![Country of Registration United Kingdom](../images/Flags/United Kingdom.gif)
April 1953 to August 1962
British European Airways Corporation (BEA)
G-AMOC - c/n 13 - a V.701 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
24 April 1953
Registered to British European Airways Corporation (BEA), Keyline House, Ruislip, Middlesex.
8 May 1953
Engine ground running commenced.
14 May 1953
First flight from Brooklands Airfield, Weybridge, Surrey, England.
It landed at Wisley Airfield, Surrey, England for fitting out and test flying.
29 May 1953
Certificate of Airworthiness issued.
4 June 1953
Delivered to British European Airways (BEA) named as 'R M A Richard Chancellor'.
It was fitted with Rolls-Royce Dart RDa3 Mark 505 engines.
The cabin was fitted out with a 47 seat all-tourist class layout.
4 October 1953
Operated the first Viscount service from Abbotsinch Airport, Glasgow, Scotland to London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England carrying 46 passengers and under the command of Captain J Munro.
4 October 1953
Operated the first Viscount service to Kloten Airport, Zurich, Switzerland and Schwechat Airport, Vienna, Austria from London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England.
2 December 1954
Noted at Blackbushe Airport, Hampshire, England carrying out crew training flights.
1955
This aircraft made a brief appearance in the British comedy film 'All For Mary'.
April 1956
Noted at Weybridge, Surrey, England undergoing modification work inside the main assembly hall.
1954 to 1962
The original ‘cutlass’ design propeller blades were gradually replaced by new symmetrical ‘needle’ blade propeller sets.
From photographic evidence, both propeller types were fitted to Rolls-Royce Dart RDa3, Mark 505 and Mark 506 engines and many aircraft flew with an ‘intermix’ of both types of propeller blades.
May 1955 to December 1956
All BEA Type 701 aircraft were gradually retrofitted with Rolls-Royce Dart RDa3 Mark 506 engines which were upgraded using modified Mark 505 engines.
Aircraft are known to have flown with an ‘intermix’ of both engine marks between these dates.
When completely retro-fitted with Mark 506 engines, the Type 701A designation was applied to these aircraft although this has not been seen widely used or quoted.
31 December 1958
Noted at Blackbushe Airport, Hampshire, England carrying out crew training flights.
29 January 1959
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
March 1959
A new BEA 'Red Square' livery was adopted and aircraft were repainted during the early 1960s when they next went in for overhaul.
Sadly, after repainting, the aircraft no longer carried a name and the nameplate on the forward cabin bulkhead was also removed.
This nameplate now forms part of the Brian R Burrage collection.
from 1959
Converted from 40/47 seats to 60/63 seats in a new high density configuration. This modification also entailed the installation of an 11th standard size window on the rear starboard side and a small window behind the rear entrance door on the port side.
13 March 1959
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
31 March 1959
BEA annual report quotes a total time of 10,633 hours.
10 April 1959
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England carrying out multiple ILS approaches and overshoots.
23 July 1960
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a Jersey Airport, Channel Islands weather diversion.
24 July 1960
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a Jersey Airport, Channel Islands weather diversion.
26 October 1960
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
16 October 1961
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
circa June 1962
Offered for sale for £110,000.
30 August 1962
Sold to Viação Aérea São Paulo SA (VASP).
The aircraft was painted up in VASP livery and the Brasilian registration PP-SRK was applied. However, the sale was not completed.
This registration had already been applied to C/N 22 which was also not sold.
FURTHER READING: Books about BEA - British European Airways
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