12 minute read
Flying first
The Viscount was the first turboprop aircraft to carry passengers and the first test flight flew from Brooklands in 1948.
Words: Paul Rainbird, Alisdair Suttie Photos: Brooklands Museum Collection, Viscount Volunteers
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The Viscount was the first turboprop aircraft to carry passengers and was a soaring success for Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands.
The Vickers Viscount is one of the most important aircraft in post-war British aviation history and it is rooted in Brooklands. Even before the Second World War had come to an end, the Brabazon Committee was looking to the future of flying and a range of different planes to meet the needs of passengers on different routes.
Vickers-Armstrongs had followed the committee’s reports carefully and Rex Pierson, the company’s chief designer, had already discussed an aircraft to meet what became the Type II specification. There was also a call for a larger Type I, multi-stop Type III and jet-powered Type IV. Of all the planes designed to meet these briefs, only the Viscount, or VC2 as it was known in the earlier stages of its development, truly fulfilled the ambitions of the Brabazon Committee by selling in large numbers. The initial design that Pierson and his team devised was for a 27-seat aircraft with a gross weight of 34,000lbs (15,455kg) and range of 1000 miles at a cruising speed of 300mph. While this was initially accepted by the Ministry of Aircraft Production, changing attitudes and fortunes in post-war Britain soon meant seating capacity was upped to 32 seats, and this would not be the last time the Viscount was extended during its lifetime.
Alongside these requirements, it was deemed vital the Viscount must have a pressurised cabin so it could operate above 20,000ft to be as economical as possible. This meant Pierson’s original
‘double-bubble’ fuselage design was abandoned in favour of a single circular fuselage with stressed skin and single spar wing. However, this also posed challenges where the doors and window openings were introduced, but Pierson’s team came up with elliptical cut-outs that solved the problem and also gave passengers a superb view out that helped to make the Viscount very popular with those who flew in it. While this work was pressing ahead, the government was still wavering between using Rolls-Royce Dart engines or Armstrong Siddeley’s Mamba. In the end, the RollsRoyce unit’s reliability won out and Pierson got the engines he favoured so the Viscount became the first turboprop aircraft to be used on a passenger service. That was 70 years ago when an early Viscount Type 700 flew from London Northolt to Paris on 29 July, 1950. It also made eight trips between Northolt and Scotland for the Edinburgh Festival in August.
The Dart engine was ideal for the Viscount as Rolls-Royce made it more powerful just when Vickers-Armstrongs
This Type 818 Viscount was destined for Cubana with a 52-seat configuration.
needed to make the aircraft longer and heavier to cope with more passengers. The company’s Chief Test Pilot Joseph ‘Mutt’ Summers first tested a VC2 on 16 July, 1948 and reported how smooth and powerful the new turboprop engines were. This turboprop design uses a turbine rather than a piston engine to turn the propeller. Yet development was moving on quickly. By early 1949, the V.700 Viscount could accommodate 43 passengers and had a cruising speed of 335mph. This recognised the wider appeal of flying to the public and the versatility of the Viscount’s design that it could be changed to suit these changing needs.
Guests from Lufthansa are shown how the turboprop design works.
History of Brooklands’ Viscount G-APIM
The Vickers Viscount in Brooklands’
Aircraft Park is a 1958 V806 version. It
was registered G-APIM and first flew from
Brooklands on 4 June, 1958, making it
the 50 th of its type and one of the last
Viscounts to be built. Originally named ‘Robert Boyle’, it went into service with British European Airways (BEA). However, it was stored for almost a year in 1969 before returning to work with BEA. Late in 1971, India Mike as the aircraft is known for its call sign, became part of the Cambrian Airways fleet before this name was absorbed into the newly formed British Airways. In its BA livery, India Mike skidded off the runway after landing at Kirkwall in wet conditions in December 1977. Luckily, everyone onboard was unharmed and the aircraft suffered only minor damage. India Mike was soon back earning its keep until it was retired by BA in 1982 and stored at Cardiff, where it was sold to British Air Ferries (BAF) in 1984. This was when G-APIM was rechristened Viscount Stephen Piercey in honour of the founding editor of Propliner magazine who was tragically killed at the Hanover Air Show at the age of just 26. Now configured to carry 76 passengers, India Mike was still in service when a Shorts 330 lost hydraulic power while taxiing and collided with G-APIM at Southend. This destroyed the left-hand side of the Viscount’s nose and it was uneconomical to repair. Many serviceable parts were used to keep other Viscounts flying, but in June 1989 the aircraft was offered to Brooklands for preservation. BAF agreed to a long-term loan and between August 1989 and February 1990 the aircraft was dismantled and repaired by Proteus Air Services and then transported to Brooklands. As a result of being trailered through the Dartford Tunnel, India Mike is the only Viscount to have travelled both over and under the River Thames. It’s now cared for by Museum Volunteers and Friends of the Viscount Stephen Piercey.
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Early in the build process for a Type 813 Viscount in June 1958. It went into service with South African Airways.
All of this was enough to convince British European Airways (BEA) to order 20 Viscounts. This was later increased to 26 aircraft and they had seating for between 47 and 53 passengers. The first production example of the Viscount, G-ALWE, flew in August 1952 and the Viscount entered full passenger service on 18 April, 1953.
It rapidly became a mainstay of BEA’s operation and this encouraged other airlines to follow suit, with orders from Aer Lingus, Air France, Capital Airlines, Trans Australia Airlines and Trans-Canada Airlines. By the end of its working life in 2009, the Viscount had served with more 60 operators in 40 countries. This success was again due to Vickers-Armstrongs’ ability to adapt the Viscount coupled to the growing power of the Rolls-Royce Dart engines. A V800 version that could take 86 passengers was mooted, but in the end Vickers found it easier to move the rear bulkhead back and extend the fuselage to carry 65 passengers.
In 1956, a new three-stage turbine Dart engine was introduced for the Viscount V806 and this is the model of Brooklands’ G-APIM aircraft. However, there was still more to come and Vickers launched V807, V808 and finally the V810. By the time the last Viscount was built in 1964 and sold to the national airline of the People’s Republic of China, the Viscount could cruise at 365mph and had doubled in gross weight.
By any measure, the Vickers-Armstrongs Viscount was a great success. It was the first turboprop aircraft to enter regular passenger service, became ever more efficient and sold in large numbers. In total, 444 Viscounts were sold to make it one of the most commercially successful aircraft ever produced in Britain and all were made at Brooklands.
The work to keep Brooklands’ Viscount in good order is a nonstop job for the Volunteers who work on the aircraft. As well as maintaining G-APIM, affectionately known as India Mike, it has taken a huge effort to restore the aircraft since the Viscount arrived at Brooklands in February, 1990.
One of the first tasks was to repair the damage to India Mike caused by the collision that took it out of service when it was at Southend Airport. Many hours were spent by the Volunteers to bring the aircraft to a condition where it could be opened to the public. This included creating the display cabinets to show off the Viscount’s history.
Original seats were re-used for visitors to experience what it was like to fly on a Viscount. Outside, a set of period correct steps were sourced from Stanstead Airport and repainted in the original livery that India Mike’s passengers would have spotted when it went into service in 1958. The stairs have also been improved with a covered entrance to make it more pleasant for visitors if it’s raining. This also helps keep water out of the aircraft and preserve its condition. The G-APIM cockpit interior panelling and pilot chairs had become very tired over the years. The team has replaced and restored much of the cockpit lining panels and had both of the crew leather seat covers restored and returned to original appearance.
To improve the visitor experience, team member Steve White redeployed a spare hi-fi unit, locating speakers within the nose and main undercarriage bays. This enables the playing of actual Rolls-Royce dart engine sounds.
The team also played an important part in the development of the new Aircraft Factory. They took the scrap forward fuselage section of a Viscount that had been donated to the museum, stripped it out, undertook the necessary corrosion restoration work, and fully repainted the unit as well as commissioning a display cradle.
Another just finished project was the restoration and use of a spare viscount rudder as a memorial to the recently deceased Ron Macdonald. Ron, a former Air Canada pilot, spent many years working in the Brooklands archives. He was a great friend to the team, spending many a happy hour with them. The result now sits proudly outside the Cosy Corner crew rest area.
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