18 April 2024
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Viscount Survivors

Viscount Survivors


59 of the 444 Viscounts built survive as complete airframes or major components. Some are in very good condition and are looked after by museums while others are just wrecks. They can be found in 24 countries.

Viscount history

Letter from HRH Prince Philip

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by David Carter


Discover the history of the Viscount with film, video, contemporary reports from the pages of Flight Magazine, our newsletters, and aircraft operational records and photos from our database.


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Featured pages

Our website contains over 20,000 pages of photos and information that can all be accessed from the menu at the top of every page. Here are a few to get you started.


In the Beginning

The Turboprop World-Beater

Sir George Edwards

The Rolls-Royce Dart

c/n 1 G-AHRF V.630
The Prototype Viscount

c/n 2 VX217 V.663
The Tay powered Viscount

c/n 3 G-AMAV V.700
The V.700 series prototype

c/n 4 G-ALWE V.701
The first BEA Viscount

c/n 5 G-ALWF V.701
The oldest surviving Viscount

c/n 8 F-BGNK V.708
The first Air France Viscount

c/n 30 EI-AFV V.707
The first Aer Lingus Viscount

c/n 40 CF-TGI V.724
The first TCA Viscount

c/n 44 VH-TVA V.720
The first TAA Viscount

c/n 67 YI-ACK V.735
The first Iraqi Airways Viscount

c/n 70 CF-GXK V.737
The first Canadian DoT Viscount

c/n 71 VP-TBK V.702
The first BOAC Associated
Companies Viscount

c/n 74 G-ANRR V.732
The first Hunting-Clan Viscount

c/n 77 LN-FOF V.736
The first Fred Olsen Viscount

c/n 79 IU-683 V.723
The first Indian Air Force Viscount

c/n 88 N7402 V.744
The first Capital Airlines Viscount

c/n 97 VH-BAT V.747
The first Butler Air
Transport Viscount


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Established 2005
Vickers Viscount Network
A Virtual Museum dedicated to the Vickers-Armstrongs VC2 Viscount
   

Viscount c/n 172

Operational Record

Photo of Viscount c/n 172
Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM)


Netherlands flag Netherlands

This V.803 series Viscount was built for
Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM) as PH-VIA

It first flew on Friday, 5 April 1957 at Weybridge, Surrey, England powered by Rolls-Royce Dart 510 engines.

Photo of Viscount c/n 172
Aer Lingus - Irish International Airlines


Ireland flag Ireland

Its final owner/operator was
Aer Lingus - Irish International Airlines as EI-AOG.

Its fate:-
Damaged during a heavy landing at Lulsgate Airport, Bristol, England. Temporary repairs were carried out and the aircraft was ferried to Collinstown Airport, Dublin, Ireland via Speke Airport, Liverpool, England and stored 7 October 1969. Registration cancelled as permanently withdrawn from use 26 July 1972. Broken up for scrap in July 1972.


Operational record
Photo of Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM) Viscount PH-VIA

Country of Registration Netherlands

June 1957 to February 1966

Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM)

PH-VIA - c/n 172 - a V.803 series Viscount
Netherlands registered

June 1955
An order for nine Type 803 was placed by Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM).

This was the 1st aircraft for KLM.

Production Aircraft No. 13 - the 13th production 800 series Viscount built,
was the 9th 800 series Viscount fuselage assembled at Hurn, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England,
and the 13th 800 series Viscount assembled at Weybridge, Surrey, England.

Production Order No. F01/803. Sales Order No. F01/83B. Stock Order No. F23/26B.

11 August 1956
Fuselage assembly commenced at Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.

October 1956
Fuselage transported by road from Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England to Weybridge, Surrey, England.

26 October 1956
Fuselage to Erecting Shop 'E' at Weybridge, Surrey, England.

5 April 1957
First flight from Brooklands Airfield, Weybridge, Surrey, England.

It landed at Wisley Airfield, Surrey, England for fitting out and test flying.

14 April 1957
Noted at Blackbushe Airport, Hampshire, England.

16 April 1957
Noted at London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England during one of the pre-delivery test flights.

17 April 1957
Noted at Blackbushe Airport, Hampshire, England during one of the pre-delivery test flights.

26 April 1957
Officially named as 'Sir Sefton Brancker' in a ceremony held at London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England.

Appropriately, it was John Brancker, the son of the late Sir Sefton who was chosen to carry out the dedication using a bottle of Dutch Gin. He was a member of the executive committee at I.A.T.A. (International Air Transport Association) and based at their headquarters in Montreal, Canada. Sir Sefton's widow Lady Brancker was also present.

Major General C A L Dunphie, Chairman of Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd gave a short speech and thanked Mr I A Aler, the President of KLM for choosing a British airliner rather than one from across the North Atlantic.

31 May 1957
Noted visiting the Vickers-Armstrongs facility at Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.

6 June 1957
Delivered to Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM) named as 'Sir Sefton Brancker' in a mixed-class configuration with 40 tourist class seats, 5 abreast in the first 8 rows with a further 15 first class seats 4 abreast at the rear. This was the first ever Viscount to be delivered in this mixed-class configuration.

The original livery had ‘The Flying Dutchman’ titles on the port side and ‘De Vliegende Hollander’ titles on the starboard side.

The cabin seating was later increased to 59/64 all-tourist class configuration.

June 1959
Noted at London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England with a KLM 1919 to 1959 Anniversary logo on the rear fuselage.

27 July 1959
Damaged at Prestwick Airport, Ayrshire, Scotland after a ground collision with BOAC Bristol Britannia G-AOVF.

Painted in the new KLM 'diagonal striped tail' livery.
KLM - Royal Dutch Airlines
'diagonal striped tail' livery

5 November 1959
Noted at London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England painted in the new KLM 'diagonal striped tail' livery with ‘KLM - Royal Dutch Airlines’ titles.

Curiously, the stripes had been used on ground equipment since the aircraft was first delivered.

Painted in the new KLM 'horizontal striped tail' livery.
KLM
'horizontal striped tail' livery

circa 1965
Painted in the new KLM 'horizontal striped tail' livery.

February 1966
Sold to Aer Lingus.


Photo of Aer Lingus - Irish International Airlines Viscount EI-AOG

Country of Registration Ireland

February 1966 to July 1972

Aer Lingus - Irish International Airlines

EI-AOG - c/n 172 - a V.803 series Viscount
Ireland registered

February 1966
Purchased from Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM).

15 February 1966
Registered to Aer Lingus.

19 February 1966
Ferried to Prestwick, Ayrshire, Scotland for overhaul and repainting in Aer Lingus livery by Scottish Aviation Ltd (SAL).

During the overhaul a weather radar system was installed.

24 February 1966
Dutch registration cancelled.

20 May 1966
Delivered to Aer Lingus named as 'St Finian' on the port side and 'Finghin' on the starboard side.

June 1966
Noted named as 'Finghin' on the starboard side only.

1966
Cabin changed to an all tourist 66 seat configuration.

30 January 1968
Damaged at Collinstown Airport, Dublin, Ireland when the nose undercarriage leg collapsed during landing on a service from Speke Airport, Liverpool, England.

The inner propellers were curled and the two relevant Dart engines needed a repair shop visit to rectify any shockload damage.

There were no injuries to the 5 crew and 9 passengers on board.

7 October 1969
Damaged at Lulsgate Airport, Bristol, England due to a heavy landing on runway 28 resulting in the collapse of the nose undercarriage leg.

All four propellers were damaged resulting in shockload damage to the Rolls-Royce Dart engines.

There were no reported injuries to the 50 passengers and 4 crew on board.

November 1969
Temporary repairs were carried out and replacement engines and propellers were installed.

The aircraft was then ferried to Collinstown, Dublin, Ireland via Speke Airport, Liverpool, England and stored.

October 1970
A proposed sale to Northern Ireland Airways was not completed.

26 July 1972
Registration cancelled as permanently withdrawn from use.

Total time 23,258 hours and 20,103 total landings.

July 1972
Broken up for scrap.

FURTHER READING: Books about Aer Lingus



Photo of BEA - British European Airways Viscount G-AOJC

The Vickers Viscount Network is always interested to hear from anyone who has information or photographs to help complete the story of the Viscount. If you can help please contact us at
Information@VickersViscount.net.


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This website has been designed, built and is maintained by Geoff Blampied, Norwich, Norfolk, England.