Vickers Vanguard variant
Vickers Vanguard Vickers Type 950
Vanguard prototype. It flew on 20 January 1959; one flying aircraft was built plus two further fuselages used as static test airframes.
- January 20, 1959
- First flight
- 1
- Units built
History
The prototype
The Type 950 was the definitive proposal Vickers reached after a chain of studies — the Type 870 'Viscount Major', Scheme 16a, the Type 900 — looking for an aircraft that would satisfy both British European Airways and Trans-Canada Air Lines. The winning combination was a low straight wing and a double-bubble fuselage, giving a roomy cabin above and a long hold below for the freight BEA needed to move.
Testing
The prototype G-AOYW flew on 20 January 1959 on a five-kilometre transfer to Wisley; the flight had been planned for December, but the engines had to go back to Rolls-Royce for minor work. Development went relatively smoothly except on one point: more than 2,000 stalls were needed to cure an initially violent behaviour that included rolling inverted. In the last weeks of trials with BEA, in early 1960, engine problems appeared that required modifying the compressor rotor.
Test structures
Besides the flying aircraft, two further fuselages were built and used as static test airframes.