PROPELLER-TURBINE AIRLINER

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVII, Issue 14927, 15 March 1949, Page 6

PROPELLER-TURBINE AIRLINER

NEW FRA IN AIR TRANSPORT FORESHADOWED A new era in air transport is foreshadowed by the preliminary trials of the 350 m.p.h. propeller-turbine-driven Vickers Armstrong Viscount, states the Society of British Aircraft Constructors. This aricraft is the first airliner in the world to fly on propellor-turbinc engines alone. * Passengers will travel in greater comfort because of the reduced vibration in comparison with piston engine driven aircraft. Silence is another advantage, and the motors will burn kerosene, which is not as, inflammable as petrol. The Viscount has standard seating for 32 passengers, but a special “charabanc” model can accommodate as many as 43. She is powered with twin Rolls Royce Dart 1400 h.p. engines which pull the Viscount through the air at the high operating speed of 350 m.n.h.. This speed is some 100 m.n.h. faster than the average logged today. Carrying 43 pessangers in the “charabanc” model the Viscount can fly 748 miles in still air. This represents* a pay load of 10,8201 b. The Dart engines which power the Viscount were originally rated at 1000 h.p. Research and development by Rolls Royce has already brought that up to 1400 h.p. on the identical model engine. The maximum has not yet been obtained. This suggests that Rolls Royce may with the Dart repeat the engineering miracle of the famous Merlin. In less than 10 years they brought the horsepower of that piston engine from 950 to more than 2000.