October 1956 to May 1961
Capital Airlines (USA)
N7445 - c/n 201 - a V.745D series Viscount
United States registered
December 1954
Order for an additional 20 Type 745D aircraft was placed by Capital Airlines.
This was the 41st Viscount ordered by Capital Airlines.
Altogether, the total order was worth $67,000,000 US. This was the highest ever US Dollar export order for the UK at the time.
Production Aircraft No. 149 - the 149th production 700 series Viscount built,
was the 107th Viscount fuselage assembled at Hurn, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England,
and the 107th Viscount assembled at Hurn, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
Production Order No. F41/745. Sales Order No. F41/68B. Stock Order No. F54/27B.
24 August 1955
A drawing showing the cabin seating arrangement was approved and issued.by Capital Airlines and showed 11 rows of 2 + 2 seats with two toilets at the front, one on each side and a large galley at the rear.
22 May 1956
Fuselage assembly commenced at Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
4 July 1956
Fuselage to Erecting Shop 'E' at Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
11 October 1956
First flight from Hurn Airport Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
17 October 1956
Delivered to Capital Airlines with fleet number ‘364’ fitted with integral front 'airsteps'.
circa 1958
Large registrations on the rear fuselage appeared after the use of small registrations on the tail were banned by the newly formed Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Also by this time weather radar had been fitted resulting in a change to the nose cone.
25 May 1958
Skidded off the runway while landing at La Guardia Airport, New York, USA.
There were no reported injuries to the passengers or crew on board.
3 April 1959
Made an emergency landing at Willow Run Airport, which sits halfway between Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan, USA after the undercarriage failed to lower.
After making two low passes along the runway the flight crew gently brought the aircraft down on a carpet of foam laid by the Airport Fire Department. The rear fuselage touched first and then the engines were shut down. The still rotating propellers contacted the runway and started to curl resulting in shockload damage to the Rolls-Royce Dart engines. The aircraft slid along the foam and gradually came to a halt, still on the runway centreline.
Emergency service vehicles immediately attended including some from the US Air Force Michigan Air National Guard (ANG) but no further action was required. There were no injuries to the 19 passengers and crew on board who hopped out of the port cabin doors. One attractive female passenger was carried away from the front door by a burly Air Force serviceman but clearly could quite easily have walked away by herself!
Film of the emergency landing
NOTE:- The reference to La Guardia on the film is incorrect, as this referred to an earlier incident.
Repaired and returned to service including replacement Rolls-Royce Dart engines and Rotol propellers.
Viscount illustrations by David Carter
May 1960
Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd filed a foreclosure suit on the entire Viscount fleet of Capital Airlines as the overdue payments now totalled $34,000,000.
4 April 1961
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) officially gave permission for United Air Lines to acquire Capital Airlines.
At the time this was the biggest merger transaction in US civil aviation history.
31 May 1961
Sold to International Aircraft Services Inc.
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