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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0325.PDF
FLIGHT, 23 March 1956 323 will specialize on the Viscount 800, and sub-sequently the Vanguard, with Hum continuing 700 manufacture. The first 800 fuselage isalready made (Flight, March 16th), and the first of B.E.A.'s 802s will fly in June, witheight due for delivery by the year's end. There seems no doubt that the future com-bined Weybridge-Hurn output will more than match the pace at which the order-book isfilled. Yet the old dilemma—so familiar to the British industry—of no production with-out orders, no orders without production, is still present even with a best-seller like theViscount (one has been sold every other day so far this year); and the doubling of produc-tion capacity, even with a two-year backlog of 200, is not a measure that could have beenembarked upon lightly. Some idea of the effort being put into the Viscount programmemay be gained from the fact that this expan- sion anticipates continued production forseveral years ahead at an annual rate substan- tially higher than the 89 planned for 1956 (42were built in 1955, 22 in 1954 and 22 in 1953). Last week we renewed our acquaintancewith the Viscount factories at Weybridge and Hum, and were forcibly impressed by thetempo of activity and the scale upon which —given the orders—civil aircraft productioncan be organized. The scene at Hum is especi- ally heartening: on the day of our visit twoViscounts, fresh-painted in the eye-catching scarlet-and-white styling of Capital Airlines,were being prepared for flight, one (the air- FLOOR AREA (SQ FT) DEVOTED TO VISCOUNT PRODUCTION (Figures in brackets denote number of aircraft delivered, or to be delivered in 1956 and 1957.) Hum ... Weybridge ... Totals 1951 114,625 114,625 1M2 114,625 114.625 »»53 175,300 102,625 (22) 277.925 (22) 1954 175,300(13) 59.250 (9) 234.550 (22) 19S5 324,075 (34) 89.375 (8) 413.450 (42) 195* 355,125 (77) 300.625 (12) 655.750 (89) 1957 355.125 (68) 453.125 (50) 808.250 (118) Above, Hum is the main centre of fuselage manufacture, and the picture shows some of the 18 jigs for the construction of front and rear fuselage sections. Below, the starting point of the Capital line from which aircraft roll away at the rate of one a week. Note the full stock of Roto/ airscrews and Rolls- Royce Darts alongside the assembly line. line's fourteenth) for delivery to Washington,the other for acceptance by the resident Capi- tal engineers. The assembly line from whichthey had come occupies entirely one of the two big erecting halls on the south side of theairport. The scene inside was one of orderly hustle and (something which black and whitephotographs cannot capture) colour—scarlet paint schemes, vivid blue protective poly-vinal plastic, beige primer, green assembly jigs. One formed an immediate impression ofmethod and system, and reflected on the fact that never before in this country have pro-duction engineers been able to get down to a batch of 60 civil aircraft, all to one specifica-tion. Nevertheless, it is a measure of the flexibility of the Viscount production machinethat it can handle so many varied customer- requirements at one time. We were remindedof the fact that as many design man-hours went into the North American Viscount as wentinto the original aircraft, and realized that the days when one standard aircraft was goodenough for everyone are long since past. The Capital erecting hall at the time of our visitcontained aircraft Nos. 16 to 25—the latter as yet a wingless shell fresh from the nearbyfuselage assembly shop, and the former being peeled of its anti-scratch coverings before flighttest. The Capital order is due to be completed by the end of the year. The adjoining erecting hall was fully occu-pied with general Viscount production. Here the single line, at the moment made up of air-craft for Commonwealth airlines, is parted in the centre; flowing towards one end were thefirst two 748s for Central African Airways, and the seventeenth 724 for Trans-Canada AirLines. Towards the other end flowed the first three 720s of the Trans-Australia Airlines
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