Vickers Viscount Vickers Viscount The Vickers Viscount was a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner. 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; 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
Vickers-Armstrongs company produced the Wellesley, designed by Rex Pierson using the geodetic airframe principle of structural engineer Barnes Wallis. This would later evolve into the famous Wellington bomber, a mainstay of RAF Bomber Command and RAF Coastal Command during World War II. The Cold War-era Valiant V bomber was another Vickers product. Military aircraft with the Vickers brand: Vickers also competed for contracts with designs such as: Vickers was a pioneer in producing airliners, early examples being converted from Vimy bombers. Post-WWII, Vickers went on to manufacture the piston-engined Vickers VC.1 Viking airliner, the Viscount and Vanguard turboprop airliners and (as