October 1953 to June 1960
Air France
F-BGNN - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
France registered
March 1951
An order was placed by Air France for twelve Type 708 aircraft. This was the fourth one built.
Production Aircraft No. 14 - the 14th production Type 700 series Viscount built,
was the 11th Viscount fuselage assembled at Weybridge, Surrey, England,
and the 14th Viscount assembled at Weybridge, Surrey, England.
Production Order No. F04/708. Sales Order No. F04/85A. Stock Order No. F11/10B.
26 October 1952
Fuselage assembly commenced at Weybridge, Surrey, England.
1 December 1952
Fuselage to Erecting Shop 'E' at Weybridge, Surrey, England.
29 July 1953
Engine ground running commenced.
26 August 1953
First flight from Brooklands Airfield, Weybridge, Surrey, England.
It landed at Wisley Airfield, Surrey, England for fitting out and test flying.
September 1953
Exhibited at the SBAC show at Farnborough Airfield, Hampshire, England in Air France livery.
29 October 1953
Delivered to Air France fitted with Rolls-Royce Dart RDa3 Mark 505 engines.
4 November 1953
Registered to Air France.
1954 to c1959
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.
Larger Air France
titles applied
circa 1955
Larger Air France titles applied.
Capacity later increased from 48 seats to 63 seats.
25 November 1958
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
26 January 1959
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
28 January 1959
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
17 February 1959
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
12 November 1959
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
24 April 1960
Withdrawn from service and ferried to Marshall's at Teversham Airport, Cambridge, England.
1 June 1960
Sold to Maitland Drewery Aviation Ltd.
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June 1960 to December 1960
Maitland Drewery Aviation Ltd
F-BGNN - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
France registered
1 June 1960
Purchased from Air France.
The sale was brokered through W S Shackleton & Co.
3 June 1960
Ferried to Teversham Airport, Cambridge, England in full Maitland Drewery livery but with the French registration still applied.
Marshalls carried out the necessary work to put it on to the UK register.
1 July 1960
French registration cancelled.
20 December 1960
Re-registered G-ARGR.
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December 1960 to June 1961
Maitland Drewery Aviation Ltd
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
20 December 1960
Re-registered from F-BGNN.
January 1961
Ferried to Wymeswold Airfield, Leicestershire, England for overhaul by Field Aircraft Services Ltd.
20 June 1961
UK Certificate of Airworthiness (CofA) issued.
20 June 1961
Leased to BKS Air Transport Ltd in full livery.
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June 1961 to December 1961
BKS Air Transport Ltd
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
20 June 1961
Leased from Maitland Drewery Aviation and delivered to Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England from Wymeswold Airfield, Leicestershire, England after a repaint in full BKS Air Transport Ltd livery by Field Aircraft Services Ltd.
BKS relates to the surnames of three company directors: - James W Barnby, Thomas D Keegan, and Cyril Stevens.
23 June 1961
Entered service from Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England to Oporto Airport, Portugal.
25 June 1961
First service from Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England to Perpignan Airport, France.
1 December 1961
Returned to Maitland Drewery Aviation Ltd.
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December 1961 to December 1961
Maitland Drewery Aviation Ltd
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
1 December 1961
Returned from BKS Air Transport Ltd lease.
6 December 1961
Leased to Silver City Airways.
23 January 1962
Sold to Air Holdings Ltd whilst still on lease to Silver City Airways.
It was then transferred to British United Airways (BUA).
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December 1961 to January 1962
Silver City Airways
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
6 December 1961
Leased from Maitland Drewery Aviation Ltd and ferried to Wymeswold Airfield, Leicestershire, England for overhaul and repaint by Field Aircraft Services Ltd.
This work was not carried out and the aircraft never entered service.
23 January 1962
Purchased from Maitland Drewery Aviation Ltd by Air Holdings and transferred to British United Airways (BUA).
Silver City Airways was absorbed as part of a corporate merger.
 FURTHER READING: Books about Silver City Airways
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January 1962 to September 1966
British United Airways (BUA)
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
23 January 1962
Purchased by Air Holdings Ltd from Maitland Drewery Aviation Ltd whilst the aircraft was on lease to Silver City Airways and transferred to BUA.
Air Holdings Ltd were the parent group of BUA. Silver City Airways was absorbed as part of a corporate merger.
‘British United‘ livery
22 April 1962
Rolled out at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England in full BUA livery and entered service the same day.
27 April 1966
Registration to Maitland Drewery Aviation Ltd cancelled.
21 June 1966
Registered to British United Airways (BUA).
September 1966
Sold to Air Inter (Lignes Aériennes Intérieures).
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September 1966 to April 1975
Air Inter (Lignes Aériennes Intérieures)
F-BOEB - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
France registered
September 1966
Purchased from British United Airways (BUA).
It could not adopt the original Air France registration as this had been cancelled and French regulations would not allow it to be re-used.
27 September 1966
UK registration cancelled as aircraft sold abroad.
28 September 1966
Departed from Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England on an acceptance test flight flown by Brian Alexander Powell with an Air Inter crew, which took 50 minutes.
It then returned to Gatwick.
Later in the day it departed on delivery to Air Inter at Orly Airport, Paris, France.
17 April 1975
French registration cancelled.
23 April 1975
Sold to Alidair.
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April 1975 to May 1975
Alidair
F-BOEB - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
23 April 1975
Purchased from Air Inter (Lignes Aériennes Intérieures) and delivered from Orly Airport, Paris, France to East Midlands Airport, Castle Donington, Leicestershire, England in Air Inter livery less titles and logos.
Ex Air Inter livery
Late April 1975
Entered service with Alidair titles applied to the Air Inter livery and retaining the French registration.
30 May 1975
Re-registered G-ARGR.
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May 1975 to July 1975
Alidair
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
30 May 1975
Re-registered from F-BOEB.
31 May 1975
First test flight for UK certification.
7 June 1975
Returned to service in full Alidair livery.
18 July 1975
Wet leased (i.e. using Alidair crews) to Cyprus Airways.
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July 1975 to March 1976
Cyprus Airways Ltd
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
18 July 1975
Wet leased (i.e. using Alidair crews) from Alidair.
3 March 1976
Returned to Alidair.
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March 1976 to March 1976
Alidair
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
3 March 1976
Returned from Cyprus Airways wet lease.
March 1976
Leased to Intra Airways.
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March 1976 to June 1976
Intra Airways
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
March 1976
Leased from Alidair.
June 1976
Returned to Alidair.
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June 1976 to May 1977
Alidair
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
June 1976
Returned from Intra Airways lease.
22 May 1977
Leased to Bursa Hava Yollari and delivered to Turkey.
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May 1977 to June 1977
Bursa Hava Yollari
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
22 May 1977
Wet leased (i.e. using Alidair crews) from Alidair. The aircraft was delivered to Yeşilköy Airport, Istanbul, Turkey but never operated a commercial service as Turk Hava Yollari (THY) objected to the operation. After a week in Istanbul and another week in Bursa the aircraft and crews returned to the UK.
8 June 1977
Returned to Alidair. It was noted at Brussels National Airport, Zaventum, Belgium on its way back to the UK
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June 1977 to July 1977
Alidair
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
8 June 1977
Returned from Bursa Hava Yollari wet lease. The aircraft never entered service them.
It briefly returned to Alidair service in the basic BHY livery less titles.
July 1977
Leased to Dan-Air London.
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July 1977 to August 1977
Dan-Air London
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
July 1977
Leased from Alidair.
27 August 1977
Returned to Alidair.
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August 1977 to July 1978
Alidair
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
27 August 1977
Returned from Dan-Air London lease.
July 1978
Leased to Dan-Air London.
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July 1978 to January 1979
Dan-Air London
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
July 1978
Leased from Alidair.
18 January 1979
Returned to Alidair.
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January 1979 to March 1981
Alidair
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
18 January 1979
Returned from Dan-Air London lease.
17 March 1979
First noted with 'Alidair Scotland' titles. The 'Scotland' part was in black outline.
19 October 1979
First noted with 'Alidair Scotland' titles. The 'Scotland' part was now in solid black for better visibility.
1 March 1981
Transferred to Inter City Airlines due to a corporate name change.
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March 1981 to September 1983
Inter City Airlines
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
1 March 1981
Transferred from Alidair due to a corporate name change.
Inter City Airlines titles applied to Alidair livery.
Inter City Airlines
'White Tail' livery
22 March 1982
Noted in revised livery with larger titles.
29 July 1983
Inter City Airlines ceased operations.
1 August 1983
Continued with Shell North Sea oil contract operations from Dyce, Aberdeen, Scotland using British Air Ferries (BAF) call signs.
September 1983
Sold to British Air Ferries (BAF).
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September 1983 to December 1983
British Air Ferries (BAF)
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
September 1983
Purchased from Inter City Airlines.
17 September 1983
Ferried from Dyce, Aberdeen, Scotland to Rochford, Southend, Essex, England.
22 December 1983
Sold to Hards Travel.
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December 1983 to November 1984
Janus Airways
G-ARGR - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
22 December 1983
Purchased from British Air Ferries (BAF) by Hards Travel for operation by Janus Airways.
3 March 1984
Ferried from Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England to Exeter Airport, Devon, England for maintenance and re-painting by West Country Aircraft Servicing Ltd.
10 April 1984
Delivered to Janus Airways at Ferryfield, Lydd, Kent, England in Inter City Airways livery with Janus titles and tail logo.
30 October 1984
Operated the last Viscount 700 series flight from Beauvais Airport, France to Ferryfield Airport, Lydd, Kent, England.
22 November 1984
Sold to MMM Aero Services (3MAS).
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November 1984 to January 1987
MMM Aero Services (3MAS)
9Q-CAN * - c/n 14 - a V.708 series Viscount
Zaire registered
22 November 1984
Purchased from Hards Travel / Janus Airways and initially ferried to Middelkerke Airport, Ostend, Belgium together with Viscount G-ARIR (C/N 36).
The title on the aircraft is 3MAS rather than MMM Aero Services.
Registration 9Q-CAN had previously been used on Viscount C/N 423 which was withdrawn from service in November 1984.
23 November 1984
Ferried to Middelkerke Airport, Ostend, Belgium still carrying G-ARGR together with Viscount G-ARIR (C/N 36).
15 December 1984
Departed Middelkerke Airport, Ostend, Belgium on delivery to Ndolo Airport, Kinshasa, Republic of Zaire as 9Q-CAN.
circa 1986
Withdrawn from service at Ndolo Airport, Kinshasa, Republic of Zaire.
Details please to information@vickersviscount.net
22 January 1987
Broken up for scrap.
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