Vickers Viscount and Vanguard

103 Pages·2004·95.609 MB·English

by  Malcolm L. Hill

VICKERS
VISCOUNT
- - - A N D - - -
VANGUARD
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I:)~cl
The Crowood Press
Firstpublishedin2004by
TheCrowoodPressLtd
Ramsbury,Marlborough
WiltshireSN82HR
www.crowood.com Contents
©MalcolmL. Hill2004
Allrightsre erved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproducedortransmitted
inanyformorbyanymeans,electronicormechanical,includingphotocopy, Acknowledgements 4
recording,oranyinformation torageandretrievalsystem,withoutpermissionin
writingfrom thepublishers. 1 THE FIRST ONE 6
BritishLibraryCataloguing-in-PublicationData
2 UP A GEAR 21
Acataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefrom the BritishLibrary.
ISBN 1861266693 3 MORE WORLDWIDE SUCCESS 35
4 VISCOUNT TO VANGUARD 49
5 THE NEW COMPETITION 67
6 SOLDIERING ON 83
Acknowledgements
7 NEW ADVENTURES 97
Grateful thanksareextended toall thefollowing individualsandorganizations
whose invaluablefundsofinformation; material,co-operationand timehave
madethi bookpossible: 8 FRESH TASKS 111
AerLingus,Afavia,AirCanada,AirFrance,Air ewZealand,RafaelArteaga, 9 NEW ADMIRERS AND SHIFTING ROLES 123
Aviation Hobby hop, Will Blunt,DavidCastle,ThornCliffe,Cypru Airways,
StephenFord,GlobalAirImage, PatriceGou enbouger,JennyGradidge, Barbara
10 A BUSY MIDDLE AGE 139
Hanson,CameronHill, Luxair, BillMellberg,MilitaryAircraftPhotographs,
JosephP.Noto,Jon Proctor, teveRichards, BillSheridan,THYTurkish
Airlines, BobTurner,UnitedAirlinesArchive,TonyWard, teveWilliams. 11 HECTIC TWILIGHT YEARS 155
Whilsteveryefforthasbeen madetoidentifythesourceofillustrationsused in 12 FINAL FURLONGS 171
thispublication,thishasnotbeenpossibleinallcases,duetothepassageoftime
anddispersalofthematerial. Allpersonsclaimingaccreditation houldcontact
theauthorviathepublisherand anyomissionorerrorwillbecorrectedinsubse Appendix Viscount and Vanguard Variants 185
quenteditions.
Index 190
Typefacesused:Goudy(text),Cheltenham(headings).
Typeetanddesignedby
0& Publishing
Lowesden Bu inessPark,Hungerford, Berkshire.
PrintedandboundinGreat BritainbyCPIGroup, Bath.
THE FIRSTONE
Pure Jet or Prop Power?
HAPTERONE
The gas turbine (jet) engine had first
appeared, at leastinanexperimentalform,
beforeworld warhad brokenout.The mil
The First One
itary pressures to develop this new and
fasterformofpropulsiontoapracticalstage
for combat use led to the first jet-powered
fighters entering service on both sides of
the conflict in the last months ofthe ho
The Reason Why profitable periods in British airliner pro Viscount into the air, were to earn the tilities.Withtheadventofpeace,thoughts
duction. Evenafterproductionceased, the Vickers turboprop airliner designs a very could beturned tocivilapplicationsforthe
When the Vickers-Armstrongs Type 630 descendantsofthatsingleaircraftwereset specialplace inaviation history. newengines.Aswellasthepurejetengine,
Viscount prototype took to the airfor the to enjoydecade ofreliable, profitableser At the time of that first brief flight, anotheroption, inwhichthejetthrustwas
firsttime,on16July1948,itonlydidsofor vice for their numerous operators. The though, there was littlesignofthesuccess used todriveapropeller,alsoattractedseri
a mere twenty minutes. Nonetheless, Viscounts by the hundred, and the much storythatwouldeventuallyfollow.Whether ous consideration for civil use in addition
those twenty minutes marked the begin fewer, bigger-brother Vanguards by the ornotanymoreaircraftwouldbebuiltafter to militaryapplications.
ning of one of the most prestigious and dozens, which followed the sale Type 630 theprototypewasstill inseriousdoubt,and The first experiments in this direction
theViscountcouldeasilyhavebeenoneof were made usingaGlosterMeteorjetfight
the many post-Second World War 'exper er in 1945. Its Rolls-Royce Derwent jet
imental' types thatfailed toattainproduc engines were modified with added reduc
tion. The airline for which it had mainly tion gearing and extended compressor
beendesigned in the first place seemed to shaftswhichallowedpropellerstobedriven
be losinginterest. Doubtswereeven being bythejetengines, provingthefeaSibilityof
expressed in high places as to the very thetheory.Theturboproppromisedtooffer
practicality of its groundbreaking new speedsclose oreven equivalent to those of
form of propulsion, the propeller-turbine. Theworld'spost-warairlineswerestillrelyingheavilyontheDouglasDC-3,b!lsically the purejet, butwith much lowerfuelcon
It was takingagreataffirmation offaith in 8pre-wardesign,fortheirshort-andmedium-hauloperations. Sabenaviaauthor sumption and, consequently, much lower
the future prospectsoftheirdesign for the costs. The turboprop was expected to offer
Vickers management team to pre s on high reliability, muchquieter runningwith
with the project. lowvibrationandahigherpower-to-weight
Thecommercialairwaysofthetimewere fuselages and taking their passengers to requirements.Theiraimwastoinspireand ratio than the piston engine ofthe day. It
solely the domain ofthe piston engine, as smoother level ,wayabove the rougherair encourage Britain's beleaguered aircraft also offered much more flexibility over a
they had been since airlines had carried encountered at lower altitudes. The war industry to begin looking ahead, beyond varietyofstage lengths thantheearlypure
theirfir tfare-payingpassengersthirtyyears had at least yielded a spurt of technical purely military production. The commit jetdesigns.
before. Even the brand-new airliner types, developmentthatproducedmanyimprove tee's prompting soon led to the manufac Rolls-Royce'saero-enginedivisionwasa
finally beginningtoreplacethefew pre-war ments inengineand airframedesign. How turers' studying a number ofpo ible pro pioneer in both pure-jet and propjet tech
survivors and hundreds of converted ever, all the extra power required meant jects.Althoughthemanufacturerswereall nology,andworkedcloselywiththeaircraft
wartimetransportswhichthenmadeupthe that the engines were also getting much heavilypre-occupied with producingmili manufacturers. It produced early propjet
majorityoftheworld'sairfleets, werepiston more complex, noisier, and creating tary aircraft, a co-ordinated post-war plan designssuch as theTrentand the Clyde, as
ABOVE:Whirlingpropellers,viewedthroughpanoramicwindowsduringasmooth powered. The piston engines werecertain increasingly uncomfortable vibration for was seen to be needed to give the British well as the Derwent, Nene and Avon jet
ride,becomethehallmarksoftravelbyVickersturbopropairlinerfromthe1950s
ly getting more powerful, enabling aircraft the passengersand crews. industryachanceofcompetinginthe new engines. OtherBritish aero-enginecompa
rightthroughtothenextcentury. JosephP.Noto
to carry heavier loads over greater dis era. It was already clear that the US air nies such as Armstrong Siddeley, Bristol
tances. They were also flying higher, most craft industry, its factories already well and Napier were developing rival designs,
BELOW:StartinguptheViscountprototype'sRolls-RoyceDartenginesbeforeitsfirst
newly designed aircraft having pressurized Proposed by Committee geared-upfor mass productionand having oftenwithaviewtopoweringtheemerging
flightwasthehigh-pitchedpreludetooverfiftyyearsofairtransporthistory.
operated beyond the range of hostile products from their ownas ociated aircraft
Author'scollection
The first of the many projects that were bombing, would be in a very favourable manufacturingcompanies.
destined to form the coreofBritain'spost position to dominate both the civil and
war civil airliner production owed their military aircraft markets once peace
existencetotheformationofthe Brabazon returned. Vickers' Proposals
Committee. As early as 1942, when the The majorachievementofthe Brabazon
war could barely be seen to be starting to Committee's studies was the outlining of One important Brabazon category was for
go the Allies' way, thought were turning various categories ofairlinerdesigns that it an economic airliner for European routes,
to future civil aviation production. Lord surmised would be needed post-war. The e and it was this that attracted most ofthe
BrabazonofTara, the first Britontoholda categories varied from large trans-oceanic attention of th Vickers design team.
pilot'slicencein theearlyyearsofpowered aircraft for mass travel to smallerfeederlin Ready to exploit its reputation for high
flight, chaired the committee, whichsoon ers. Among the eventual resulting produc qualityworkmanshipand practicaldesign,
became labelled with his name. tion aircraft would be the Bristol Britannia Vickersstudied manyofthe Brabazonpro
The Brabazon Committee wa charged turboprop transport and the de Havilland posals. By 1945 one of these had been
withexaminingpost-warcivilairtransport Cometjetairliner. firmed up and designated Brabazon IIB, as
6 7
TIlE FIR TOE TIlE FIRST0 E
VickersandAircraft a requirement for a 24- eat airliner 'pow_ w uld abl to carry a 7,5001b (3,400kg) 1946, outlining a definitive Brabazon lIB
-------------------- ered by four gas turbine engines driving pa I d over a 1,040-mile (l,670km) aircraft. The final specification confirmed
Aslong-standingsuppliersofmunitions,shipsandotherhardwaretotheBritisharmed runsorwereone-offprojectswhichwerespin-offsfrommilitarycontracts.Forthemost ,Iltscrews'. Another propo ai, Brabazon rang, rui ing at 297mph (478km/h) at the Mini try's requirement for:
forces,theVickers-ArmstrongsgroupofengineeringcompanieshadtakenanInterest part,militarydesignstookupmostofthecompany'stime,amorenotableexceptionbeing IIA, was for a imilar- ized aircraft pow 20, ft (6,000m).Theaircraft' estimated
inthedesignandproductionofaircraftsincetheirmilitarypotentialhadbeenrecog thedevelopmentofthecivilRl00rigidairship.
eredbypistonengines,Thiswaseventual gr wight wa 24,500Ib (1l,100kg), and • A hort-to-medium-range tran port air
nizedintheearlyyearsofthetwentiethcentury.Thecompanyhadbecomeinvolvedin TheSecondWorldWarsawVickers-ArmstrongsproducinglargenumbersofWelling
ly tobe produced bytheAir peedCompa i dubie-bubble fuselage would have a craft powered by four turbine engine.
earlyairshipdesigns,mostlyformilitaryapplications,asfarbackas1908.Thiswork tonandWarwickbombers,smallnumbersofwhichwerealsoproducedinmodifiedver
ledtoaninterestinalsodevelopingaeroplanes. sions as wartime transports. By its acquisition of the Supermarine Company, in ny as the AS57 Ambassador. abin4ft(l.2m) wide, withthefloor lineat • A 24- eaterwith pOSSibleconversion to
Initially,aeroplaneprojectswerestudiedattheVickersplantatErithinKent.with Southampton,Vickers'inherited'thefamousSpitfirefighter,whichthecompanycontin The Brabazon IIAand lIBspecifications the ammonchord to the twocircular ec 28seat.
designofficesinVickersHouseinBroadway,Westminster,London.Eventuallyanew uedtodevelopthroughoutthewaryears.AsthewarprogressedandtheAlliedvictory were devised with a view to providing an ti n .Th fuselagewould be63.7ft(l9.4m) • Freightcapacitytobe274sqft (25.5sqm).
aviationdepartmentwasestablishedatBrooklands,nearWeybridgeinSurrey,in1915, becamemorelikely,Vickerstookmoreofaninterestintheproposedcivilproducts.Stud early, yet more sophisticated, replacement long, th wingspan 88ft (26.8m) and the • pecified noi e level not to be more
whereagreatdealoftheearlyexperimentalworkwasundertaken.Brooklandsalso iesofmoreradicalconversionsofitswartimebombertypeseventuallyledtothepropos for the rather basic Viking. Vickers-Arm wingarea 60sqft (80sq m). than 60 decibels in the cabin and 70
becamehomeforaVickers-runcivilflyingschoolthatwastobecomewellknownasa ingofa'WellingtonContinental'airliner.ThiswastoberefinedtobecometheVickers strongs' chief designer, Rex Pierson, had decibel in the flight d ck.
centreforinnovationandpioneeringefforts. VCl Viking,basedontheWellingtonbutincorporatinganewfuselagewithaspacious appeared before thesecond meetingofthe • The workingdifferentialspressureto be
Afterpeacereturned,Vickerscontinuedtoconcentratemainlyonmilitaryprojects.The passengercabin,andpoweredbytwoBristolHerculesradialengines. Brabazon Committee in December 1944, Changes at the Top and 6~lb/sq in (31.7kg/ q m), with lib
company'sworkonlargemilitarytransportaircraftaswellastrainersandfighterssaw The21-passengerViking enteredservicewiththethenfledgling British European
where progre son the Vikingand its possi on the Drawing Board (0.45kg) of fresh air per minute at all
someinterwarcivilianspin-offs,suchastheVimyCommercial,Vulcan,Viastra,Velloxand Airways(BEA)on1September1946,andalsowonanumberofimportantexportsales
ble successor were examined. At another height. There was to be individual
Vanguardairliners.However,actualproductionofallthesetypeswasverylimited.The tocustomersinsuchfar-flung regionsastheMiddle East.IndiaandSouthAmerica.
all-metalViastrawonahandfulofexportsalestoAustraliaandwasselectedtoequip Althoughonlyeverintendedasan'interim'front-lineairliner,theruggedVikingandits meeting, inMarch1945,betweentheMin Pierson wa promoted to chiefengineer for cold-air supply to passenger, and
the fledgling Royal Flight of the RAF. The others enjoyed either small production militaryversions, theValetta andVarsity, gavemanyyearsofservicetotheirusers. istry of Aircraft Production (MAP), the all fVickers-AnnstrongsLtd inSeptember humidity was to be controllable bet
Ministry of Civil Aviation and the main 1945. Hi placeas chiefdesigner was taken ween 40 percentand 60 percent.
airlineoperators, the British Oversea Air by George Edwards, who had previously • Emergency oxygen for the crew wa
ways Corporation (BOAC) and Railway been the Experimental Works Manager. required.
AirService (RA ), it wasconcluded that Edwardstookoverthegeneralcontrolofthe • The aircraft wa to be capable ofcarry
a contract to develop the Brabazon lIB VC2 design until Pierson died uddenly in inga 7,5001b (3,400kg) payload for 700
would probably be awarded to Vickers. 1948.Fromthenon, Edward a umed total nautical miles (800 mil /l,290km) at
oon after this meeting Vickers designers technicalcontroloftheproject. 240kt (275mph/440km/h) at 20,000ft
submitted several proposals of their own MinistryofSupply(MoS)Specification (6,000m). Total fuel capacity was to be
options for the Brabazon lIB to the MAP. 8/46 was isued to Vicker on 17 April for a 1,200-mile (l,930km) range, and
On 19 April 1945 the company was for
mally in tructed to proceed with it
BrabazonType lIBde ignstudies,
Vickers' Initial Offering
The Vickers design office at Brooklands
came up with everal contenders for the
Brabazon lIB design. Two were for 24
passenger aircraft, either pres urized or
unpressurized,and athird wasfora27-pas
senger aircraft, all having a 1,000-mile
(l,600km) range. Early option had based
ABOVE:BasedontheVirginiabomberand theaircraftonanunpre surizedVikingair
similartotheVictoriamilitarytransport,
frame powered by four turboprops. The
the23-passengerVickersVanguardserved
question of the use of pressurization was
brieflywithImperialAirvvaysonroutes
toBrusselsandParisfromCroydon. decided bya tudy ubmitted by Rex Pier
Developmentofthepromisingdesign son in May 1945, which showed the tur
washaltedfollowingthelossofG-EBCP boprop to be much moreefficientat high
onatestflightin1928,butitsnamewas er altitudes. The options were eventually
destinedtoberevivedmanyyearslater. narrowed down to a pressurized design
viaauthor witha new 'double-bubble' fu elage.
Vickers' first choiceofturboprop engine
TheratherrobustVikingprovedtobea
was the Rolls-Royce Dart, the Armstrong
populardesign,attractingordersfrom
Siddeley Mamba or apier Naiad also
manycommercialandmilitarycustomers
beingcon idered incasethe Dart,then till -$-
aroundtheworld. viaauthor
under developm nt, failed to live up to
expectations. The Mamba was of similar
power to the Dart, while the Naiad
promisedtoofferrathermore. Aspresented
Thedouble-bubble,pressurized-fuselageprojectshoweditsVikingoriginsinthe
by Pierson in June 1945, the 24-passenger
basicdesignofthetailunit.ThedistinctiveViscountflight-deckprofilewasalso
aircraft, by now designated Vickers VC2, beginningtoemerge. Vickersviaauthor
8 9
TilE FIRSTONE THE FIRSTONE
theaircrafthad tobecapableofcruising Viceroy t D rtpower,and withconfirma British airlines, Imperial Airways and he at ortholt, an RAF aerodrome we tof
at30,000ft (9,10001). tion fthe ev ntllalengine preference the British Airways Ltd. Throughout the war London. On 1August the European Divi VIKING
• Specified stalling speed was to be 70kt aircraftwas r designat d the V630, and its yearsBOA had keptthecountryinphys 'Ion was reconstituted and renamed the
(80mph/130km/hwithflapsand under name was al 0 changed, to Viscount. This ical contact, under great difficulties, with British European Airways Corporation
carriagedown,andthetake-offdistance was seen as politically expedient, as India therestoftheAllied world,as wella with (BEA), becoming a new government
was to be l,200yd (1,10001) with all had ju t been granted independence from some importantneutral portsofcall. owned airline in itsown right. On th sep
engines operating, but the aircraft also Britainand the imperial postofViceroyof At the war's end BOAC was able to ,Irate emergence of BEA, no fewer than
had to be able to take off with one India no longerexi ted. reopenservice toanewly liberated Europe, twenty-one D -3s were in use and, a
engine cut. The landing run was to be and a specialist division began operations month later, the first ofseventy-five new
1,200yd (1,10001). on 1 February 1946. The new European Vickers Vikings ordered for the carrier )
• Seats had to be readily removable for BOAC to BEA DivisionofBOAC took over route previ l'ntered service.
freight conversion. ously operated by No. 110 Wing, RAF
• Specified floor loadings: Passengers Changes were also taking place regarding TransportCommand.AhandfulofDouglas
1001b/sq ft (488kg/sq 01), freight the primary customer at which the new DC-3 Dakotas, many till in wartime RAF oubts at BEA
1501b/sqft (730km/sq 01). aircraft was aimed. Originally constituted camouflage and with their recently
• Operatingcostswere to beestimated at in1940,BOA had beenformed asagov demobbed crews mostly still wearing RAF Even during the changeover from BOAC
2Yzd per capacity ton-mile, assuming a ernment-owned airline by the merger of uniform, were toform thecoreoftheoper to BEA, officials at the new corporation
3,000hrannual utilization. the operations of the two main pre-war ation. The new division' main base was to werestillexpressingdoubts as to theoper
ational viability ofa revolutionary, Dart L
However, before the final contract could powered aircraft. In response to theircon o D m ....
cerns, Vickers produced studies involving o CaI)tAin Dir«tlol\.liJ1dluG10011 PllMCll.I;ltrbaA"gestowedinI,old,IIl1dcr
buppootsening.ntieAadls,asaiigrlrnienifeuicltacnuotsftcohcmaonenrgssue,sltaawteinoreenesadgwrweietadhs ssoevmeeralofditfhfeermenteveennginmeorecominbnionvaatitoivnes,, IIEI]J FIRliaal'dd8ii1oo0OefffqifciuCeiCprfment mIIIIEJ!] SUItuoguohbrtli.lnluIdg&gha~gerack 1IDm AUirri,ilrlolotJwllklIee&rIc~.uvJoe.M..ollvIIcngrltJullei,lll14Oc'tyoJl..1,128:
nlaogwe sweoeunldforbea llaernggetrh3en2-esdeaftreorm. T6h5eftfu6sein DmacrltusdiinnbgofaorudraNndaiatwdso,NtweoneNtauirabdosj,eotsrotwuto omCPu6l1lmt;1l3I1d11i1i"tlliAodublvllnere-lliAnCbOluC'poratillg..htMly',lid IIIIII TSoteilwetard', pa~I'7 1mmJ St~wlOtrudtpuclal7l7b0ubll.oIIn'II.lithl...·itdt
board (and vice versa). RelllLinglightillhClidrat f;ntrallCCllIo9r UfebehlIowlle:euntlertelll
(19.9601) to 74ft 6in (22.701), with an
BEA's choices for a DC-3 and Viking
appropriate increase in wingspan to 89ft
(27.101). This increased the possible pay replacementwere notconfined tothe pro TheVikingofferedbasicbutcomfortableaccommodationforBEA'searlypassengers
gressively varied versions ofthe Brabazon onitsmainroutes.Nonetheless,theairlinewasverykeentointroduceamodern
load to the required thirty-two passengers.
lIB designs being offered by the manufac replacementtohelpattracttrafficfromitsrivals. AuthOr'scollection
As, at the time, the Armstrong Siddeley
turer in increasinglydesperateattempts to
Mamba still appeared to making better
keep the airline's attention. The Airspeed
progress than the Rolls-Royce Dart, the
enginenacellesweredesigned totakeeither TheDC-3comprisedthebackboneoftheBEAfleetwhentheairlinewasformedfrom AS57 Ambassador, developed from the
engine.The highergross weightofthe new BDAC'sEuropeanDivisionin1946. GlobalAirImage Brabazon llA requirement, also had much smaller designs, some experience with the Amba sador's 282mph (454km/h),
versionwastobe38,1701b(17,325kg),later supportat BEA. Not least, it found favour larger airframes was gained by Airspeed Airspeed calculated that thi would only
among more conservative elements in during wartime production of the Horsa resultinan18minsavinginoveralljourney
increased to39,5001b (17,930kg).
BEA's management because of its use of troop-carryingglider. timeoveran800-mile(1,290km) routeing.
Thi much-modified VC2 design was
given the Vickers type number 609 and twomuchmoreconventional BristolCen Afterthewarthecompanycontinuedto Inaddition,theAmbassadorcouldcarry15
taurus piston engines. concentrateonitsestablished market, pro per cent more payload over 800 miles
named the Viceroy. The MoS finally
ducing the Consul light-twin transport, (1,290km), 21 per cent over 1,000 mile
orderedtwoV609prototypesinDecember
developed from its established Oxford (1,600km) and 30 per cent over 1,150
1946, to be built at Vickers' experimental
works at Foxwarren. A new study ofalter Airspeed versus Vickers design. All the while, though, Airspeed miles (1,850km). Air peed also claimed
was workingon itsown Brabazon llA pro that the Amba sador would require less
native powerplants for the aircraft, in
Although no way matching the giant posal. Despite having only limited experi fuel. The Viscount was estimated by Air
March 1947,saw the MoSconfirm itscur
Vickers-Armstrongs concern in size or ence in building largerailframes, Airspeed speedtoneed 10,9951b(4,990kg)offuelfor
rent preference for the Mamba. Nonethe
less, less than five months later the Min financial strength, Airspeed Ltd of producedan impressiveand veryattractive a 1,000-mile (1,600km) flight, compared
Christchurch, Hampshire, gave the larger de ign in the AS57 Ambassador. Original with the Ambassador' 6,3801b (2,900kg).
istry underwent a change of heart, and
company a lot to worry about in the race ly envisaged as a thirty-seater, powered by This difference was mainly accounted for
instructions were issued to Vickers to
for BEA's Brabazon Type II orders. Air twoBristolHercules, the initialdesignpro by the higher fuel reserves required by the
installDarts,firstonjustoneoftheaircraft,
speed had made its name in the pre-war posalsoon grew, mainly as a result ofcon turboprop.
and laterontheotheras well.Thischange
years as a producer ofsmaller light trans sultations with the Brabazon Committee
was prompted by significant progres at
port and military trainingaircraft, suchas and potential operators. The increase in
Rolls-Royce, the company having effec
tively redesigned and upgraded itsoriginal the Courier, Envoy and Oxford twin size called for larger engines, which led to Debut
Dart engine. The new version ofthe Dart engine types. Duringthe war, in 1940, the the eventual selection ofthe more power
de Havilland Aircraft Company had ful eighteen-cylinder Bristol Centaurus. TheViscountversusAmbassadorcompeti
made its first flight attached, as an addi
acquired a majority shareholding in Air Airspeeds'engineersanddesignersclaimed tionsteadilyincreased,bothmanufactllrers
tionalengine, to the nose ofan AvroLan
speed, though the latter maintained a several important performance advantages tryingtomeetBEA'srequirementsasclose
caster bomber. Two Darts were also later
greatdeal ofindependence as asub idiary for the Ambassadoroverthe Viscount. For ly as they could. Proposals and counter
fitted to aWellington, as its solesource of TheRAFstationatNortholt,westoflondon,wasadaptedtoserveasBEA'smain
company of the larger concern. Despite example, though the Viscount's 310mph proposals were batted back and forth
power, to great effect. The success of the base.NotonlyBEAbutseveralEuropeanoperatorsflewintoNortholtuntiltheearly
thecompany'spre-warpreoccupationwith (500km/h) cruising speed was faster than between George Edwards at Vickers, the
new Dart prompted the MoS toswitchthe 1950s,whenmorefacilitiesweremadeavailableatHeathrow. BEAviaauthor
70 77
THEFIRST0 E
THE FIRSTONE
various government ministries concerned by two entaurus engines. This hybrid trationG-AHRF.Onthemorningof16July live up to its promise. The failure of the Junkers Ju 52s, thirteen Avro 19s and no
and BEA executives. Followinga meeting design would be capable of being re Vickers chieftest pilot, J. 'Mutt' umm rs, Tudor had left BSAAwithan uncompeti fewer than forty-five D.H.89 Rapide
of the Interdepartmental Civil Aircraft engined with ~ ur Darts at a later date. with J.R. 'Jock' Btyce as c pil t, took tlve and hopelessly uneconomic fleet of biplanes, as wellasmallcollectionofmost
Requirements Committee on 16 August Thefu lag ofthe first V630 waseven G-AHRFintotheairforthefirst tim.The 'Illterim' Avro Lancastrians, converted lyhighlyunsuitabletypes.TheunpopularJu
1947, Vickers even seriously considered tually compl ted at Foxwarren. Tran ferred V630 Viscount was the forty-third proto from the Lancaster wartime bomber, and 52s, which had been passed to RAS as war
BEA'sproposalat the meetingfor building toVickers'Wisleyfacilityforfinalassembly, typeaircraftSummershad takenon itsfirst unpressurized York. BSAAwas unable to reparations, and the small, uneconomic
an interimaircraft based ontheV630air thefirstcomplet Vi countwasrolledoutin flight. He commented after th flight that: lOmpete with foreign operators equipped Avro 19s were disposed ofas soon as possi
frame, butwitha larger wingand powered June 1948, having beenallocated the regis- 'It was the smoothest and be t I have ever with more modern aircraft, and this led ble. These had mo tly been based at RAS's
flown'. The only reported fault aft r the directly to theforced mergerwith BOAC. mainbaseatCroydon, theoriginal London
brieffirstflight wasafaulty fuel-flow gauge. Airport, in Surrey. BEA eventually tran
With only fifteen test-flying hours ferred all theCroydonservicestoNortholt.
(albeit very promising hours) in its log EA's Inheritance Theabsorptionofthesmaller,domestic
book, G-AHRF was shown off to great carriers had been a complicated affair for
effect at the 1948 Society ofBriti h Air The ten airlines absorbed by BEA under BEA, and resulted in the fledgling airline
craftConstructors' (SBAC) showatFarn nationalization were Allied Airways (Gan being presented with a meandering,
borough in September. The aircraft'sspir darDower),ChannelIsland Airways,Great uneconomic network, much of it uncon
ited Farnborough appearance attracted a Western & Southern Airlines, Highland Author'scollection nected with th mainroutesystem.Sucha
great deal of press coverage, as well as a Airways, Isle of Man Air Services, North networkstood littlechanceofmakingany
degreeofinitial interestfrom otherpoten Eastern Airways, RAS, Scottish Airway, money for BEA, especially in financially
tial airline customers. On 20 September West CoastAir Services and Western Isles governments ofth autonomous Channel strapped post-war Britain.
G-AHRF made its international debut Airways. Of these, Highland Airways, Islands had al 0 tried to retain their own Following nationalization, BEA had
with a flight to Villacoublay in France. NorthEasternAirways,WestCoastAirSer airline's independence,buteventuallyhad tried to rationalize the much-expanded
vicesand Western Isles Airways were actu been forced to bow to political pressure operation, cutting many routes in an
ally dormant by the time of the takeover. from the mainland. attempttocreateaviableairlineoutofthe
SEA's Challenge The absorption of the remaining com The engineering and operations depart multiple 'shot-gun marriages' forced upon
paniesstillhad tobedelayed untilJanuary mentsofBEAencountered many problems it. Services to Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff,
BEA'sapparentreluctancetocommititself 1947 whil the complicated details ofthe in trying to integrate this 'inherited' fleet Carlisle, the Isle of Man and Prestwick
Theunusual,modernlinesofthecompletedViscount630prototypeattractedinterest
to either the Viscount or the Amba sador Illtegrationwereworkedout. Inthe mean withtheBEA'sDC~3s andVikings.Theair were either severely reduced or dropped
assoonasitmadeitsfirstappearances. Author'scollection
waspartly influenced by itsownuncertain time the operating airlines continued to line now found itself the 'proud' owner of altogether. In addition, an unexpected
future. As well as beingformed outofthe fly their services on behalf of BEA. The two more DC-3s, eight German-built slump in air travel in 1947--48, following
old European Division of BOA ,under
nationalization, the infant BEA had
also been obliged to take over the opera
tions of ten smaller, previously indepen
dentscheduled Britishairlines.Thenewly
elected post-warsocialistgovernmenthad
embarkedonmas nationalizationofmany
sectorsofthecountry'scommercialactivi
ties, and the scheduled airline companies
were prime targets. This was to affect the
airline industry, in ofar a all British
scheduled serviceswereonly to beoperat
ed by oneofthe three governmentairline
corporations: BOAC, which was to oper
ate long-haul, worldwide services; BEA,
which would operate all domestic and
'Mutt'SummersandJockBrycetookG-AHRFaloftonitsfirstflightandsawthe
European routes; and the British South
Viscountprojectfinallyairborne. Author'scollection
American Airways Corporation (BSAA).
Specification- V.630 The last-named, BSAA, had originally
been formed as an independent operator
Powerplant: 4xR.Da.1 Mk502Dart but was nationalized under the new regu
Weights: Emptybasicequipmentweight27,OOOIb(12,200kg);maximumzerofuelweight36,OOOIb lations before it had began commercial
(16,300kg);maximumtake-offweight45,OOOIb(20,400kg);maximumlandingweight
operations. It flew routes from London to
40,OOOIb(lB,100kgl;typicalmaximumpayload9,OOOIb(4.100kg).
the Caribbean and South America, but,
Dimensions: Length74ft6in(22.71m);spanB9ft(27.13m);finheight26ft3in(Bml;wingareaBB5sqft
after avery turbulentand shortexistence,
(B222sqm).
Performance: Economiccruisingspeed273mph(439km/h);maximumcruisingspeed300mph(4BOkm/h); marred by numerous accidents and equip
rangewithmaximumpayload700statutemiles(l,130km). ment problems, BSAA was eventually
Averagepassenger taken over by BOAC. One of BSAA's
accommodation: 32(allfirstclass- highdensityj major problems had been the failure ofa TheConvairCV240attractedagreatdealofinterest,winningmanyordersfromairlineoperators
new British airliner, the Avro Tudor, to worldwide,aswellasinitsnativeUSA. Author'scollection
13
12
THE FIRST0 E
TilE FIRSTONE
10July 1947. Vickers seriously had to con engine, the R.Da.3, allowed the increase (CofA)on15September1949,after290hr
the post-warboom, had led toanumberof sidertheoptionofceasingworkon theVi in th aircraft'ssize, and Vickers wasfinal flying and more than 160 flights. Further
redundancies in BEA and a reduction of countaltogether. However, with testflying ly nfident that it could to offer adesign trials, covering pressurization, the de-icing
theVikingorder. ofthefirstV630prototypewellunderway, mat hing BEA's requirements. systems and operation under tropical con
The economic drain on BEA's limited workwascontinuedontheproject.George TheprototypeV630,G-AHRF, received ditions,followed overthenextfew months.
resources caused the airline to examine its Edwards, strongly supported by Vickers its initial Certificate of Airworthiness The pressurization system was tested up to
future fleet options very closely. Even so, a Aircraft Division managing dir ctor Sir
re-equipmentdecisionwasurgentlyneeded. HewKilner, managed tokeeptheViscount
Aftersome initialde-icingproblems,which alive, though the aircraft's future was in
had led to a short period ofgrounding, the some doubt for several months after the
Vikinghadfinally proved itselfasturdyand lossoftheBEAorder.Nonetheless, theair
reliable transport. However,BEA'srivalson linestillencouragedVickerstodevelopthe
Europe's major routes were taking delivery designtomeetitsrequirements,evenwith
ofmuchmoremodemrypes,andtheViking out placingadefiniteorder.
was having increasingdifficulrycompeting. Despite BEA's apparent preference for
The new Convair CV240, imported from piston engines, continuing improvements
the USA, was proving popular with the in the prototype turboprop's performance
newlyre-emergingEuropeanairlinessuchas continued to keep the airline interested.
KLM,Sabenaand wissair. Althoughitsmodernlinesandturboproppowerdrewsomeattention,theArmstrong Vickerseventuallyoffered BEAtheV700,
WhitworthApollowasfartoosmalltobeseriouslyconsideredforcommercial
aforty-seater,stretchedViscountwithbig
operationbyBEA. JennyGradidge ger wings and powered by a new, more
SEA's Shopping Lists powerful version of the Dart than the
R.Da.l fitted to the initial V630, which Alargeorderfortwentyoftheattractive,yetstillpiston-powered,Airspeed
DespitetheMoS'simprovedconfidencein Cunliffe-Owen Concordia were all con was now available. This higher-rated AmbassadorswasplacedbyBEAinpreferencetotheVickersV.630Viscount. MAP
Armstrong iddeley Mamba engines that
thedesign and its placingofordersfor the
tendersfor thecontract. A largeorder was
powered it,finally ruled the Apollooutas
Dart-powered V630 prototypes, the air
actuallyplacedfor twenty-fiveMarathons,
linecontinuedtohedgeitsbetsevenayear acommercial proposition.
though this was later reduced and eventu TheJiltViscount
Even when the newly refined versions
after its formation. The MoS was also
allycancelledaltogether. In theend,ofall
actively supporting and promoting devel of the Dart started to show significant TheAmbassadororderledtoaninitialslow-downonworkonthesecondViscountpro BoltonPaulAircraftandusedtotestitsnewflyingcontrolsystems,flyingfromDefford.
these available options only a handful of
opmentofViscount rivals. As well as Air improvement, BEA continued to delay totype,stillbeingbuiltatFoxwarren.IntendedinitiallytobepoweredbyfourDarttur FurthervaluableresearchandtestflyingwasundertakenforLouisNewmarkLtdand
making any firm commitment to the air Herons weredelivered as 'Rapide replace boprops, likeG~AHRF, theincompleteaircraftwas fitted insteadwithapairofwing theDeccaNavigatorCompany,operatingonceagain,from1957,fromSeighford.
speed's Ambassador, Armstrong Whit
craft,muchtothecontinuedfrustrationof ments'. The somewhat primitive Rapide mountedexpenmental Rolls-RoyceTayjets.The resulting aircraftwasto serveasa In1958,whileundertakingaresearchflighiforDecca,VX217sufferedaseriousin·
worth inCoventrywasdeveloping itsown
Vickers and George Edwards. The airline biplanes, once earmarked for early dispos flyingtestbed,forthenewengine,insteadofassistingindevelopingtheairlineraspects flightfireinawheelbay,followinghydraulicfailure.Asafelandingwasmade,butthe
turboprop airliner, the AW.55 Apollo. A
al, managed to remain in BEA service, ofthealrcraftsonglnal deSign. Inplaceofitsoriginallyallottedcivil registration, G fire hadburntthrough themainsparandtheaircraftwasdeclaredawrite-off.With
was also examining its options for smaller
24-30-seat aircraft, the Apollo was even
albeit in steadily declining number, until ARHG,theaircraft,nowdesignatedV.663,worethemilitaryserialVX217. Afterfinal only 110hr15minin its flight log, VX217 was broken upatSeighford during 1960.
aircraft to operate on the local services it
tually cancelled as a commercial project assemblyatWisleyitmadeitsfirstflight,pilotedby'Jock'Bryce,on15March1950.
had retained. The de Havilland Dove the mid-1960s.
after two prototypeshadflown. Itssmaller Amid all the upheavaloftakingon and OnlyonepublicappearancewasmadebyVX217,attheSBACDisplayatFarnbor TheuniqueV.663spentmostofitsexistenceoutofthepubliceye,makingimportant
and Heron, the Miles Marathon and the
capacity, and disappointment with the reorganizing the nationalized routes, as ough In September 1950. Thereafter the aircraft was operated from Seighford in contributionstoaeronauticalresearchandthedevelopmentofnewequipment.
StaffordshireonresearchflightsbytheMoS.Thisuniqueaircraftwasthenleasedto JennyGradidge
well as trying to develop the mainline air
lineoperation, BEA's managementfaced a
dailystruggle tosurviveand prove the air
linewasaviableconcern.Unless BEAwas
seen to have made the right equipment
choices, it would face severe scrutiny and
might well suffer the ignominy of a re
merger back into BOAC. Just one expen
sive mistake could well have proved fatal
for the airline'sexistence.
Y.630 Certification
and the Y.700
Two days after the G-AHRF's triumphant
Villacoublayflight, on22September1948,
Vicker'increasinglyhighhopesfortheair
craft were dealt a sudden, severe blow
when BEA's management finally signed a
£3 million contract for twenty Airspeed
BEAinheritedasizeablefleetofdeHavillandD.H.89RapidesfromtheUKoperatorsit Ambassadors. The Ambassador prototype
wasobligedtoabsorb.Severalofthesepre-war-designedbiplaneswereretainedin
hadmadeitsfirstflightoverayearearlier,on
thefleetforanothertwentyyearsonsomelocalroutes. MAP
15
14
THE FIRSTONE TilE FIRST0 E
altitudes of30,000ft (9,OOOm), The ther
Specification V,IOO
mal de-icing ystem was one ofthe fir t of
itstypetobefitted toacivilairliner,and its Powerplant: 4xR.Da.3Mk505Dart
BELOW:Foritsdebutonthelondon-Parisroute in
trials on G-AHRF were actually delayed Weights: Emptybasicequipmentweight36,B591b(16.730kg)(40seats);maximumzerofuelweight July1950,G-AHRFwasrepaintedinfull BEAlivery.
until January 1950, awaiting ufficiently 49,OOOIb(22,240kgl;maximumtake-offwight63,OOOIb12B,600kgl;maximumlanding Here,itsharestheNortholtrampwithaSwissair
severe conditions, These were eventually weight5B,500lb(26,325kg);typicalmaximumpayload12,1411b(5,510kg). CV240beforethefirstflight. ATPHviaauthor
foundofftheAtlanticcoa tofEire,th air Dimensions: LengthB1ft2in(24.74m);span93ftB~in(2B.56m);finheight26ft9inIB.15m);wingarea
craftbeing ba edatShannon to undertake 963sqftlB9.46sqm);wheelbase24ftlOin(7.57ml BonoM:AmongtheVIPsonthefirstcommercial
theresearch. Althoughthe thermalsystem Performance: Economiccruisingspeed302mph(4B6kmlhl,maximumcruisingspeed31Bmph(512km/h); ViscountservicewereVickersdesignerGeorge
service.ceiling2B,500ft(B,700m);rangeWithmaximumpayload970statutemiles(l,560kml. Edwards(thirdfromleftl,jetenginepioneerFrank
worked satisfactorily, the liquid-ba ed ys Averagepassenger
Whittle(thirdfromright,forwardrow)andBEA's
temsfor the propeller and the wind cr n accommodation: 4D-651allfirstclass- highdensityl PeterMasefield(furthestupthesteps).
had to be modified owing to problem
ATPHviaauthor
encounteredduringth trial.Onlaterpro
duction aircraft the propeller were fitted Brief Scheduled Debut
withelectricalovershoesand the pumpon
the windscreen sy tem wa improved. The AspecialCofAwas issued toG-AHRFon
Dart engines were also fitted with electri 27July, hortlyafteritsreturnfrom tropical
BEAtitlesandlogoswereappliedtoG-AHRFforanumberofdemonstrationanddisplayflights. MAP callyheated intakesasaresultofdatagath trial. ow in full BEA livery, it operated
ered during thede-icing trial. theworld'sfir tscheduledcommercial, tur
Then, in contra t, G-AHRF wa sent bine-powered airline service on 29 July.
StructuralSolutions
south to Nairobi and Khartoum for tropi Operating a normal scheduled BEA flight
Although unpressurized.theViking's semi-monocoque, stressed-skin fuselage designhadbeen usedto form the cal trial in Jun and July 1950. Before from ortholt to Paris-Le Bourget, G
basisoftheViscount'spressurizedfuselage.TheViscount'ssingle-sparwingandtheuseofunbrokenhoopframes leavingforAfricatheaircraftmadeanum AHRFcarriedtwelveguestsand BEAchief
inthemainstructurewerealsodesignfeaturesoriginallytriedontheViking. ber ofpublicity flights in association with executive Peter Masefield in addition to
ThefactthattheViscountwastobepressurizedfromtheflightdecktotherearofthecabinposeditsownprob BEA in March and April. Although BEA fourteen fare-paying passengers. Th sp
lems.Theflightdeckroofpresentedparticulardifficultiesatthedesignstage.Thesheer-downangleofthemain still had yet to place any firm order, G cial VIP guests included George Edwards
fuselagestructureatapointthatfarforwarddictatedthata'hood'wasrequiredtoallowanydecentviewoutside
AHRF carried BEA colours for the tours, and Sir Frank Whittle, British inv ntor of
forthepilots.Asaresult,adomewasinsertedabovewherethepilots'headswouldbe,andfairedover.Thisgave
which visited eight Europeancapitals and the jetengine. Captains R. Rymer and W.
theViscountitsdistinctive'perky'cockpitprofile.
covered 4,400 miles (7,080km). ]. Wakelin were the pilots. In gaining his
Themuch-commented-onchoiceoflargecabinwindows,ratherthanthethenperceivedwisdomofmuchsmall
While th econd prototype Viscount Viscount rating, apt Rymer became the
erwindowsinapressurizedfuselage,wascontroversial.However,VickersengineerBillStephensonhadconcluded,
mathematically,thatthelargeellipticalshape,onthe'neutralhole'principle,wasthemostefficientatbearingthe hadbeenalmo tcompletewhenitwasmod holder of the world's first commercial
stressloads.Thesameformulaledtotheadoptionofellipticalentrancedoorsandrearfreight-holddoor. ified to jet power, the third aircraft, provi licence to op rat a civil turbine-powered
Thedesignalsokeptweightpenaltiestoaminimum,asonlylightreinforcementwasneededaroundthebound sionally registeredG-AJZW,existedonlyas air transportaircraft,
arystructureonthecabinwindows.Onearlyproductionaircraftallthecabinwindowswerealsofullyfunctioning a number of components, and the e had After this historic inaugural flight G
emergencyexits.Thiswasslightlymodifiedonlateraircraft,onlyafewofthembeingusedassuch.Thefactthat beenplacedin toragewhentheprogramme AHRFoperatedafurtherthirty-fiv sched
therewasnotasinglereportedoccurrenceofacabinwindowfailureduringthefollowingsixdecadesofViscount was lowed down. However, these stored uled services to Le Bourget, the airline's
operationcertainlyseemstovindicateStephenson'scalculations.
partscame inusefulwhentheMoS, incon busie troute, overthe nexttwo weeks.On
InstretchingtheV630toproducetheV.700thepassengercabinunderwentafundamentalchange.IntheV630it
sultation with BEA, ordered a ingl V,700 3 August 1950 BEA finally placed a firm
hadbeenstructurallydividedintotwo.OnthelargerV700thecabinwasunobstructed,thegalleybeingrelocatedby
prototype, to be powered by four Darts. order for twenty V,701 Viscount, slightly
theforwarddoor,withthewashroomsmovedtotherear.Thisofferedmuchgreateroperationalflexibility,enabledthe
Becau e many ofthe required components modified versionsofthe V,700withagross
Viscounttoattractawidervarietyofcustomers,andallowedVickerstoadapttheaircraftmorecloselytotheirneeds.
Theflightdeckwaslaidoutfortwopilots,andarear-facingradioofficer'spositionwassqueezedinbehindthem.This alreadyexistedandneededonlyminormod weightof53,000lb(24,000kg) andcapable
wasstillrequiredinthedaysbeforeradioequipmentwassufficientlydevelopedtoallowthepilotstocommunicate ification to form partofthe new aircraft, it of accommodating forty-seven pass ngers
directlywithgroundstationsthemselves. tookonlyeighteenmonth tocon tructthe in a five-abreast configuration. Still on
Viscount 700 prototype. Owing to limited loan to BEA, G-AHRF wa switch d to
Z.Gl-"'''STOWAG( .t.S(TQI[J1WPAI.Al[Ml'isIO~XLU I11.'.ioI'I.OIO.OMO":T"tlOlA"P"'t"COHTAlNVI.S spac at the xperimental plant, the work the ortholt-Edinburgh domestic trunk
."1...HI..UO..T.CIOl£HVtTA~.IHrG't" l•O.-H.O..TsftFCOlOOONtCUlO!lHO'rt.tJJ«lII ~ItLUGGA'(:~ was trans~ rred from Foxwarrento two ep route between 15 and 23 Augu t, to carry
_ Q","5"T'I":"""'"~HtAOAUT X,,l"G"O"«"Jw".""""""""'01(0AAlIU arate Vickers-Superrnarine factorie ,on at increa ed trafficon the erviceduring that
D1J00000sCHAJIlIloICltIIUT U iLA'lJHCiW.TCH outh Marston, which built the fu elage, year's EdinburghFe tival.
14n~ ~NCKAT 11K.ItVIHGHA1CH~"
rs.~ CAatNn 2..K¥'0ll;....JUCC~ and the other at Itchen, where the wings BythetimetheVi countwasreturned to
2i~COHT.....u
werebuilt.Thedisparatepartswerebrought Vickers it had flown 1,815 scheduled pa
togetherat Brooklandsfor finala embly in senger.Theairline, whosecrew hadoper
BEAtitlesandlogoswereappliedto April 1950, and the first ofthe larger Vi ated the aircraft, had been very impressed
G-AHRFforanumberofdemonstration counts, the V,700, now registered G bythenewtype'stimeke pinginscheduled
anddisplayflights.Theforwardcabin AMAV, made its maiden flight on 28 service, as well a its reliable erviceability.
area,behindtheflightdeck,couldbe August.TakingofffromBrooklands,itland The favourable publicity generated for
configuredwithawell-designed,
ed at Wisley, where the te t-flying pro both BEA and the aircraft was invaluable
compactgalley,aswellasoffering
grammewastobeba ed.Thefll elageofthe to both airlineand manufacturer. The pas
extrabaggagespaceandproviding
new design was 7ft 4in (2.2m) longer than sengersluckyenoughtofind them elve on
accesstosomeoftheaircraftsystems.
that ofthe V,630, and its wing pan was Sft G-AHRF'sflightsshowedgreatenthusiasm
Vickersviaauthor
(l.5m)greater. for the new aircraft with its revolutionary
76 77