PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - What colour was the first Vickers Vanguard?
Old 18th Nov 2008, 14:04
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philbky
 
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There is no record of 'YW in BEA colours so it must have been 'EA.

The Vanguard was the first airliner I flew in after a number of Chipmunk and an Anson flights in the ATC.

At the age of 15 I visited the 1963 Biggin Hill Air Fair unaccompanied. This entailed getting from home in Stockport to relatives in Virginia Water on a Friday night after school, followed by the return trip to Biggin on the Saturday then a day at Heathrow on the Sunday and a late afternoon trip home.

The trip to and from the south was achieved by means of BEA followed by bus and train journeys. The air fare was £2.50 (£2/10/-) each way student standby.

The 20.00 flight that Friday night was operated by G-APED which also, to my disappointment (as I wanted another example), operated the return leg on the Sunday.

The flight back was notable for two reasons. As we started our take off roll on 28R a sharp hail shower hit the mid point of the runway and the crew rejected the take off after around 5 seconds, followed by a turn off the runway and a return to the queue.

At the time BEA were conducting an experiment with the Tyne engines by which, at the top of climb, the engines were momentarily de-synchronised in pairs leading to a worrying noise in the cabin and a strange feeling that the aircraft had become inert. The crew at least mentioned this on the PA before it happened though the looks on the faces of the passengers around me was "interesting".

I made many flight on the Breadvan to and from Heathrow throughout the 1960s - a concept well engineered and perfect for the job - had it been built in 1948 rather than 1958. As it was ten years too late Vickers were unable to capitalise on its cost effectiveness, although their advertising made much of the low operating costs which cut little ice with airlines looking forward to short haul jets and passengers wanting a vibration free ride.
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