Vickers Aircraft: Illustrated History Books & Guides

The Vickers Viscount : The World's First Turboprop Airliner

By some margin the most successful British medium-range airliner ever produced, the world-beating Viscount was a sublime combination of Vickers' state-of-the-art postwar design and Rolls-Royce's cutting-edge power-plant technology.

The Dart turboprop-powered Vickers V.630, made its first flight in July 1948, despite its future looking uncertain after British European Airways having twenty examples ordered of its chief rival, Airspeed's Ambassador, six months before.
The Viscount nevertheless entered full service with BEA in 1953, much to the relief of its manufacturer, orders flooding in thereafter from numerous airlines - and air forces - all over the world.
Ultimately, some 200 individual airlines, companies and organizations in more than eighty countries operated the dependable and, crucially, development-friendly Viscount over its long and distinguished career.

This book tells the full story of the world's first turboprop airliner, from its Brabazon Committee beginnings, through its early flight trials program and entry into service, to its almost unassailable position as the world's number one medium-haul turboprop, including its astonishing breakthrough in the USA, where it single-handedly broke the big American manufacturers' stranglehold on the airliner market.

The type's military career is also covered, as is its construction; also included in this volume are details of the numerous variants produced and those of the 444 built still surviving as exhibits today, along with twenty-four superb artworks by world-renowned aviation illustrator Juanita Franzi.

Product details

Author:	Nick Stroud
Details:	152 pages, 9.7 x 7.5 in (24.5 x 19 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	100 b&w photos, 24 profile illustrations in color
Language:	English
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Ltd (GB, 2017)
ISBN:	9781526701954

The Vimy Expeditions

During World War I, Vickers Ltd., one of the world's largest armament manufacturers, fulfilled orders for an open- cockpit three-seater bi-plane from the company's Brooklands factory. Flying for the first time in 1917, the F.B.27, or Vickers Vimy, met the British Air Board's need for a heavy multi-engine bomber. Following the Armistice of 1918, only 235 Vimys were built, with the first examples flying to Egypt to be used as bombers and transports.
Relegated to peacetime use, Vimys converted for commercial operations achieved a non-stop flight from Canada to Ireland in 1919, piloted by John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown, closely followed by Australians Ross and Keith Smith flying from England to Adelaide. Pierre van Ryneveld and Christopher Quintin Brand later competed with a Vimy in the 1920 Daily Mail Race for the Cape, an event they were unable to complete in their original aircraft.

Reliving the adventures of these aviation pioneers, a team of risk-takers re-creates their journeys to Australia, South Africa and across the Atlantic in the Vimy's open cockpit. The specially built Vimy suffered engine failure over Sumatra and dodged wildlife and potholes in northern Kenya. Her adventurous crew, wilted in soaring Saharan temperatures, and nearly froze over the Atlantic.

Peter McMillan's book records all three voyages, reliving the thrills, hazards, and successes of those pioneering moments. Interwoven with stories of the early 20th century expeditions and backed by stunning photography, The Vimy Expeditions provides a glorious tribute to that mammoth bi-plane from a bygone era.

Product details

Author:	Peter McMillan
Details:	256 pages, 13 x 13.6 x 1.77 in (33 x 34.5 x 4.5 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	450 photos, maps
Language:	English
Publisher:	Aviation Adventures (USA, 2011)
ISBN:	9780983236207

Vickers / BAC VC10 Manual (1962-2013) - Insights into the design, construction, operation and maintenance (Haynes Aircraft Manual)

Designed in the 1950s to operate on long-distance routes, the four-jet Vickers VC10 saw service with BOAC and a number of other airlines from the 1960s to 1981.
It enjoyed a further career with the RAF as a strategic transport and later as an aerial refuelling aircraft. The last VC10 K3 tanker was retired by the RAF in 2013.

Pages of the book "Vickers / BAC VC10 Manual (1962-2013) - Insights into the design, construction, operation and maintenance"

Keith Wilson examines the design, construction and use of the VC10, using as his centrepiece ex-RAF VC10 C1K (XR808) and VC10 K3 (ZA147) tankers at Bruntingthorpe, Leicestershire.

More information about Haynes Aircraft Manuals

Product details

Author:	Keith Wilson
Details:	160 pages, 10.8 x 8.7 x 0.63 in (27.5 x 22 x 1.6 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	many b&w and color photos
Language:	English (technical dictionaries in 19 languages are available for free download here)
Publisher:	Haynes Publishing (GB, 2016)
Series:	Haynes Aircraft Manual
ISBN:	9780857337993

Vickers 1911-77

It seems incredible that a mere 33 years separates the maiden flights of the Barnes Wallis-designed R.100 airship from the beautiful VC10 airliner. Although the VC10 was prefixed with BAC by the time of its entry into service, the aircraft represents the rapid rise of Vickers, which actually embarked on its first aeronautical project in 1908, before establishing an official aviation department in 1911.
Vickers produced over 70 different types of aircraft during a 49-year period, not including a host of sub-variants, the Wellington, for example, having 19 alone. Not all were successful, but every one contributed, however small, another nugget of experience, which was either ploughed into the next aircraft or stored away for the future.

An ability to 'think outside the box', was another of Vickers' fortes. A good example of this was not only employing Barnes Wallis, but having such faith in his ideas, which must have seemed quite radical at the time, especially his perseverance and ultimate success with geodetic construction.
Wallis had no shortage of critics and many 'dyed in the wool' employees of Vickers, during the early days, left the company because of his ideas. However, history has shown us that he was right about geodetics.
This book gives readers an insight into the aircraft produced by Vickers, as well as a history of the aircraft company itself.

Product details

Details:	160 pages, 9.7 x 6.7 in (24.5 x 17 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	many b&w and color photos
Language:	English
Publisher:	Key Publishing Ltd (GB, 2023)
Series:	Aviation Industry
ISBN:	9781802823691

Vickers VC10 & Super VC 10 (Flight Craft)

Designed and manufactured by the men who would make Concorde, the Rolls-Royce powered Vickers VC10, and its larger variant, the Super VC10, represented the ultimate in 1960s subsonic airliners. The VC10 was Britain's answer to the Boeing 707 and the Douglas DC-8.

The VC10 was a second-generation jetliner designed in the 1960s and manufactured into the 1970s. It incorporated advanced engineering, new aerodynamics, and design features, to produce a swept, sculpted machine easily identifiable by its high T-tail design and rear-engine configuration.

The VC10 could take off in a very short distance, climb more steeply and land at slower speed than its rivals the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8. These were vital safety benefits in the early years of the jet age. At one stage, the Super VC10 was the biggest airliner made in Europe and the fastest in the world.

On entry into service, both the VC10 and the longer Super VC10 carved out a niche with passengers who enjoyed the speed, silence and elegance of the airliner. Pilots, meanwhile, loved its ease of flying and extra power.
Yet the VC10 project was embroiled in political and corporate machinations across many years and more than one government. BOAC got what they asked for but went on to criticise the VC10 for not being a 707 - which was a different beast entirely.

In service until the 1980s with British Airways, and until 2013 with the RAF, the VC10 became a British icon and a national hero, one only eclipsed by Concorde. It remains an enthusiast's hero.

Product details

Author:	Lance Cole
Details:	64 pages, 11.2 x 8.1 x 0.31 in (28.5 x 20.5 x 0.8 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	200 b&w and color photos
Language:	English
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Ltd (GB, 2020)
Series:	Flight Craft (20)
ISBN:	9781526760067

Vickers VC10: Icon of the Skies - BOAC, Boeing and a Jet Age Battle

The Vickers VC10 was Britain's biggest jet airliner of its age and regarded as the world's best looking airliner. It was safe, fast, and designed to take off from short runways in Africa and Asia, at the request of its main operator BOAC - the airline that would later go on to become today's British Airways.

The VC10 and the larger Super VC10 were beloved by pilots and passengers alike and became icons of the 1960s. They were hugely popular all over the world; East African Airlines made its name with Super VC10s, and so too did Freddie Laker with his famed VC10 fleet.
Yet the VC10 was eclipsed by Boeing's 707 which sold by the hundreds, despite the fact that the 707 was less capable and could not initially operate from the runways of the Commonwealth and old British Empire routes, as the VC10 undoubtedly could.

The men of the Vickers Company who created the VC10 would later go on to engineer Concorde and, of course, the rest is history. But the era of the VC10 was pivotal and, by exploring this historical period in depth and highlighting all the various impediments that stood in the way of success for the VC10, Lance Cole adds an important layer to our understanding of twentieth century history.

Product details

Author:	Lance Cole
Details:	224 pages, 9.25 x 6.1 in (23.5 x 15.5 cm), hardback
Illustrations:	50 b&w and color photos
Language:	English
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Ltd (GB, 2017)
ISBN:	9781473875326

Vickers Viscount 1948-2009

First flown in 1948 and entering service in 1953, the Vickers Viscount revolutionized commercial air travel. Over 400 units were built and sold worldwide. Loved by pilots, ground crews, and passengers, the Viscount introduced pressurized cabins, offering quieter flights with better views through large windows.
The aircraft was widely used by commercial airlines, private owners, and various companies. Some changed hands frequently, while others remained with their original owners for years. Many Viscounts are still preserved today in museums or repurposed as unique venues for events.

This book details the Viscount's service history, including construction, serial numbers, routes, and notable accidents. With over 140 photographs, both in black and white and color, it offers a thorough look at one of the most beloved passenger aircraft of its time.

Product details

Author:	Barry Lloyd
Details:	96 pages, 9.7 x 6.7 in (24.5 x 17 cm), paperback
Illustrations:	140+ b&w and color photos
Language:	English
Publisher:	Key Publishing Ltd (GB, 2024)
Series:	Historic Commercial Aircraft (20)
ISBN:	9781802826456