Aircraft - Vickers Viscount, Ronaldsway Airport, Isle of Man - postcard c.1980s

Postcard
• Picture / Image:  Vickers Viscount G-BFZL at Ronaldsway Airport in July 1986 surrounded by support vehicles
• Publisher:  Your Garden (IOM) Ltd., Ronaldsway Airport / Airport series YG1/94 Limied edition of 1000 / Mannin Collection
• Postally used:  yes
• Stamp:  no
• Postmark(s):  n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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The Vickers Viscount was a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs, the first such aircraft to enter service in the world. A product of the Brabazon Committee, it used a new form of propulsion, the turboprop engine, replacing the conventional piston engine.

The Viscount was well received by the public for its cabin conditions, which included pressurisation, reductions in vibration and noise, and panoramic windows. It became one of the most successful and profitable of the first post-war transport aircraft;^[1] 445 Viscounts were built for a range of international customers, including in North America.

The Viscount was a response to the Brabazon Committee's Type II design for a post-war small medium-range pressurised aircraft to fly less-travelled routes, carrying 24 passengers up to 1,750 mi (2,816 km) at 200 mph (320 km/h).^[2] During discussions between the committee and Vickers' chief designer, Rex Pierson, Vickers advocated turboprop power. The committee was not convinced and split the specification into two types, the Type IIA using piston power, which led to the Airspeed Ambassador, and the turboprop-powered Type IIB which Vickers was selected to develop in April 1945.^[3] British European Airways (BEA) was involved in the design and asked that the aircraft carry 32 passengers instead, but remained otherwise similar.

The first design in June 1945 was based on the Viking with four turboprop engines and 24 seats and designated the VC-2 or Type 453.^[4] Later a double-bubble fuselage was proposed to give extra underfloor cargo space.^[4][5] Neither was pressurised but it was soon realised that economical operation at 20,000 ft (6,100 m) needed pressurisation. The designs were abandoned and a circular cross-section variant offered at the beginning of 1946.^[4] The resulting 28-seat VC-2 was financed by the Ministry of Supply with an order for two prototypes. But, before the contract was signed, the government asked for the capacity to be increased to 32. This stretched the fuselage increase from 65 ft 5 in (19.94 m) to 74 ft 6 in (22.71 m) and meant an increased wingspan of 89 ft (27 m).^{[N 1][4]}

The contract for the aircraft to Air Ministry specification C.16/46 was signed on 9 March 1946 and Vickers allocated the designation Type 609 and the name Viceroy.^[4] Although George Edwards had always favoured the 800 hp Rolls-Royce Dart^[6] other engines were considered, including the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba which the government specified for the two prototypes, the choice of the Mamba engine increased the weight but Vickers made sure the engine nacelle would fit either the Mamba or Dart.^[4][7] While the Dart progressed better in development, the government asked in August 1947 for the second prototype to be Dart-powered.^[4] The second prototype was designated the 630 and was named as the Viscount.^[4] The first prototype already under construction was converted to the Dart as a 630 as well.^[4]

The resulting Vickers Type 630 design was completed at Brooklands by chief designer Rex Pierson and his staff in 1945, a 32-seat airliner powered by four Dart engines for a cruising speed of 275 mph (443 km/h). An order for two prototypes was placed in March 1946, and construction started in the company's Foxwarren Experimental Department. Originally Viceroy after the viceroy of India, Lord Louis Mountbatten, the aircraft was renamed Viscount following India's independence in 1947.^[8] There was work on replacing the Darts with the Mamba, but this was dropped by the time the prototypes were reaching completion. After Pierson's death in 1948, George Edwards (later Sir George Edwards) took over as chief designer and assumed all technical control over the Viscount project.^[9]

type=printed

period=post-war (1945-present)

postage condition=unposted

number of items=single

size=continental/ modern (150x100 mm)

county/ country=isle of man