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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 1229.PDF
FLIGHT, 31 August 1956 375 Powerplant SpanLength Gross weight...Cruising speed Drawing above and photograph of model below show Vanguard Four Rolls-RoyceR.B.109 Tyne 118ft 122ft 4in135.000 lb ... 400/425 m.p.h. evolution. The Vanguard represents a reversal of the hitherto accepted principle thati ^?rt"haul transport aircraft should be smaller than those for long-range operations. Yet although the Vanguard was primarily designed for sectors of less than 500 miles, it is ableto carry its design maximum pay load of 21,000 1b over stage-lengths of up to nearly 3,000 miles, and this flexibility of performance, coupled with a cruising speed of 400-425 m.p.h.,makes its appeal an especially wide one. Perhaps its most valuable commercial attribute (and one which it shares with no other airliner) is that, by virtue of its massive cargo holdsin the lower deck of its double-bubble fuselage, it can carry something like 85 per cent of its maximum payload with only a quarter of the passenger seats filled. This is a "something-for-nothing" extra which enables the aircraft to be filled up in off-peak periods to permit airlines to get the maximum utilization out of the aircraft in fluctuating seasonal trafficconditions. This facility is not offered at the expense of passenger-carrying capacity— the Vanguard will seat up to 115—nor for any substantial penalty in structure weight. Thefirst point to be appreciated about the Vanguard, therefore, is its great capacity (greater than any airliner currently operating); and a second point is that it has been designed to use thiscapacity to the full, not only on short sectors, but on medium-range routes also. No less important is the fact that its turboprop power, supplied by four Rolls-Royce Tynes ofexceptional efficiency, offers a level of economy over this wide band of ranges which no jet competitor can approach. Cost per passenger mile of the tourist version does not rise above1.5 cents right down to ranges of 200 miles, while over 2,000-mile sectors this cost falls below 1.25 cents. Into the design, of course, has gone the unmatched combined experienceof Vickers and Rolls-Royce with the Viscount. Production will be at Weybridpe, where capacity is at present being enlarged, alongside the larger 800-Series Viscount. The com-pany's capacity at its Hum factory will continue to be filled with Viscount production. The design of the Vanguard has been described in detail in previous issues of Flight, in particularin our issues of June 1 and July 6. The first Vanguard is scheduled to fly in the autumn of 1958. This aircraft, although notstrictly a prototype (it is being constructed with production tools), will be retained by Vickers for tests and demonstrations. As already noted, the design was undertaken inparticularly close partnership with British European Airways, and the Corporation formally signed the contract for 20 aircraft on July 20 at a price, including spares, of approximately£lm per aircraft. Originally, these machines were to have been of the early (now extinct) V.901 type, but all Vanguards will now be of the V.950 series, with increased range. Firstdeliveries to B.E.A. are scheduled to begin in March 1960. The first aircraft will have the "stage one" Rolls-Royce Tyne, rated at 4,020 s.h.p.; "stage two" engines will be availablein 1961 rated at 4,600 s.h.p., and the early engines will be converted to this standard. By early 1963 Rolls-Royce anticipate that the "stage three" Tyne should be in service, rated atsome 5,000 s.h.p., permitting Vanguard cruising speeds of 425 m.p.h.
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