Routine Flight the TCA purchase of the British-built Vickers Viscount turboprop-powered airliner, the Winnipeg base is also in the midst of introducing jet engine technology for its engineering staff and technicians. TCA is the first North American carrier to use turboprop aircraft and air crews are also working up procedures to introduce the new airliner. The first Viscount is carrying out orientation flights for ground and air crews and the "On the Spot" crew are invited to come aboard on a test flight. The "On The Spot" series debuted in 1953, with the 39 episodes, initially 15 minutes in length. For the
Three-surface aircraft canard foreplanes flew in 1985 and derivatives of this design became the only military types to enter production. Also in 1979, Piaggio began design studies on a three-surface civil twin turboprop which, in collaboration with Learjet, would emerge as the Piaggio P.180 Avanti. This type first flew in 1986 and entered service in 1990, with production continuing today. In the Avanti, the three-surface configuration is claimed to significantly reduce wing size, weight and drag compared to the conventional equivalent. Two experimental aircraft adopting this configuration were subsequently built by Scaled Composites under the lead of Burt Rutan and flown in