Vickers Viscount

[LegsUpLucy]

Can anyone help,myself and a friend are thinking about restoring and/or purchasing a Vickers Viscount to bring it back to the uk shores.
Does anyone know if they are still flying anywhere or if anywhere would be selling one......

THANKS FOLKS......

[gooneydog]

I was once offered 17 Viscounts for a tax writeoff by an outfit in Tucson AZ They were all in various stages of disrepair and a few had had well known owners from the"Hollywood Set"

Prob all still there ... somewhere

[PaperTiger]

The Tucson Viscount operator was the Go Group. The Viscounts were fitted out executive-style and used mainly by bands etc. A count of 17 sounds excessive unless they were including the "christmas trees" which used to litter TUS.

Anyway as of my visit last month, all the Viscounts are gone - including the bits and pieces thereof. Scrapped I assume, there being no other practical use for them :(

[LegsUpLucy]

Thanks folks,more info would be appreciated!!

[411A]

Right in the LA Times classified section, circa 1972, between piano tuners and pizza makers...
Pilot wanted, Vickers Viscount, apply 2500 W. Washington Blvd, Los Angeles.
Odd I thought, who would have a Viscount in LA?

It was Ray Charles Enterprises, of course, and I was too late.
They had hired one already.
Darn.:*

His was all black inside, with a piano installed.
A classy operation, that traveled afar.

[David Eyre]

Hi There,

I am a big fan of the Viscount - my Dad used to work for BMA and Alidair/Guernsey Airlines at East Midlands, and I really miss the sound of 4 Rolls-Royce Darts!

One way to find Viscounts is to perform a search on aircraft photography websites, such as Airliners.Net, JetPhotos.Net, and MyAviation.Net.
Here are links:
http://www.airliners.net/search/
http://www.jetphotos.net/
http://www.myaviation.net/

You can also check current location/fate on aircraft production list websites such as Airlinerlist.com. The Viscount list on there is within the following zipped Excel file:
http://www.planemad.net/airlinerlist/rare-props.zip

Search the above list for any Viscount on the list that has status listed as "C" or "STD". The list includes hotlinks to Airliners.Net photos of the aircraft.

I believe that there is only one Viscount still flying (as at January 2005) based in Congo, Africa - a V.802 registration 3D-PFI , formerly G-AOHV:
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/758812/L/

There are preserved and stored examples at various locations in the UK and overseas. Some examples:
- An ex-BMA Viscount on a pole outside a nightclub in Belgium (G-AZNA):
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/282828/L/

- A Lufthansa Viscount in good condition at Frankfurt (D-ANAF)
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/940891/L/

- An ex Capital Viscount 798D N7471:
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/595995/L/

Hope this helps. I would love to see and hear a Viscount flying again!

regards,
David

[magdrops]

Worked with 800 and 810 series during 20- 25 years ago - as Occasional Flight Test Observer. Fond memories . Beautiful sound and wonderful windows for the passengers. Wish you luck with the purchase and restoratation. I bet there are a few bods out there willing to share / give advise and provide data if you ask nicely.:D

[ozplane]

This isn't super helpful but I often fly over a Viscount which is semi-stored on a strip just North of Old Warden near Sandy. I forget the name of the operation, which has done some first-class vintage restorations, but his Viscount was on long-term rebuild. He would doubtless have a handle on where the likely sources of airframes and spares would be. Could it be Skycraft Services or somesuch?

[treadigraph]

It's at Skysport Engineering and the guv'nor is Tim Moore.

Don't know whether that one would fly again or if it's actually all on site.

Lovely aeroplane!

[PaperTiger]

Well it's an awful long way from home (= many $$$), but there is an intact Viscount languishing at Brownsville, Texas. Belongs to the CAF Wing there but no attempt has been made at restoration, even cosmetic, in the many years it's been there.
Just sits baking in the sun, paint gone, tyres flat, exits open etc. :-(

[Newforest]

I believe there used to be two Viscounts at Tenerife Los Rodeos airport a few years ago, will try and check it out.

Check out Google earth, 28*29\'07.48\" and 16*20\'36.11\" and you will see one Viscount waiting for you?

[Newforest]

Here are some current Viscounts for you to ponder over:

3D-PFI still working, Pegasus,
9Q-CTU Stored Kinshasa, Bazair,
50258 China United Airlines,
I-LIRG Alitalia, Rome,
SE-CNL Falconair,
CF-THG Vancouver,
CF-THI Ontario. :D

[PaperTiger]

CF-THG Vancouver

Moved (by barge) to Victoria BC and now in the museum there.

CF-THI Ontario

National Air Museum, Ottawa so you can't have that one either !

[Croqueteer]

Sadly, unless it is current service, I don't think it is pos to restore one to flying status, as corrosion sets in so quickly when a Viscount is grounded. I wouldn't even walk under the wings of the 7oo at Cosford. I love the Viscount with over 4000 command hours on it, but have seen the insides of them too many times in deep maintanance, ie spar changes and tailplane spar corrosion to give any hope of a future flying example.

[mikedurward]

AH the sound of those Dart engines flying over the house.......................

I miss seeing them at GLA.

i would love to have one last flight. I used to stand behind my fathers pilot seat in the 70's before is tragic death flying one.

Good Luck and please let me know if you succeed.


Mike Durward

[chevvron]

I had to stand on one (behind the Captains seat) from Glasgow to Sumburgh once. Via Inverness, Wick and Kirkwall. Best bit was going across Scapa Flow at 500ft, then having to climb over the hills to land at Kirkwall.
Then we landed on the short runway at Sumburgh, using the whole length of the runway; as we turned at the end to backtrack, I was able to look straight down into the sea from the left flight deck window! It was either a straight in on the short or a curving 'Spitfire' type approach to the main in those days ('72).
After several fam flights in Tridents/BAC 111's and '737's, I had one to Rotterdam in a Viscount (BAF I think). As a previous correspondent said; those huge windows gave a fantastic view compared with the jets.

[chevvron]

Must've been the same captain. He flew Chipmunks at 6 AEF in his spare time, and my 3822 revealed I'd actuallly flown with him in a chippy (from White Waltham) some 2 years previous to the Viscount ride!

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

I managed a Vicount flight back in the mid 80s Manch to Jersey. I proffered my PPL and asked for the jump seat for the take off. "We don't have one", said the captain, "but you can stand up behind the P2 seat if you like". So I did! For the take off and all the way to Jersey.

Amazing view, but though the passenegr cabin was pristine, the flight deck really showed that this was an aeroplane almost at the end of its operational life.

Came home on the flight deck of an F27. How can an aeroplane with half as many Darts be twice as noisy to fly in?

SSD

[chevvron]

for taxying, they had a system of shutting down the two outers, and just using the inners on a restricted power setting (a blocking device on the throttles if I remember)
When we arrived at Wick, the captain pointed out to the F/O (a new boy) that with the slope of the runway, it wasn't a good idea to use this taxy mode too early, as with the restricted power settings on the two remaining engines, there might not be enough thrust to get you up the hill, and embarassingly, you might have to re-start the two outers!

[LegsUpLucy]

Great to see such passion for the old girl.....keep it coming,will keep you advised if i have success.

[chevvron]

Then there was the Radar Reseach one originally based at Pershore but transferred to Bedford when RRE flying at Pershore was suddenly terminated.
If I remember rightly, it had a huge radar aerial under the fuselage (SLAR I think) Wonder what happened to that one (could have been more than one in fact)

[PaperTiger]

XT661, formerly with Ghana Airways. Scrapped :{

http://www.airliners.net/open.file?id=926739

[chevvron]

Sad; it looks really smart in raspberry ripple scheme.

[chevvron]

Then there was the story told to me by an ex ETPS instructor about his experience.
They took off from Farnborough, my friend in the right hand seat ready to teach a trainee TP about asymmetric flight; unusually for a Viscount, they also had a flight engineer.
Departing from the south westerly runway, at about 500ft, my friend cuts power on the starbord inner; the trainee thought it was the port inner(no I don't know why) and feathers BOTH port engines, leaving them with the starbord outer, yawing to the left and descending towards Caesars Camp, a hill south west of the airfield. Before they could take any further action, the F/E pushes between them and starts frantically unfeathering props and opening fuel cocks etc saying 'fer Christs sake let's use two at least'!

[chevvron]

Amazing co-incidence; there was an Alfred Hitchcock film (c 1956)on in the early hours, which included a sequence of a Viscount in BEA markings taxying in at 'London Airport'.
It showed I was mistaken about the 'taxy mode; they were using the outers not the inners!
Film was 'The Man Who Knew Too Much'

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

My school was in the circuit for Manchester Ringway (as it was back then). I can remember Viscounts going over with two props windmilling (can't remember if it was inners or outers, but I'm pretty sure it was symetrical).

A few years later a Viscount doing crew training crashed at Manchester taking off with a simulated engine failure. It rolled inverted killing the crew and (IIRC) a stewardess that was along for the ride. I can remember the wreckage, visible from the lane where the big radar head used to be (now the site of the MCR VOR). It lay under tarpaulin sheets inverted next to the runway.

I can still remember the Shadow Moss road crash of the late '50s when a Viscount (the prototype - WE?) flap bolt failed on short final. Until recently, when the row of houses there was re-roofed, you used to be be able to see the different-coloured roofs of the end two houses which were re-built after being partially demolished in the accident

SSD

[ozplane]

The oldest surviving Viscount 'LWF is looking very smart after it's respray in original BEA colours at Duxford. Unfortunately it's outside for the moment although I assume it will go under cover when the Airspace hangar is finished. It's still missing the fin/rudder and tailplane which I understand needed de-corroding

[Golf Charlie Charlie]

As a regular watcher of Viscounts in my youth, eg. LPL and MAN, I recall them taxi-ing on both the inners or the outers (Aer Lingus, Cambrian, BEA, British Eagle, Channel, Treffield.......).

Anyone remember Treffield ?!! LOL.

Shaggy Sheep, didn't the stewardess survive that crash (British Midland) ? I recall my school French lessons, and we read Paris Match magazine as a weekly exercise. I can still recall an article which was headlined "Elle sortit de la Viscount survivant"..., or something like that. (Yet I can't remember some things that happened last week.)

[latetonite]

I used to skipper one in the early `90 ties in Zaire: 9Q-CVF. Anyone knows her fate?

[Croqueteer]

I've a nice picture of landing at Sumburgh about 1984, but I don't know how to add a pic to a reply. Any help?

[RatherBeFlying]

Chevron, I'm at bit amazed the the ETPS trainee would be so quick to feather on the Viscount since it does have a nice autofeather system; so much so that it was hard to notice a flamed out inner, at least on the simulator I flew for some years.

I once shut down #3 with the LP cock, trimmed out and handed it over in the air to the next crew who flew about unawares for several minutes until they were given a climb and the autofeather #3 light came on:\

[Unwell_Raptor]

As an LAP Queen's Building habitué from about 1956 (aged 10) to 1960, I can just about remember that the 700-series taxied on the outers, and the 800s on the inners.

Or perhaps the other way around. One of thse is right.

[Fokkerwokker]

IIRC I think the V700 series had the hydraulic pumps on the outer engines and the V800 series on the inners? Hence they would always taxy with the appropriate engines running to provide hydraulic power for brakes and nose wheel steering.

I remember many hours stood behind the pilots on British Eagle Viscounts. Heady days!


FW

[Croqueteer]

t
Thanks Mike, I'll try that.

This is a pic of me landing G-APIM at Sumburgh runway 33 1984. Fun flying. A 33 landing involed passing the lighthouse and flying down the side of the hill you can see behind the a/c, then a left turn through 35o/o roll level then touchdown. Sorry about the blotches, they are on the original photo.
http://photobucket.com/albums/c168/Croqueteer/

[Croqueteer]

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c168/Croqueteer/Viscount.jpg

Sorry, I have tried to resize this pic on photobucket but with no luck.

[chevvron]

I did a stint at Sumburgh and can confirm the 33 approach could be 'interesting'. There were 3 or 4 sodium lead-in lights in a curve between Sumburgh Head and the Sumburgh Hotel to help the pilots, but even so, I remember one Viscount (BMA I think) nearly ending up sideways across the runway. He was admittedly unfamiliar with the airfield; BMA didn't have a regular service; this one was a 'rescue' charter for some people who were stranded when the airline they'd booked with went bust.

[PT6ER]

We had a 5 engine Viscount at Pratt and Whitney Canada.....a stonking great PW100 in the nose!

I believe it is in a museum now but that was a long time ago.

There is a great story about one of our senior designers at the time. He was an ex-Supermarine apprentice and had worked a lot on the Viscount in its infancy. As he led a collegue on to the beast for the first time, through the "vestibule", he started to say "mind your head..." when said collegue bounced his noggin on the low ceiling just inside the door. "Ouch, how did you know that was there" the injured bloke asked. With a wink he replied "'cos I f#%king designed it!". :D

[Golf Charlie Charlie]

One of the early prototype Viscounts was actually built with two RR Tay jet engines. Imagine that ! I recall seeing a grainy black and white picture of this version years back, and I wonder if anyone could find one to post here. It never caught on, mainly because I think the Dart turboprops were a more powerful and economical solution.

[India Four Two]

And here it is:

http://1000aircraftphotos.com/Contributions/Braas/4179.htm

Amazing - sweep back the wings and tail, call it Type 737 and Vickers would have had the prototype of a world beater!

[Golf Charlie Charlie]

India 42, thank you so much.

[Newforest]

So latetonite, you would have been flying the 754D 9Q-CVF for Trans Service Airlift. Would this have been an arms supply flight into Angola? At the moment, the fate of the aircraft is described as 'obscure'.

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

The Tay Viscount operated from Seighford, near Stafford, I beleive.

SSD

[Hanslope]

More on the Viscount flights in Scotland.

As a BEA commercial apprentice in the early 70s we were sent up North to learn the business. I have many memories of flying around the Highlands and islands standing between the pilots.

One captain told me that it was a standard procedure when training new FOs to keep flying into the hill on the, I guess, 33 approach to Sumburgh until the FO turned white and then turn to finals. We then flew the route so I could see it for myself.

I also remember a low level flight from Stornoway to Benbecula and the Captain(another one) telling me about a really nice Hotel/Restaurant. Where's that? , says I. Down there, says he with a sharp turn of the control yoke to reveal said Hotel just off the right side of the aircraft.

I would love to see one flying in the UK again

[chevvron]

On the GB airways flights from Tangier to Gibraltar, it wasn't just on the flight deck that you stood; I remember on two occasions seeing children standing in front of their (seated) parents in the main cabin with the stewardesses compliance.
It seemed to be normal to take off from Tangier airport, then fly between the minarets of the city before setting course for Gib.

[Fokkerwokker]

SSD

I was interested in your comment about the Tay Viscount operating out of Seighford. Have you any idea what the connection was? I did a search and found that Boulton Paul had established some form of test flight there. There is some mention of Canberra trials but thus far nothing on the Tay Viscount.

Looking at Multimap not a lot remains of the site.

FW

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Fokkerwokker

I got the info from the 'Action Stations 3' book, which shows Tay Viscount VX217 at Seighford in front of its hangar. Apparently it flew from both there and Defford, investigating early fly-by-wire development (to quote the book - 'using electrical impulses to move the control surfaces').

VX217 was scrapped at Seighford in the early 60s.

The runway was 2000 feet long back then, but most is gone now. I've been in there several times in our Chipmunk, once as a bolthole from bad wx! Staffordshire Gliding Club now occupy the northern part of the site, operating off grass, but sveral hundred yards of the old runway still exists (or did when I was last there - quite a few years ago now).

SSD

[chevvron]

Er don't you mean the runway was 2000yds?

[Fokkerwokker]

I hope SSD meant 2000yards!!:ooh: :ooh: :ooh:

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

2,000 feet is luxury for a Chippy, but yes, I did mean yards .

[MReyn24050]

Speechless Two

The accident was on the 19 Jan 1970. The aircraft was a Viscount 701 Registration G-AMOA with 4 crew and 59 Pax. There where no fatalities. the aircraft was CAT 5 i.e. beyond repair. It was classified as a heavy landing.

Mel

[latetonite]

NewForest, no 9Q-CVF was flying a daily pax and freight service into Tsikapa, Zaire. TSA was not flying arms when I was there, definately not in my time.

[gregers]

Hi from a newbie here, i remember watching Viscounts on approach to LBA on a seemingly daily basis during my youth, both my school and home were under long finals for the main runway. my only flight on a Viscount was from LHR to LBA on British Midland Viscount G-BMAT piloted by a Captain Murphey, i have heard that this aircraft has since crashed on a freight flight, does anyone know of the circumstances of this?. and also i seem to remember reading about the Skysport Viscount being up for sale a couple of years ago though (maybe in Flypast??)
hope this is of help, and cheers in advance for any replies.

Greg

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=843





XS186 ground crew

[gregers]

Many thanks for that Speachless two.
i will have a look good at the link as there is another aircraft that i have flownin that i have been told has had an accident. it is one of the chipmunks i flew in whilst in the air training corps. off to the caledonian chipmunk dsite to look up its civil reg.

cheers.

Greg

[chevvron]

Sadly I also witnessed the demise of a Viscount.
Bournemouth in early '72 I think. It appeared to have landed in the undershoot of runway 08 taking off the undercarriage in the process(all three legs were in the undershoot anyway). I think it was crew training at the time, and the markings were possibly ex Lufthansa; don't remember the reggie I'm afraid.

[PaperTiger]

I think it was crew training at the time, and the markings were possibly ex Lufthansa; don't remember the reggie I'm afraid.It was actually on its delivery flight to Airwork :\
http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19720128-1

[Flightwatch]

I had ther pleasure of flying the Viscount for the last four years of the 60s for BKS. Now in the last months of a (nearly) 40 year career it is still the aircraft which I remember with the most affection - it was a real pleasure to fly and loved by all passengers for it's vibrationless comfort and huge windows.

We had a dozen or so aircraft in that time and apart from the V806x the only things in the same place were the throttles and HP cocks. In fact the US spec. V700D were a lot better performers and had enhanced systems than the ex - BEA machines, they had such items as automatic engine deicers that changed cycle speeds at a given temperature instead of watching the IOAT like a hawk to perform said manoeuvre. Unfortunately though the "comfort " factors like the freon air conditioning and janitrol cabin heaters were disabled as the CAA wouldn't approve them.

They had the same Dart 510 engines as the V806x that BEA had downgraded their aircraft with so being smaller and lighter climbed better and went further. Interestingly enough BKS pioneered a mod that stuck a faired lump of lead at the underside of the outboard wings which increased the ZFW, in one case it was put into the slipper tanks (also a non-approved mod by the CAA). This was later extended to the 800s by a fuel management regime that left a greater weight of fuel in the ouboard tanks.

It also has a somewhat dubious claim to having great sex appeal, there was a BEA sewardess in the 60s who swore that she had an orgasm from the vibration every time the props went into ground fine pitch on landing, if only we could all be so lucky.

Also of note was the variation of flight systems installed from "none" to the Collins FD101 ( I still have a certificate somewhere saying I had attended a training course for that one) to the Smiths Flight system as installed in it's bigger cousin the Vanguard. I even got to fly a leased early "slitty windowed" 700 - ex Aer Lingus I believe, that had a zero reader, I was supposed to do a differences course for that but one Sunday afternoon I was the only F/O around so the chief pilot sat me in the aircraft and supposedly explained the intricacies of the contraption, I never did get the hang of it in the subsequent 4 sectors"

The biggest trap was that the American aircraft had switches that were up for on and the UK ones down for on, confusion was inevitable.

Interestingly a good friend of mine, now in his mid 70s flew the last airworthy example in the US from Chino Ca. to a museum in the eastern States somewhere where it was to be repainted into it's original Capitol colours and possibly kept airworthy, I have no clue what happened to that one, I guess it is still on display somewhere. He was asked as he was the last check-airman qualified in the US having been employed by Go Air to do Rock and Roll tours around the States and Canada with such notables as Billy Joel, Barry Manilow and suchlike, His experiences there would make a good story as his "clients" included the likes of the Beasty Boys!

Very fond memories of a great aircraft, I would enjoy seeing one airborne again however I fear it is rather unlikely.

P.S. The reason that the BEA machines, including "Yogi Bear" the Gibair aircraft had no cockpit jump seat was that it was removed to put in a cockpit air conditioner. The seat was originally rearward facing for the Radio Officer who was supposed to do his W/T in the early days and in BEA service it was religiously removed on a fixed date for the summer months to be replaced come winter - of course that took no account of flying to the eastern med in the winter! When sold on to subsequent airlines the airconditioner was left permenantly in position - at least until it went u/s.

[PaperTiger]

Interestingly a good friend of mine, now in his mid 70s flew the last airworthy example in the US from Chino Ca. to a museum in the eastern States somewhere where it was to be repainted into it's original Capitol colours and possibly kept airworthy, I have no clue what happened to that one, I guess it is still on display somewhere.It's at the Mid-Atlantic Museum, Reading Pa. And to be pedantic it's Capital Airlines, Capitol was a different airline who never used Viscounts.

http://www.maam.org/newsletters/jan00/memupdtjan2000.html#viscount

[Flightwatch]

Oops, I stand corrected, thank you!

I looked at the MAAM website but could find no further news on the Viscount since the 2000 update you provided a link to, indeed the website doesn't seem to have anything more recent than 2004 on it.

Interesting that it has an APU, never met one of those before, I don't believe it was original manufacturer's equipment, we just had to have a very large GPU that pushed out large amounts of 400cps power to start the engines with, you might just get one started on the battery with much juggling of the HP cock and fuel trim switch, if you were lucky.

[PaperTiger]

I think MAAM is spending its limited funds on other planes which have more of a cachet (to Americans) than the poor old Viscount. :(

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

Interesting that it has an APU, never met one of those before, I don't believe it was original manufacturer's equipment, we just had to have a very large GPU that pushed out large amounts of 400cps power to start the engines with, you might just get one started on the battery with much juggling of the HP cock and fuel trim switch, if you were lucky.

The one I travelled on (standing behind the FO!) had difficulty starting the first engine (right outer). Can't remember if we had a power cart, but I remember the captain cursing a bit try to coax it into life (we could see it plainly in the reflection in the glass of the pier at Manchester).

Once he got that one going, starting the others was no problem.

SSD

[David Eyre]

Hi Flightwatch,


I looked at the MAAM website but could find no further news on the Viscount since the 2000 update you provided a link to, indeed the website doesn't seem to have anything more recent than 2004 on it.

Here's a photo of the MAAM Viscount 798D (N7471) taken in May 2004:

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/595995/L/ (http://)

...and some more shots of the same aircraft:

http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?regsearch=N7471&distinct_entry=true

Regards,
David

[bean]

I hope this works

For Flightwatch.

This is the ex Aer Lingus Viscount you mentioned at Jersey on a beautiful summers day in 1966










http://www.airlinehobby.com/fullsize_thumbs/501568252.jpg

[Flightwatch]

Thanks for the photos and info. I checked in my logbook and in fact, although I did fly it to Jersey the V707 I flew was G-APZB which had been dry leased from Channel Airways for a couple of weeks in July ’67 when our own V745D G-ATTA had rammed a GPU at LHR and was undergoing repairs – it was still in Channel Airways colours. ‘ZC had been leased for the entire summer of ’66 but was returned thereafter when we took delivery of 3 more 700Ds the next winter. I didn’t start to fly the Viscount until March ’67 and when ’ZB was leased at short notice it was only those who had flown ‘ZC the previous year who were supposed to fly it. Interestingly in BKS all pilots had to be checked out on two types depending on base, e.g. Britannia/Ambassador, Ambassador/748 or as in my case at Leeds, 748/Viscount, I checked out on the 748 at the end of ‘66.

I particularly enjoyed the photo of ‘ZC which demonstrates clearly why the early 700s were known as “Donkey C*ck” Viscounts, the air scoop under the rear fuselage was done away with quite soon in the production run.

The MAAM Viscount is looking a bit sad now, I guess it isn’t airworthy any more. In fact we also had a V798D, G-AVED originally destined for Capital but never delivered, I believe immediately before BKS it had been in Central America. However if there is one aircraft which might be preserved in flying condition I guess the MAAM example is the best candidate. I remember seeing it at Chino in the late 80s in it’s previous role as a parcels carrier.

Amazing how I can remember facts and figures from 38 years ago but can’t remember who I met yesterday!

Regards, Flightwatch.

[Helen49]

Flightwatch.....

Most interesting to read your posts on LBA, the Viscounts, 748s etc. I was at LBA in those days in ATC and, like you, can remember much of it as though it were yesterday! GASPL, the first departure from the newly constructed runway 33.

British Eagle were the first Viscount operators at LBA, using V700s on their LBA-MAN-Newquay service from runway 28(!) and I well remember the first BKS viscount operations using the Channel Viscounts..... in Channel colours. I also remember an incident when a BKS Captain with many hours on the V700 landed on runway 33 and shut down the 'inners' by mistake, leaving the aircraft stranded on the runway!

I recall BKS having 6 V700s, all with slight variations in the colour schemes! In the '70s 'Northeast' operated the Viscount 800s on IT flights to various destinations in mainland Spain and the Balearics.

Throughout the 60s and 70s, Viscounts were the backbone of LBA operations and therefore provide many fond memories!

H49

[Centaurus]

During my time as a QFI with the RAAF VIP Squadron in Canberra I flew the two Viscount 800 Series in the mid-Sixties. One was obtained from the Sperry Rand Corporation of USA, while the other was the Shah of Persia's aircraft.

I often wondered where they both finished up after the RAAF disposed of them circa 1967 after receiving two HS 748's as replacement. I would also be most interested in the history of these two aircraft prior to them being obtained for the RAAF. Their RAAF numbers were A6-435 and A6-436.

[Centaurus]

Speechless two. I cannot thank you enough for that info on the two RAAF Viscounts. Sadly, Wing Commander Warwick Addison who flew both Viscounts to Australia, died a couple of years ago in Canberra. He was one of the best CO's I have served under and a very enthusiastic pilot at that. If I recall, he flew Bostons in the Battle of the Bismark Sea.

[gregers]

AAAH more memories, i remember watching G-BFZL at LBA many times (normaly from the aeroclub, pint in hand)
here is a link to pics of her in her later years.

http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?front=yes&maxres=500&keywords=G-BFZL

strangely, i am having trouble locating pics of 346 / G-BGLC. if i come up with any i will post them, or the links here.

co-incidentaly, i have a corgi 1/144th scale model of G-BFZL on my computer desk in the 2 tone blue British Midland colours, she was the only Viscount to get painted in the later all blue colours iirc

another memory of LBA, me as a very young aircraft enthusiast (not a spotter btw) probably was about 12 yrs old standing on the electrics box near the fence at the end of the runway watching the aircraft take off towards me, one viscount took rather a long time to get unstuck, result = me heading backwards off the box landing on my bicycle almost knocking myself out and spraining my ankle and buckling the rear wheel (and a wobbley 14 mile bike ride home after) OUCH!!! :} :O

all the best

Greg

[PaperTiger]

a very young aircraft enthusiast (not a spotter btw)

Relax, you're among friends here. This isn't the mil forum :O

[gregers]

Hiya Papertiger,

i only differetiated between the two because there are those spotters who, to put it mildly, are not aircraft enthusiasts and are purely there to log the numbers, one such example. i went on a trip with Air Yorkshire, i was walking around the hangar enterence (with permission of course) saw a type i was unfamiliar with and so i asked one of the guys there "what type is that"? the answer "who cares? i got its number, thats all i'm interested in" hmmmm.....(the aircraft turned out to be a Gardan Horizon, i later worked on one) another occasion, was happily chatting with the pilot of a cessna 337 skymonster, he said he was off for a 30 min jolly, would any of us like to go up with him. i was the only one who said yes, the others said there was too many airfields to visit to fit it in. and they wouldn't wait for me to return if i went up so i had to turn down his offer :mad: . that was the last trip i went on with them. admittedly i did start logging numbers when i was about 16 but gave it up about three of four years later, it got in the way of really LOOKING at the aircraft.

on a lighter note,
and this is true, i saw it for myself. fly in at Badminton, spotter on a bicycle riding down the rows of aircraft with a dictaphone in one hand reading off the reggies. and yes, he WAS wearing an anorak!!!
no doubt he took his hobby seriously and doubtless it made him happy but i just had to laugh!!!

all the best.

Greg

ps, i truely and honestly have nothing against aircraft spotters whatsoever, these guys - and girls, can be a mine of useful information.

[David Eyre]

Hi Centaurus,

Further to the data supplied by Speechless Two on Viscounts A6-435 and A6-436...

cn 435 (ex A6-435)
G-BFZL was in June 1996 flypast to celebrate Heathrow's 50th birthday, in full British World colours. Here's a photo of it in those colours taken prior to the flypast: http://www.airliners.net/open.file/744076/L/
There are a number of other photos of G-BFZL with various airlines on the Airliners.Net website.

Sold to HeliJet and ferried to South Africa 27.4.97 in passenger configuration, based at Lanseria, South Africa. G-BFZL registration was not cancelled until 5.3.98. Registered to Planes R Us Pty on 6.3.98, as ZS-NNI, but never wore this rego. Still stored at Lanseria during 4.98, 5.98, still wearing G-BFZL.

Damaged 22.4.99 at Lanseria when a hangar door fell on its tail in storm
Noted hangared at Lanseria 2.12.99 in blue/white colours with no registration, and again on 7.10.01 stored outside with no registration - here's a photo:
http://www.jetphotos.net/viewphoto.php?id=227214

Painted at Lanseria in 11.02 in Trans IntAir colours 9Q-regd (also reported as 9Q-CHL). Arrived at Kinshasa, Congo 13.11.02, in new colours, but not officially cancelled from South African register
ZS-NNI (never worn) reg finally cancelled to 9Q-CGL on 10.02.03
As 9Q-CGL, on 27 April 2003 one engine was damaged after landing on a 900m gravel strip in Congo. Attempted a three-engine takeoff ferry flight, but another engine failed on takeoff, causing the plane to crash into trees. Unknown whether there were fatalities, but aircraft written-off.

cn 436 (ex A6-436) G-BGLC
A photo of this aircraft with Dan-Air:
http://www.planepictures.net/netshow.php?id=173440

To VP-WGB Air Zimbabwe 2.11.80
Reregistered as Z-WGB in Oct 1983
Withdrawn from use at Harare by 12.90, seen there in derelict condition in 6.96. There is a photo of Z-WGB partly scrapped at Harare on this website (scroll down a bit):
http://home.iprimus.com.au/rob_rickards/viscounts/viscountstech.htm


I used to regularly see G-BFZL (when with British Midland), and occasionally G-BGLC (when with Air Bridge Carriers / Dan-Air) at East Midlands Airport in the UK, so I also have tenuous links to these two aircraft.

Would love to see and hear a Viscount flying again!

Regards,
David

[Mooney]

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/758812/L/

3D-PFI of Pegasus Aviation was photographed flying last year.


Cockpit;

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/535787/L/

[chevvron]

Nice to see there's at least one still around.
Aircraft in the background; Gulfstream 1?

[atb1943]

Aah Viscounts...twas a Viscount that brought me over to Germany 40-odd years ago, G-ATDU it was, wonder what happened to it....

And here are a couple of photos taken from the very interesting Polish site...

http://http://lotnictwo.net/galselect.php?p=0&ui=133&mi=52&quer=1=1&ti=521&selectby=fotoID%20DESC&wpis=

If it doesn"t work try simply www.lotnictwo.net and click on the strange aircraft mid-left at Havacilik.

Think I recall the Turkish one on test at Blackbushe....I definitely recall the South African one, 751.

cheers
atb

[jabberwok]

Ahhh. Nostalgia.
http://www.homepages.mcb.net/bones/WebPix/GAOCB_VC700.jpg
http://www.homepages.mcb.net/bones/WebPix/GAPND_V800.jpg
BEA, Cambrian, British Eagle, Treffield, Channel, BMA, Manx. Last flight was in the Manx Viscount to Amsterdam when it was being withdrawn - Tony Unsworth and Bill Tillotson were the pilots. It was a staff jolly but the return flight became rather poignant.
I mourn the passing of the aircraft, despite the Darts resulting in high tone deafness!

[Hanslope]

I have just being going through a box of old papers and came across a gem.

It is a BEA Internal report on the first year of Viscount 701 operations 1953/4 marked " The contents of this document must not be communicated outside the corporation without prior permission from Chief Executive "

It has a wealth of statistical data plus staff and passenger feedback. Among the passenger comments was this:

With the number of passengers this plane takes there should be two toilet rooms a)ladies b)gents. I could not get vacancy till I reached Athens.

I was a General Apprentice in BEA Head Office in the early 70s and I remember grabbing this from a pile of stuff being chucked out. I also have a file marked secret called " Viscount replacement aircraft specification "

[Newforest]

Aah Viscounts...twas a Viscount that brought me over to Germany 40-odd years ago, G-ATDU it was, wonder what happened to it....


Sold to British Eagle, leased to Air France and scrapped at Liverpool.

[atb1943]

Many thanks, Newforest.

Then there was a flight from Frankfurt to Berlin Tempelhof in Nov 65 in G-AORD. Visited Modern Air and PanAm.

A month later we had to go and meet with Interflug, possibly East German Lufthansa in those days. G-AOHI got us overhead Berlin but we had to return to FRA due to wx. Next day G-AOHW tried but again got diverted, this time to Hannover. After some three hours 'HL was put on the job and was successful, but all our dates were shot and had to be re-arranged. And you didn't get a connection to East Berlin very easily in those days. I remember we spent the evening in the cinema at Berlin Zoo watching 'Those Magnificent Men...'. Gert Froebe didn't need dubbing of course, and his umpah umpah umpah caused much mirth.

The return flight to FRA was in 'HM.

Long live the Viscount!

cheers
atb (ex-British Eagle...)

[jabberwok]

Time has not been kind to my slide collection but here goes...
http://www.homepages.mcb.net/bones/WebPix/G-ATDR.jpg
http://www.homepages.mcb.net/bones/WebPix/G-AMOJ.jpg

[Max Tow]

There's currently a Viscount sitting at Montevideo A/p. Not in flying condition from my brief glimpse.

[David Eyre]

Hi Max Tow,

The Viscount at Montevideo in Uruguay is supposedly preserved by a museum, but has been steadily decaying. Here's a photo taken a year ago:

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/747391/L/

Regards,

David

[Fishtailed]

I found a couple of snaps I took at Ringway, early sixties, a 'plane mad schoolboy. My only flight in the Viscount was a day trip Gib to Tangier return in 1979, Gibair I think.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f280/fishtailed/viscount1.jpg


http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f280/fishtailed/viscount2.jpg

[chevvron]

Everyone's probably hear this before, but it was only Gibair until some wag climbed up one night and painted 'Yo' in front of the 'Gibair', thereafter they re-named it 'GB Airways'. I think the use of GB was also to annoy the Spanish.(but then I'm probably wrong)

[Mac the Knife]

Fond memories of the Viscount. Had my first flight in one as an unaccompanied minor aged 8 from LHR to Geneva - probably in '57 or '58

Flight deck visit and spoiled by the crew, very memorable for a small boy.

Deaf as a post for hours afterwards I remember.

Lots of flights GVA-LHR-GVA as a child - first the Viscount, then the Vanguard, then the 707, the Trident, 990 Coronado, VC10 - nostalgia!

Edited to add: Whoops! Forgot the Comet! How could I?

[airborne_artist]

Slightly off at a tangent, but here is a scan of my father's daily order book for HMS Hardy the day after the Aer Lingus Viscount crashed in the St Georges Channel. There has been speculation that a rogue missile from Aberporth caused the crash.

http://www.hrmconsultancy.net/images/viscount_600.jpg

[PPRuNe Pop]

It was a cracking aeroplane. I very much looked forward to leave home from Germany on a trooping flight, on a Viscount, and the trip back to Gutersloh.

Also flew from ABZ to LGW ocassionally. Ah! Sweet memories.

[chevvron]

Went past Brooklands on the train last tuesday (going to see Arsenal vs Wigan, but that's another story) and the Viscount there looked resplendent in it's BAF colour scheme.

[jh5speed]

Gregers - AZNA not BFZL was the only Viscount to be painted in the all-blue scheme (perhaps a spotterish thing to point out; I beg to be classified an enthusiast!).

I spent 2 student summers as an aircraft cleaner at East Midlands (£2/hour as I recall) and have happy (?) memories being 'bog man for the day', which involved teetering down Viscount steps, big galvanised bucket in hand, to pour contents into bigger bucket on the back of the bog wagon. AZNA had an upmarket 'bucket' (part of the paintjob) incorporating a flush...

Too much detail here perhaps.

AZNA was joined by BAPF and BMAT as the last gasp of the BMA Viscount fleet. (There was a super article in Propliner sometime later following AZNA's departure, chronicling 21 years of BMA Viscount ops - or was it 21 Viscounts in total ...).

I remember being fascinated by PF's asymmetric tailplane - the trailling edge met the tailcone at slightly different points (I don't remember seeing this on any of the others). Why - propwash, or spare-parts-itis?

The sound of 4 darts was part of my growing up - the Heralds and F27s just didn't have that richness of timbre.