Welcome to our Viscount Museum
Continental Airlines V.812 Viscount c/n 355 N241V
The Viscount story started in the early 1940s
Concorde
The idea to develop the Viscount (initially known as the Viceroy) was born during World War II at a time when things were going far from well and few people were thinking much about civil
aviation. To some people in 1942, it may have seemed strangely unrealistic of the British Government to appoint a group of experts, known as the Brabazon Committee, to examine post-war
requirements for transport aircraft. In their recommendations, however, lay the origin of an idea that was to develop into one of the most successful British civil aircraft ever built.
The Viscount was designed by George Edwards (later Sir George Edwards), who was for a quarter of a century from 1950, the dominant figure in British aviation, both civil and military.
His name is synonymous with the Viscount, the world's first gas turbine-powered aircraft to carry fare-paying passengers on a scheduled service, and Concorde, for which he led the British team
throughout its formative period to customer delivery.
In its time the Viscount was just as pioneering as Concorde was 20 years later. Indeed, in many respects, the Viscount was a more successful aircraft than Concorde.
VIDEO
The Viscount was designed using cutting edge technology
Vickers-Armstrongs developed the Viscount in tandem with Rolls-Royce's development of the Dart, the world’s first commercially successful propeller gas turbine (turbo-prop) engine. Almost
certainly neither would have succeeded without the other.
The 1950s and the 1960s were sensational times in aviation and Britain led the world in commercial aircraft development with pioneering designs like the Vickers-Armstrongs Viscount and the de
Havilland Comet. Packed with the latest 1950s cutting edge technology, the Viscount was operated by both large and small airlines throughout the world and was to remain in service for over
50 years.
Preserving the memory of the Viscount
Our virtual museum is dedicated to preserving the memory of this groundbreaking and highly successful British aircraft and consists of over 20,000 pages of information, photos and films that are
assessable with just a few clicks from the menu bar at the top of each page. On the information bar on the right-hand side of each page, we have selected a few of these pages to get you started.
Field Aircraft Services Ltd
G-BDKZ, c/n 372, taken
February 1976
Purchased from Ghana Airways. Taken stored at East Midlands Airport, Castle Donington, Leicestershire, England circa 1976.
Photo source - Bruno Geiger collection
Start your visit by finding out how the Viscount was born during World War II at a time when things were going far from well and few people were thinking much about civil aviation. Discover the
operational records and photos of the 444 Viscounts built together with film from British Pathe and Viscount history from owners and operators.
Read our 'Live Magazine' where stories and photos are added daily by members and non-members located throughout the world. You will never miss a story as you can scroll back to the very first
one added when we introduced this popular service.
Discover the history of the Viscount with contemporary reports from the pages of Flight Magazine. Finish your visit by taking a slide show where you can travel back in time and enjoy
yourself revisiting the long and colourful life of the Viscount. No two slide shows will be the same and are illustrated with photos from our archive that dates from 1948 through to today.
Please enjoy your visit and don't forget to return regularly as new material is being added all the time - check out the 'Latest 60 photos' on the menu bar.
The Vickers Viscount Network has a membership and following in over 89 countries
Why not join our friendly, international and free membership where members come from all walks of life - pilots, engineers, artists, authors, model makers, pilots of computer simulators,
airline passengers, and plane spotters, just to name some. Whatever their interest our members have one thing in common - the Viscount.
Preserving the Memory of the Vickers-Armstrongs VC2 Viscount
Vickers-Armstrongs VC2 Viscount
1948 - 2024
It was during the 1940s that Vickers-Armstrongs and Rolls-Royce proved that the gas-turbine engine was
the power plant of the future by developing the world-class Viscount passenger aircraft and Dart engine.
'Commercial flying', an airline passenger of the first half of the 20th Century once observed, 'is 90% boredom and 10%
fright'.
This is the story of an aircraft that was instrumental in altering this opinion. It is the story of a remarkable
aircraft that so shattered the accepted notions of travel comfort and airline economics that its standards became
accepted as a yardstick by which other forms of transport were measured. It is the story of the first turbo-prop
airliner in the world, and the first transport type ever to break America's monopoly of the commercial aircraft market.
The prototype Viscount, the sole V.630 series, G-AHRF
Notable firsts:-
Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA)
29 July 1950 - C/N 1 G-AHRF operated by British European Airways Corporation (BEA) became the first
gas turbine-powered aircraft to carry fare-paying passengers on a scheduled service anywhere in the world when it
departed Northolt, Middlesex, England as flight number BE392X2 to Le Bourget, Paris, France.
13-17 February 1953 – C/N 3 G-AMAV owned by the Ministry of Supply became the first gas turbine-powered passenger aircraft to cross the North Atlantic.
1 April 1955 – C/N 42 CF-TGK of Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA) operated the first gas turbine-powered
scheduled revenue service in North America as flight number 265 from Montreal, Province of Quebec to Winnipeg,
Manitoba via Toronto, Ontario and Port Arthur, Ontario (known as Thunder Bay since January 1970 when it amalgamated
with Fort William), Canada.
4 April 1955 – C/N 42 CF-TGK of Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA) operated the first international gas
turbine-powered scheduled revenue service in North America from Toronto, Ontario, Canada to Idlewild, New York, USA
(since 1963 known as JFK - John F Kennedy airport).
British European Airways
There were at the time more people willing to prove conclusively that gas turbines would never be economically suited
to passenger operations than there were converts to rebut them.
In those pioneer days the arguments on both sides were still based on theory, plus on the side of those who supported
the gas turbine, a considerable degree of faith.
Virgin Atlantic Airways
Later the number of operators greatly increased as examples came onto the second-hand market, usually to play a large
part in improving the carriers' financial position.
Pegasus Aviation
Numerous examples of this classic Vickers-Armstrongs design have been preserved for posterity. While providing a fitting
tribute to the magnificent aircraft and its creators, the atmosphere and character of a living specimen is naturally missing.
