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Aviation History
1955
1955 - 0981.PDF
15 July 1955 THE STORY OF THE VISCOUNT ^ ; (Continued from page 86) was completed to the Ministry of Supply specification 21/49 ofApril 19th, 1950, and first flew, piloted by the present Vickers chief test pilot, "Jock" Bryce, from Brooklands aerodrome atWeybridge on August 28th, 1950. This aircraft, G-AMAV, was originally designed for a gross weight of 48,000 lb. It had a wingof five feet greater span than the V.630 (giving a span of 94ft) and its length was 6ft 9in greater (overall length: 81ft 2in). It isinteresting to recall that this prototype was eventually flown by B.E.A. in the England-New Zealand Air Race of 1953 during> which it took off in the Tropics at weights of up to about 65,000 lb —17,000 lb above the design maximum! It completed the 12,500mile course in 40 hr 45 min, including flying non-stop from the Cocos Islands to Melbourne, 3,530 miles, in 10 hr 16 min at anaverage speed of 343 m.p.h. While work had been progressing on the V.700, Vickers issueda new specification (91341) for this aeroplane in September 1949. This proposed three alternative interior layouts giving accom-modation for up to 53 passengers. The gross weight was at first 48,000 lb but was later raised to 50,000 lb. The cruisingspeed was 310 m.pJi. The price was estimated as £160,000. With the offering of the V.700 prototype B.E.A.'s faith in theViscount, which had fallen to a low level as a result of the Corporation's recent economic assessments of the V.630,immediately revived. This design incorporated all the advantages of the "stretching" which had been advocated by them in theprevious year. Estimates of its economic characteristics showed a marked improvement on the V.630. B.E.A.'s enthusiasm for the enlarged Viscount increased rapidlyas a result of promising flight trials with the small V.630 prototype. At B.E.A.'s instigation this aeroplane gained a full passenger-carrying C. of A. on July 27th, 1950, and two days later was operated by B.E.A. on the world's first scheduled commercialpassenger service with a turbine-powered aeroplane. From that date until August 23rd B.E.A. operated regular scheduled servicesbetween London and Paris and London and Edinburgh with this single aeroplane. In the course of 127 flying hours ofscheduled operation in 26 days, during which 1,815 passengers were carried, the V.630 demonstrated in a convincing manner itsattractions both to the traveller and to the airline operator. On August 3rd, 1950, B.E.A. signed an order with Vickers-Armstrongs for 20 (later increased to 27) V.701 Viscounts. These were to be a slightly refined version of the V.700 prototype whichwas then on the point of flying. They were to have a gross weight of 53,000 lb, accommodation for 47 passengers in a five-abreastlayout, and belly holds for increased freight capacity. The B.E.A. order completely altered the future prospects of theViscount and Vickers were able to start tooling for production. Further orders gradually accumulated from other operators untilwithin two and a half years a total of some 40 more had been sold. Since then the rate of selling has increased rapidly andtotal sales now exceed 220. The Viscount has successfully estab- lished itself as one of the world's major transport aeroplanes. The first production V.701 for B.E.A., R.M.A. Discovery,G-ALWE, first flew at Wisley on August 20th, 1952. It was delivered to B.E.A. on January 3rd, 1953, after all necessarydevelopment and acceptance tests had been completed. The V.701, as finally delivered to B.E.A., had a gross weight of56,000 lb (later increased to 57,000 lb) and cruised at 302 m.p.h. at 23,000ft on 780 e.h.p. engine at 13,600 r.p.m. from its Dart 505engines. Initially operation was normally restricted to 13,300 r.p.m. which gave a speed of 290 m.p.h. under mean conditions. The Viscount V.701 gained its type C. of A. on April 17th,1953 and first went into regular scheduled service two days later sight years and one month after the first thoughts about the 93 1948 ^ 1953 10 2O3O4O5060708090100 1956 Length and capacity of the three basic types of Viscount airiromes. original VC-2 project in March 1945 and rather more thantwo years and eight months after B.E.A. had ordered the Viscount. Since then B.E.A. has brought 25 of its V.701s into scheduledservice. On February 11th, 1953, a contract was signed betweenVickers-Armstrongs and B.E.A. for the construction of twelve V.801 aircraft—a larger development of the V.701. This aero-plane was to have had a gross weight of 65,000 1b and accom- modation for up to 86 tourist (56 first-class) passengers in afuselage 13ft 3in longer than that of the V.701. The engines were to have been the 1,690 e.h.p. Dart R.Da.5 and the speedwas to have been rather less than the V.701's. The intention originally was to get these aircraft into service during 1955 but,after the placing of the original order, B.E.A. modified and developed its specification of requirements in consultation withVickers-Armstrongs and taking into account developments in the Dart. As a result, a new contract for twelve V.802 Viscountswas signed on April 14th, 1954 to replace the earlier V.801 order. An option on a further ten V.802s was taken up at the same timeand confirmed in March 1955. The 22 Viscount-Major V.802s will be delivered to B.EA. from October, 1956. The V.802 is designed to take advantage of the R.Da.6 Dart 510engine of 1,740 e.h.p. and will accommodate up to 65 passengers in a fuselage 3ft lOin longer than that of the V.701. Althoughthe fuselage is only slightly lengthened die cabin capacity has been considerably increased by moving the rear pressure bulkhead5ft 5in to the rear—giving a total increase in cabin length of 9ft 3in. The higher power of the Dart 510 and the savings inweight from the shorter fuselage are expected to give the V.802 a substantially higher performance than the V.801. Indeed, amean cruising speed of 318 m.pJi. is projected. The economics are expected to show an improvement of 15 per cent over theseat-mile costs of the V.701. The Viscount has thus progressed in ten years from the firstdesign conceptions of 1945—for a 34,000 lb 24-passenger aero- plane cruising at 296 m.p.h.—to the Viscount-Major V.802 oftoday, designed for a gross weight of 62,000 lb with up to 70 passengers and cruising at 318 m.p.h. As the first turbopropaeroplane in die. world to go into commercial service and the first British transport aeroplane to be operated by aUnited States domestic airline, its history is worth recording. All airline Viscounts have developed from the V.700 prototype, shown here in the first of its numerous colour schemes.
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