January 1954 to August 1955
BOAC Associated Companies Ltd
VP-TBK - c/n 71 - a V.702 series Viscount
Trinidad & Tobago registered
June 1953
BOAC Associated Companies Ltd placed an order for four Type 702 for use by British West Indian Overseas Airways (BWIA).
 Flight Magazine report - 1 July 1955
Production Aircraft No. 61 - the 61st production Type 700 series Viscount built,
was the 33rd Viscount fuselage assembled at Weybridge, Surrey, England,
and the 31st Viscount assembled at Hurn, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
Production Order No. F01/702. Sales Order No. F01/53B. Stock Order No. F16/22B.
13 September 1954
Fuselage assembly commenced at Weybridge Airfield, Surrey, England.
October 1954
Fuselage transported by road from Weybridge, Surrey, England to Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
2 November 1954
Fuselage to Erecting Shop 'E' at Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
17 June 1955
First flight from Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
1 July 1955
Handed over to BOAC Associated Companies Ltd.
28 July 1955
Ferried to London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England.
Radio equipment was then fitted by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC).
17 August 1955
Dry leased to British West Indian Airways (BWIA) in a modified BOAC livery.
|
August 1955 to March 1959
British West Indian Airways (BWIA)
VP-TBK - c/n 71 - a V.702 series Viscount
Trinidad & Tobago registered
17 August 1955
Dry leased from BOAC Associated Companies Ltd and departed from London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England on delivery.
It stopped at Prestwick Airport, Ayrshire, Scotland to refuel.
This was the first Viscount to arrive in the West Indies.
27 August 1955
During a practice landing at 95 to 100 knots at Piarco Airport, Port of Spain, Trinidad on a training flight the aircraft landing heavily on the starboard main undercarriage leg in a tail low attitude.
This resulted in substantial structural damage to the starboard wing inner structure.
There were no reported injuries to the 4 crew on board.
Repaired and returned to service.
7 March 1959
Returned to BOAC Associated Companies Ltd.
|
March 1959 to March 1959
BOAC Associated Companies Ltd
G-APTA - c/n 71 - a V.702 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
7 March 1959
Returned from British West Indian Airways (BWIA) lease to London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England.
7 March 1959
Registered as G-APTA to BOAC Associated Companies.
21 March 1959
Certificate of Airworthiness (CofA) issued.
26 March 1959
Dry leased to Kuwait Airways.
|
March 1959 to May 1961
Kuwait Airways
G-APTA - c/n 71 - a V.702 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
26 March 1959
Dry leased from BOAC Associated Companies Ltd.
7 November 1959
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
7 February 1960
Noted at London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England.
8 February 1960
Departed from London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England on its way to Teversham Airport, Cambridge, England for maintenance with Marshall's.
14 May 1961
Returned to BOAC Associated Companies Ltd.
|
May 1961 to June 1961
BOAC Associated Companies Ltd
G-APTA - c/n 71 - a V.702 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
14 May 1961
Returned from Kuwait Airways lease and ferried to Prestwick Airport, Ayrshire, Scotland for maintenance and painting with Scottish Aviation Ltd (SAL).
21 June 1961
UK registration cancelled as aircraft exported.
21 June 1961
Dry leased to Bahamas Airways.
|
June 1961 to December 1964
Bahamas Airways
VP-BBW - c/n 71 - a V.702 series Viscount
Bahamas registered
21 June 1961
Dry leased from BOAC Associated Companies Ltd and repainted in a BOAC livery with Bahamas Airways titles.
30 June 1961
Departed from Prestwick Airport, Ayrshire, Scotland on delivery.
8 December 1962
Noted back at London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England, presumably for maintenance work.
1 December 1964
Returned to BOAC Associated Companies Ltd.
|
December 1964 to December 1964
BOAC Associated Companies Ltd
VP-BBW - c/n 71 - a V.702 series Viscount
Bahamas registered
1 December 1964
Returned from Bahamas Airways lease.
13 December 1964
Sold to Channel Airways.
|
December 1964 to October 1965
Channel Airways
G-APTA - c/n 71 - a V.702 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
13 December 1964
Purchased from BOAC Associated Companies Ltd.
It was ferried to Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England in full Bahamas Airways livery as VP-BBW.
16 December 1964
Registered to Channel Airways as G-APTA.
circa January 1965
Noted at Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England with UK registration G-APTA applied to the Bahamas Airways livery.
Presumably this was to allow the aircraft to be air-tested prior to a repaint in Channel Airways livery.
2 July 1965
UK Certificate of Airworthiness (CofA) renewed.
6 September 1965
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a Southend Airport weather diversion. The passengers were transferred to Southend by coach.
30 October 1965
Dry leased to Bahamas Airways in a modified Channel Airways livery.
|
October 1965 to May 1967
Bahamas Airways
VP-BBW - c/n 71 - a V.702 series Viscount
Bahamas registered
30 October 1965
Leased from Channel Airways in a modified Channel livery.
15 September 1966
During a landing at Nassau Airport, Bahamas the port main undercarriage leg failed to lower despite a go-around and a re-cycling attempt.
An emergency landing with all four engines shut down at the last minute resulted in the aicraft skidding sideways down the runway and ending up in the opposite direction.
This resulted in curled propellers and shockloaded Rolls-Royce Dart engines.
There were no reported injuries to the 27 passengers and 3 crew on board.
Repaired and returned to service.
1 May 1967
Returned to Channel Airways.
|
May 1967 to July 1967
Channel Airways
G-APTA - c/n 71 - a V.702 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
1 May 1967
Returned from Bahamas Airways lease.
28 June 1967
Restored to the UK register.
14 July 1967
Certificate of Airworthiness (C of A) renewed.
17 July 1967
Leased to BKS Air Transport Ltd in full BKS livery.
|
July 1967 to October 1967
BKS Air Transport Ltd
G-APTA - c/n 71 - a V.702 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
17 July 1967
Dry leased from Channel Airways in full BKS livery.
BKS relates to the surnames of three company directors: - James W Barnby, Thomas D Keegan, and Cyril Stevens.
10 October 1967
Returned to Channel Airways.
|
October 1967 to February 1970
Channel Airways
G-APTA - c/n 71 - a V.702 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
10 October 1967
Returned from BKS Air Transport Ltd lease.
Repainted in full Channel Airways livery.
28 May 1968
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a Southend Airport weather diversion. The passengers were transferred to Southend by coach.
13 July 1969
Withdrawn from service after C of A expiry and stored at Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England.
Total time 21,030 hours and 16,196 total landings.
February 1970
Broken up for scrap.
24 February 1970
Registration cancelled as aircraft permanently withdrawn from use.
|
