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 Valiant military aircraft. It was followed by the Vanguard, a passenger turboprop designed in 1959, and the Vickers VC10, a jet passenger aircraft in 1962, also used as a military transport and tanker by the RAF. The Valiant was a conservative design of the era, having a shoulder-mounted wing and four Rolls-Royce Avon RA.3 turbojet engines, each providing up to of thrust, installed in pairs in fireproof bays in each wing root. The design of the Valiant gave an overall impression of a plain and clean aircraft with simple aerodynamics. George Edwards described the Valiant appropriately and simply as an "unfunny"