The latest volume in the very successful Airliner Tech series is on the Vickers Viscount, the world's first successful Turboprop airliner. First flown in 1948, the Viscount became Britain's most successful airliner of the 1950s with well over 400 built. Even today, there are many Viscounts performing well for operators around the world.

This book is in the usual format; softbound (actually, card-bound would be a better term), 8 1/2 x 11, 104 pages, and a ton of photos, some in color. All of this printed on high quality glossy paper. There are lots of high quality photographs and while most are in black and white, there are eight pages of full color.

As with all of the Airliner Tech series, the book is divided into several sections. It starts with the development and testing of the initial prototypes, followed by a section on manufacturing the aircraft. This is followed by developmental history in which the different variants are delineated. Then a section on flight operations followed by the color section. Worldwide service histories are given in the final chapter. Appendices are next with an explanation of the numbering system used, engine specs and significant dates. A new feature is a modeling section on available kits, something I'm glad to see added.

I must tell you honestly that my impressions of this book are extremely favorable. It was quite well written and flowed well when I read it. It isn't just a repetition of facts and figures, but gives some insight as to what it was like to be part of the development of the first turboprop airliner.

Highly recommended

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