I also agree that the Viscount was a charismatic aircraft, never to be forgotten once you had flown in one. My initial trip was in 1964 to Guernsey, for a first visit to my new girlfriend's home island. I checked in at BEA's West London Air Terminal in Cromwell Road, South Kensington. That was before the tube link direct to Heathrow was built, and was also well before all the world and his wife started travelling by air on low priced mass package holidays. The feeling of doing something special and dare I say it, "posh", was encouraged by the smart, modern air terminal and the swift dedicated BEA transport to Heathrow, with the luggage already checked in and towed behind the bus ready for loading on arrival.
Most passengers dressed smartly for the flight experience then, and the appearance and aura of the sleek and modern Viscount on boarding seemed to justify that sartorial effort. Big oval windows, comfortable seats, and that thrilling whine from the four Darts all combined to give the short-haul journey a tingling excitement sadly no longer felt nowadays, the novelty having long since worn off. Oh, and I was in a pleasant mood of anticipation at seeing my girlfriend, a student nurse in London, briefly home in Guernsey and waiting to show me around. During that blissful journey I couldn't resist putting down the drinks table and standing a 3d coin on edge on it (the old threepenny bit, pre-decimalisation). This was a popular gimmick to demonstrate the lack of vibration on turbo-props at that time. And it stayed upright, just as it should!
I've never forgotten that first Viscount experience, and like LAS1997 I entered the Brooklands example with a feeling of pleasant familiarity a couple of years ago. What memories it stirred! And I eventually married that young Guernsey nurse, so everything went perfectly ...
