WELCOME ABOARD THE VISCOUNT

By Mike Machat

The businessman from Hartford and veteran air­line traveler boarded the stairs and stepped through the oval door of the brand-new, factory – fresh red-and-white Capital Airlines Viscount parked on the ramp at Newark Airport. Strapping into his seat, he noticed the size of the window— about twice that of the Constellations he was used to flying in, and oval as well. As the slim, four-bladed Dowty-Rotol propellers started turning, the familiar smoky, coughing engines start and piston-induced vibrations he usually felt at this moment were replaced by almost complete silence and a new smooth hum. Then the rising note of turbine whine
slowly grew into a shrieking cacophony emanating from the aircraft’s slim nacelles housing its four Rolls-Royce Darts.

Acceleration on takeoff was dazzling by compar­ison to a DC-7 or a Constellation, but with a stately 315-mph cruise speed, actual times en route were not all that different from the Viscount’s piston-powered counterparts. The flying experience itself, however, was another story, for the ride was noticeably smoother, it was quieter inside the cabin, and the trip was less fatiguing. Although not as fast or as large as the soon-to-come turboprop Electra from Lockheed and the Bristol Britannia from England, the Viscount nevertheless set the stage for the age of turbine – powered regional-service air travel.

about them, and an importance to the use of this new powerplant that changed commercial aviation forever. The turbine engine now connected Main Street in your town, to the bustling thoroughfares of big city America and beyond.