Vickers Vanguard

The Vickers Vanguard was a short and medium range turboprop airliner designed and produced by Vickers-Armstrongs. It was developed in the mid to late 1950s as a follow-up to the Viscount, answering a British European Airways specification for a 100-seat airliner, with a much larger airframe and the Rolls-Royce Tyne engine, which was roughly twice as powerful as the Viscount's Dart. The needs of BEA and Trans-Canada Air Lines shaped its design. The first Type 950 prototype made its maiden flight on 20 January 1959, and the type entered revenue service on 17 December 1960, just as jet airliners were arriving, so competitors quickly overshadowed it and only 44 were built. About ten years later most were converted into freighters, Trans-Canada's one-off conversion being known as the Cargoliner and BEA's as the Merchantman. As freighters they remained in service for many years, and the final example was retired in 1996.