-=> Quoting TONY PATON to ALL <=-
 TP> Hi all,
 TP> What was the first aircraft to fly with Turbo props and what was´i the
 TP> first airliner to have them?
 TP> Thank you.
        The Vickers Viscount was the result of a pre-WWII project that
began under the aegis of the Barbazon committee.  It emerged in 1948 as
the world's first airliner with Turboprop engines and went on to become
one of the UK's most successful commercial aircraft.
        As first conceived under the designation VC2, the Viscount was
to carry 24 pax over 870 nm.  With goverment backing two prototypes were
constructed begining March 1946, and the first of these flew on July 16,
1948 with Rolls Royce Dart RDa.1 engines and accommodations for 32 pax.
        For production as the Vickers 700, the Viscount was enlarged in
length and wingspan, powered by the more powerful Dart RDa.3 engines,
and sized to carry 40 Pax.  The 700 obtained its UK certification in 1953
and BEA put it into service between London and Cypress.  In the US, the
Vickers 745 recieved FAA approval on November 7, 1955 and was put into
service by Capital Airlines.
        Viscount production ended in 1964 with 444 built, of which 438
were sold to customers.  The final deliveries were to CAAC, which had
ordered six as the first Western equipment acquired by the Chinese
Airline.
        On the US side of the pond, the Lockheed Electra L-188A, first
flown in 1954 with 4 Allison 501-D13A turboprops would have been the
first US built ground-up Turboprop project. (The Convair CV-580 also
first flew in 1954, but these were D. Napier & Son conversions of
earlier radial-powered Convair 240/340/440's and not built from the
ground up.)
        That should answer both your questions, Tony.  The Viscount was
the first AC to fly with Turboprops and the first scheduled airliner to
utilize them as well.
                Christopher Tarana
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