History Vickers_V-1000

1 history

1.1 background
1.2 selection , refinement
1.3 changing requirements , cancellation
1.4 parliamentary debate

history
background

during 1950s, britain s civil aircraft industry releasing , manufacturing multiple competitive , innovative aircraft designs. these include de havilland comet, world s first jet-powered commercial transport aircraft, vickers viscount, world s first turboprop-powered commercial airliner, , bristol britannia, turboprop-powered aircraft capable of conducting routine transatlantic flights; of these designs had origins in specifications laid out wartime brabazon committee. these aircraft, britain appeared on track capturing large slice of global demand civil aircraft foreseeable future.

meanwhile, royal air force (raf) had been pursuing development of new generation of strategic bombers, these being vickers valiant, avro vulcan, , handley page victor. armed nuclear weapons , powered jet engines, these aircraft enter service during 1950s v-bombers. first of v-bombers enter service valiant; observing favourable performance attributes of valiant, both ministry of supply (mos) , vickers became interested in prospective transport derivative potential long-range successor smaller comet. raf had noticed demand suitable transport aircraft capable of accompanying v-bombers on deployments part of world, carrying mix of personnel , cargo needed such deployments while having similar speed , range capabilities bomber force.

vickers received request mos submissions of valiant transport derivative. @ same time, british overseas airways corporation (boac) interested in potential commercial airliner vickers; thus, company naturally excited possible develop aircraft serve both military transport, being procured raf, , commercial airline, boac expected order. such move mean increased financial support program improved access development , testing resources. according aviation author derek wood, sir george edwards, headed design, viewed military variant stepping stone civil version , internally designated vc7.

working in direct cooperation (boac throughout studies performed project, vickers came recognise producing suitable aircraft not straightforward matter of pairing valiant s wings onto new fuselage suitable transport duties. amongst changes required entirely new structure, adoption of roomy , pressurised cabin, , more powerful engines. raf requirements provided complications design, such necessitating use of double-slotted flaps achieve short field performance sought, along integration of rear-mounted sizable hydraulic freight elevator self-loading operations. crucially, recognised that, in order aircraft economically viable against competing aircraft powered turboprop engines , traditional piston engines, engine capable of more thrust , superior specific fuel consumption valiant s rolls-royce avon turbojet engine necessary.

in october 1952, mos formally released air specification c.132d jet-powered transport. various firms responded own submissions meet requirement handley page offered hp.97, featured two-level layout moved passenger seating above wing of design otherwise identical victor. boac rejected design, led more highly modified hp.111, similar in layout had modern six-abreast single-deck fuselage. avro started vulcan design, keeping tailless delta wing , mating new fuselage, producing avro atlantic (avro type 722). name implies, design intended offer trans-atlantic range. avro boasted delta wing offered takeoff performance without need flaps or slats conventional wings require, while offering high cruising speed. various versions offered 2+2 3+3 seating, added oddity seats faced rear of aircraft.

the initial submission made vickers designated vc5, slightly-stretched valiant bomber windows. retained valiant s shoulder-mounted wing, have left many rows windowless, , meant had long landing gear boac considered unsuitable. designed in late 1940s, vc5 attracted little interest , dropped in favour of more advanced submission vickers. amongst differences between vc5 , vc7 larger 12 ft 6 in (3.81 m) fuselage six-abreast seating 131 passengers, wings having been relocated low-mounted position, addition of slotted flaps, , overall size of wing being considerably larger. envisioned, vc7 not capable of flying traditional empire routes increasingly prestigious north atlantic market.

selection , refinement

in january 1953, vickers received order production of flight-capable prototype, later given serial number xd662, along structural test frame. in march 1953, revealed vickers design had been selected winner of mos competition. in june 1954, secretary of state air william sidney, 1st viscount de l isle announced production order military variant, designated v-1000, placed raf. detailed development work on project started following issuing of specification in october 1952, recognised v-1000 substantially more difficult develop previous transport aircraft had been operated raf neither ministry nor industry experienced in development of jet aircraft of scale before.

as concept, aircraft more complex comet, being physically far larger aircraft. strict , detailed requirements of specification required extensive testing, such heavy use of wind tunnels cover short-field operations in addition high-speed cruising flight, while structural , system demands took vickers uncharted territories , new entirely new fields. while of knowhow had been derived valiant , there elements of design, such engines internal mounting inside wings, showed ancestry, areas such structure had dramatic differences, integrity of cabin , engine bay conforming fail-safe principals, unlike preceding comet. finalised design v-1000 enlarged beyond raf had expected; commonality maximised between vc7 , v-1000; accordingly, same airframe used both civil , military variants.

a key innovation of v-1000 intended use of rolls-royce conway, first production bypass engine, offering both increased range , improved fuel economy. rolls-royce limited developing conway engine, having performed first running in 1950, , had demonstrated improved fuel consumption of engine; 1951, conway being developed thrust output of 13,000 lb; enough serve powerplant v-1000. however, v-1000 design enlarged beyond original dimensions, development of more powerful model of conway necessitated, contributing delays on overall project.

construction of prototype performed @ vickers facility @ wisley airfield, surrey; flight trials have been based there. november 1956, on £4 million had been spent on v-1000 project; first prototype had reached 80 per cent completion. had been estimated vc7 have been in operational service 1959, same year in first v-1000s projected delivered raf. if had entered commercial service envisioned, have been first turbofan-equipped airliner serve long-haul routes.

the vc7 proved of concern aircraft manufacturers in united states, both boeing , douglas in process of designing own jet transports similar requirement strategic air command. both companies had responded designs sized 2+3 seating (the original 707 design 2+2), providing more limited passenger capabilities vc7. additionally, vc7 s wing design offered number of advanced features , increased wing area reduced take-off run , allowed operate wider selection of airports, while @ same time offering longer ranges. when companies approached airlines plans, found rejected vc7 more interesting. both companies undertook expensive re-designs of projects compete, enlarging fuselage match vc7 s 3+3 layout , increasing overall size , weight of aircraft. when re-introduced markets in larger form, firms fared considerably better; after initial order pan american airways, orders started rolling in around world. better range vc7 offered took longer address, , @ 1 point solved incorporating conway designs.

changing requirements , cancellation

in mid-1955, acknowledged v-1000 have higher all-up weight of 248,000lb, instead of 230,000lb figure had been forecast, negatively impacting aircraft s performance. time, political support project receding; according wood, raf having second thoughts project. air staff, seeking reduce expenditure due pressure hm treasury, noted v-1000 1 of expensive ongoing projects, , came favour cancellation. reallocating budget had assigned v-1000 other projects, have effect of avoiding cancellation instead.

around same time, air staff declared requirement transport capable of same speed , altitude performance v-bombers unnecessary. questioned need support v bomber fleet @ long distances, given ever-shrinking state of british empire. these changes in attitude may have been due government pressure raf procure turboprop-powered bristol britannia equip transport command. during late 1955, mos declared demand strategic airlift immediate, , chose purchase several britannias fill role. selection had coincided political pressure bolster employment in northern ireland, of production of comet 2 have been conducted under licence short brothers. comet 2 s cancellation, along aborted supermarine swift fighter, had left short s bleak future; order britannias, built in same factory, seen providing neat solution concerned.

by november 1955, press rumours regarding major shifts in raf transport policy , fate of v-1000 prolific , of negative tone. on 11 november 1955, cancellation of v-1000 order announced @ press conference held mos. during conference, mos spokesperson spoke in-depth on v-1000 , termination, observing programme had taken long hoped overcome of programs of meeting specification , highlighting role played britannia in substituting intended v-1000 fleet. noted civil version noted intended developed due boac having no requirement it.

in addition design s military prospects having turned sour, civil opportunies type in form of vc-7 had become clouded. according wood, reginald maudling, minister of supply, believed in vc7 , of value boac. in addition, beyond boac, other airlines interested in operating vc7. gordon mcgregor, president of trans-canada air lines, travelled britain lobby in favour of project s continuation. however, boac chairman miles thomas not keen on vc7; airline had suffered considerable financial hardship due crashes of multiple de havilland comets, had invested heavily in, , boac had committed improved comet 4 , had secured permission procure several britannias well.

upon hearing of v-1000 s termination, thomas called up-to-date specification vc7 made available, including forecasts of unit price , delivery dates. after reviewing information, thomas announced not purchase vc7 due weight increases impacting performance; according woods, real reason boac wanting avoid having support british aircraft programme in addition existing commitments. many of boac s objections vc7 influenced conway engine, still in development @ time. amongst detracting claims made enclosed engines in wing unable accept higher powered fan engines; woods notes successful application of such improvements military victor proves entirely possible. following cancellation announcement, mauldling stated press decision had been made due both boac , raf being unwilling order type, leaving him without alternative.

boac declared happy britannia trans-atlantic routes, , remain until enlarged de havilland comet 4 arrived in few years. in end, boac s decision reversed when became clear competitors going enter jet age before them. vc7 had been cancelled point, , study demonstrated costly restart line. instead, boac ordered boeing 707 in october 1956, ironically in special model powered conway. contrary boac s worries, conway proved have flawless development cycle, , on several occasions outstripped development of models meant power.

as had been pointed out @ time, vc7 s performance limited airfields considerably better of boeing 707, required long runways , extensive ground support. limited boac 707s high-volume routes between larger well-equipped airports in europe , north america. boac under strong political pressure offer jet service on number of limited-capacity empire routes boeing not service, , turned vickers solution. result vickers vc10, additional power , smaller fuselage dramatically improved hot , high performance. although vc10 successful in role, of airports had been designed improved sufficiently boeing 707 , douglas dc-8 able serve them comfortably after all. vc10 lost competitive edge, , sold in limited numbers.

parliamentary debate

the cancellation led lengthy series of questions in house went on weeks. john peyton characterised disappointing , retrograde decision . deputy leader of labour party george brown asked not decision mean american companies, douglas , boeing, will, in effect, far ahead of in next development of pure jet shall have 10 or 20 years make @ stage afterwards? , prediction proved astonishingly accurate. air commodore arthur vere harvey expressed concerns of industry in general, while william robson brown questioned wisdom of cancelling @ such late date given £2.3 million had been invested in project.

in response, minister of supply, reginald maudling, noted extremely unlikely other airlines order vc7, concerned accepts cannot launch aircraft of category markets of world unless first have home purchaser buy , operate it, not in case. declined offer continued financial support vickers civilian model reason; claimed development had been lagging , weight had increased offset performance.

these later claims attacked several weeks later in lengthy statement paul williams, pointed out weight had indeed increased, rolls-royce had addressed increasing power offset effect. noted aircraft had built-in margin of safety due larger wing. described entire issue 1 of disgraceful, disheartening , unfortunate decisions has been taken in relation british aircraft industry in recent years.

woods attributes cancellation being result of lack of understanding of air transport industry within british government of era. debate on issue continued, , v-1000 continued come in debate late 1957.