Vickers VC.1 Viking

The Vickers VC.1 Viking was a British twin-engine short-range airliner derived from the Vickers Wellington bomber and built by Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands near Weybridge in Surrey. The first prototype, the Type 491, flew at Wisley on 22 June 1945, and the Ministry of Aircraft Production ordered 50 aircraft after trials. Early production aircraft kept the Wellington-style geodetic fabric-covered wings; later Vikings had stressed-metal wings, and the longer Viking 1B carried 24 passengers. After the Second World War it was an important airliner for British airlines pending turboprops like the Viscount, and 163 were built. An experimental Viking fitted with Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets flew in 1948 as the world's first pure jet transport aircraft. The VC stood for Vickers Commercial. Military developments were the Valetta transport and the Varsity trainer, and most Vikings were retired by the mid 1960s.