In memory of the Vickers Viscount

[tango15]

Just finished reading Barry LLoyd's "Vickers Viscount 1948-1949", a slim, but lavishly visually illustrated and well written account of the history of this legendary turboprop. The book is rich with anecdote and covers some of the incidents that perforce attend even the best and most reliable of aircraft that have been sold in significant numbers. I thoroughly recommend this book for a quick, lucid overview and history of this aircraft.

The only personally peevish, and South African chauvinistic, complaint that I have is that while the book does mention SAA as a Viscount operator, it does not have have an image of a SAA aircraft (or if it does, I need a stronger glasses' prescription), nor does it mention Lionel Haworth, the South African Rolls Royce Dart engine designer by name.

One of the anecdotes that really caught my attention with reference to the Dart engine, was the reference to the Turco Carboblast Compound used as a compressor wash to keep the occasionally recalcitrant Dart engine (amongst many others) up to horsepower specification on occasion. No doubt some of the aircraft engineers here (or who were here previously) will remember this compound well.

It sounds "nuts" but it works!

TURCO CARBOBLAST, a soft grit blasting material, is a mixture of walnut shells and apricot pits. These semi-abrasive lignocelluloses pellets are injected into jet engines to clean the compressors of contamination caused by salt, dust, smog and exhaust deposits sucked into the engine during reverse-thrust braking procedures. Removal of these deposits results in improved engine performance and fuel economy.

TURCO CARBOBLAST offers these benefits:
1. Pellets are tough, possess high strength and resist breakdown.
3. Conforms to MIL-G-5634C, Amend 2, Type VI.
2. Will not pit, scratch or damage metals, or other materials that are harder than the pellets.

I take your point sir, re the SAA Viscount photos, or rather lack of them. There were few around that were suitable for the book, and of those that were, my entreaties to the owners were met with zero response. It is my considered opinion that SA seems to suffer from a lack of plane spotters, although I fully recognise that there are more interesting pursuits to be found within its borders
I had never heard of that stuff until I was doing my research, despite having had a good friend who was an engineer on Viscounts. The Darts on the 748, where the operator was based on an island group, eg SATA (Azores), Bahamasair, LIAT (Antigua), used a chemical wash, the name of which escapes me now, but in most cases, it was applied at the end of every flying day.
Without checking, I think I mentioned Lionel Howarth in the 748 book in that respect. I agree that his participation in the Dart engine design has largely been overlooked.