstowe F.5.
The hull was built by S.E. Saunders works at Cowes. The first of the three (Serial Number N124) first flew on March 5, 1921, when Stanley Cockerell began test-flying it over the Solent. N124 was damaged on landing in June 1921 and was dismantled.
The second N125 forced landed on its delivery flight on 15 March 1922. The third flying boat N126 was delivered in 1923 and used for trials until it was withdrawn from use in November 1924.
The name was later re-used for a transport aircraft. The Valentia (within the company known as the Type 264), was a British biplane cargo aircraft built by Vickers for the Royal Air Force. The majority built were conversions of the earlier Vickers Victoria. While the Napier Lion-powered Victoria served successfully with the RAF as a bomber transport, by 1932 the Lion engine was becoming obsolete and it was clear that it could use more power.
It was therefore decided to re-engine the air- craft with more powerful Bristol Pegasus engines. A two-stage upgrade was carried out, with the first designated the Victoria Mk VI or Configuration I ,which flew for the first time in 1934.
The Valentia first entered service with the RAF at Hinaidi, Iraq in 1934, equipping British forces in India, Persia and Iraq.
Like the preceding Vernons and Victorias, the Valentias were extensively used for transport operations in the Middle East and, when necessary, used for bombing operations with bomb racks under the wings. Valentias were also experimentally fitted with loudspeakers used to address people being overflown (in this case potentially rebellious tribes during air policing duties). The Valentia was also used for experiments with aerial re-fuelling by Alan Cobam.
Valentias were used for night bombing operations over the Western Desert in 1940 and remained in service with the Iraq and Persia Communications Flight until 1944. The South African Air Force pressed a Valentia into service as a bomber in the East African Campaign in 1940-41.
The scribe wonders as to how the name ‘Valentia’ came to be associated with these planes. Does anyone have any knowledge as to how the name of an island off the South West coast of Ireland came to such prominence in British aviation?