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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0072.PDF
70 FLIGHT "Even after many flights in the Viscount, one cannot fail to be impressed by the view given by these windows." CONSTRUCTOR AND OPERATOR . . design and technical difficulties. The ingenuity of Basil Stevenson (assistant chief designer) in producing the elliptical window frame in tension, and 'he extensive developmem work and tests done by Vickers on the window material, provided the solutions to the problem. Even after many flights in the Viscount one cannot fail to be impressed with the excellent view given. Apart from the noise and vibration (or, in the Viscount, their absence) and the view one can get through the windows, the design of the interior and the cabin service are the features most notice able to the passenger. To mention interior design to most post-war aircraft designers was to tread where angels feared, and to court the answer "You can have any scheme you like—so long as it's the one we are doing." After experiences of so many airline officials expressing their own personal preferences, Vickers were no exception; but when they realized how we were approaching the problem a sound basis of co-operation on the design of the Viscount interior was established. The whole design of the interior furnishing scheme, materials and details was worked out in the following way. It was sgreed within B.E.A. that the writer would be responsible for the interior scheme and, employing a first-class industrial designer as consultant, would transmit his requirements to the Vickers design-staff. Thus, the best possible standard of industrial design was injected and "engineered" into the aeroplane by the operator and aircraft designer. A short length of full-scale mock- up was used to develop the schenr^. In the early days of the Viscount 630 prototype the design consultant was Christopher Nicholson, F.R.I.B.A., who unfortunately met his death during the 1948 gliding competitions in Switzerland. The interior of the Viscount 7Di series was produced with Mr. James Gardner, O.B.E., R.D.I., M.S.I.A., as consultant. The combination of aircraft designer, industrial designer and operating engineer used in this way proved singularly effective. Taking the B.E.A. red and grey as the basis of the colour- scheme, we set ourselves the broad target of producing an interior which would be "light and airy," "appropriate to the vehicle," pleasant, and at the same time practical. We aimed in particular at producing an interior out of the orthodox run—one which was unlikely to become dated in three or four years' time. Great care was taken to eliminate as far as possible the tube effect so common in civil aircraft interiors and to use "design tricks" to give an appearance of greater width to the cabin. The standard of detail finish we set oaraelves was not easy to meet, and Vickers' design staff had to tackle each item, particularly as no suitable standard fittings were available in the market. The experience gained in the design of the Viking was invaluable; each detail joint, fitting and surface came in for examination, and special fabric for the walls was designed by Mr. Gardner. The competence with which Vickers mastered the necessary changes in design technique can be seen in the production aircraft. A particular detail of interest is the silent "punkah louvres" which provide individual fresh air for each passenger—an unusual feature in pressurized aircraft. The development of this silent louvre is a story in itself. Others are the design and finish of the light luggage racks, the concealed air-circulation vents and concealed fixings for wall and ceiling panels. While bearing in mind ease of maintenance, and durability, we kept in the forefront the fact that the interior would stand or fall B.E.A.'s red-and-grey colour scheme is used for the Viscount interior, designed to be both pleasant and practical. by the views of the womenfolk. Judging from comments already received, we have succeeded. Designing for the Pilot.—The pilot has been particularly well catered for and a good deal of the co-operative effort has gone into the front end of the aircraft. The control-cabin layout was worked out in 1946-7 with the aid of a mock-up, and instrument panels, lighting, seats, radio, etc., were laid out to suit B.E.A.'s operating requirements. The good pilot-view which was produced is a measure of Vickers' successful engineering, and the large windscreen panels show how this has been achieved notwithstand ing the pressure problem. The co-pilot's station had to be arranged to enable him to do navigation and fuel-control duties, so his seat was made to slide back, and the control wheel to be disengaged and moved up to the dashboard, thus giving him freedom to work his charts. Detail agreement was reached on the layout of the engine instruments and the design of the control and mechanism for the steerable nosewheel. Great attention has been given to the detail layout of the radio, which is arranged for operation by both pilots and radio operator. The latter has been well catered for in the design and layout of the table and console. A particular development on the operating side is the mixing system which, developed from the old intercom, now enables the crew members to communicate with one another or to transmit and receive as required. Other items on which the B.E.A. development engineers spent a good deal of time were the layout of the control pedestal, the duplicated braking system and such points as the design of that most important but oft-neglected accessory, the windscreen wiper. There is a queue in B.E.A. of pilots waiting to join the Viscount flight, and none already on it wish to go back to other aeroplanes. The Steward.—This member of the crew has all to hand in the forward pantry, which is designed to take the standard equipment already developed by B.E.A., including tray containers, hot-meal boxes and all the other apparatus required to serve first-class meals. Traffic Handling.—Nothing is likely to give an aeroplane or an airline a bad name and exasperate the passengers more than delays caused through difficulties in loading and unloading. Such difficulties have been minimized on the Viscount by many useful features. The large elliptical doors enable passengers to enter from either end. Great care was taken to provide adequate baggage capacity and the largest possible under-belly holds have been engineered. The forward door provides excellent access to the forward baggage compartment and is also used for loading and unloading the pantry equipment. The rear baggage-hold has its own separate door, whilst the under-belly holds have been designed free from obstruction, with ease of access and with robust door sills and edges. The method of baggage lashing in the upper holds is a particularly interesting development. Many of the lessons learned while operating the Viking have been incorporated into its successor to improve traffic handling. Design for Maintenance.—Ease of access and interchangeability, lon life and reliability are obvious desiderata presenting a big problem in the design and development of a new aeroplane. On the Viscount much attention has been given to the task of the maintenance engineer in providing clean and accessible component and system installations. A number of the now well-known B.E.A. maintenance trials have been carried out on the Viscount 700 prototype, and on the production line, to see what difficulties are likely to exist in the
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