25 April 2024
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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.

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

Viscount c/n 233

Operational Record

Photo of Viscount c/n 233
Capital Airlines (USA)


United States flag United States

This V.745D series Viscount was built for
Capital Airlines (USA) as N7471

It first flew on Thursday, 27 June 1957 at Hurn, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England powered by Rolls-Royce Dart 510 engines.


During its life this aircraft was also owned and/or operated by
Northeast Airlines Inc, Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd, Irving Trust Company, Blaw Knox Corporation, Kearney & Trecker Corporation, Monarch Aircraft Inc and Clara Strauss Abad


Photo of Viscount c/n 233
Mid Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM)


United States flag United States

Its final owner/operator was
Mid Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM) as N7471.

Its fate:-
Donated by Clara Strauss Abad to the Mid Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM) with the help of the Capital Airlines Association 1 May 1992.

Re-registered N7471 21 May 1992. Ferried to Clarkesburg Airport, West Virginia USA and repainted in a Capital Airlines livery in June 1992.

Ferried to Reading, Pennsylvania, USA in August 1992.

Displayed at the Wilkes-Barre Airport air show, Pennsylvania, USA 22 August 1992.

Flown into Ronald Reagan National Washington Airport, Arlington, Virginia, USA for the 1993 Airliners International convention and remained on static display throughout the event in July 1993.

Noted being restored back to flying condition at Carl A Spaatz Field after a long period on the ground due to a defective Dart engine in February 1997.

Cabin interior noted being restored to passenger configuration with parts from Viscount N7439 (C/N 137) in September 2000. Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) the museum closed to the general public until further notice in March 2020.


Operational record
Photo of Capital Airlines (USA) Viscount N7471

Country of Registration United States

January 1957 to July 1958

Capital Airlines (USA)

N7471 - c/n 233 - a V.745D series Viscount
United States registered

August 1954
An order for Type 745 and Type 745D aircraft placed by Capital Airlines.

This was the 66th Type 745 and the 69th Viscount ordered by Capital Airlines.

Production Aircraft No. 204 - the 204th production 700 series Viscount built,
was the 158th Viscount fuselage assembled at Hurn, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England,
and the 159th Viscount assembled at Hurn, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.

Production Order No. F66/745. Sales Order No. F09/87B. Stock Order No. F19/32B.

30 January 1957
Fuselage assembly commenced at Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.

circa March 1957
The original purchase by Capital Airlines with fleet number '389' was not completed.

15 March 1957
Fuselage to Erecting Shop 'E' at Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.

20 June 1957
First engine run.

27 June 1957
First flight from Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England in a bare metal condition with the US registration applied.

July 1958
Converted to Type 798D for sale to Northeast Airlines Inc and re-registered N6591C.


Photo of Northeast Airlines Inc Viscount N6591C

Country of Registration United States

July 1958 to September 1963

Northeast Airlines Inc

N6591C - c/n 233 - a V.745D series Viscount
United States registered

July 1958
Converted to Type 798D and re-registered from N7471.

24 July 1958
First flight from Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England after conversion.

8 August 1958
Departed from Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England on delivery to Northeast Airlines Inc fitted with the integral front 'airsteps' and weather radar ordered by Capital Airlines.

Viscount N6590C (C/N 232) was delivered on the same day.

9 September 1963
Repossessed by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd due to outstanding purchase payments. The airline continued to operate its New England routes with additional Douglas DC-6B aircraft, having gained a Government subsidy of US3,700,000 which was recommended by the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB). It had however already lost its routes to Florida.


Photo of Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd Viscount N6591C

Country of Registration United States

September 1963 to October 1963

Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd

N6591C - c/n 233 - a V.745D series Viscount
United States registered

9 September 1963
Repossessed from Northeast Airlines Inc due to outstanding purchase payments.

5 October 1963
Sold by auction at Logan Airport, Boston, Massachusetts, USA together with eight other Northeast Airlines Inc Viscounts for a total of US$3,215,000 which meant an average sale price of approximately US$357,000 compared to the US$1,700,000 original sale price. The actual debt amount is not known. The aircraft was purchased by the Irving Trust Company.


Photo of Irving Trust Company Viscount N6591C

Country of Registration United States

October 1963 to February 1964

Irving Trust Company

N6591C - c/n 233 - a V.745D series Viscount
United States registered

5 October 1963
Purchased from Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd an an auction at Logan Airport, Boston, Massachusetts, USA for approximately US$357,000 (the average of the total sale of nine aircraft).

27 February 1964
Sold to the Blaw-Knox Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.


Photo of Blaw-Knox Corporation Viscount N820BK

Country of Registration United States

February 1964 to February 1969

Blaw-Knox Corporation

N820BK - c/n 233 - a V.745D series Viscount
United States registered

27 February 1964
Purchased from the Irving Trust Company.

4 March 1964
Re-registered from N6591C and converted for use as an executive aircraft with a luxury cabin interior and an Auxilliary Power Unit (APU) at the rear.

May 1968
Blaw-Knox was purchased by White Consolidated Industries (WCI).

The Blaw-Knox Construction Equipment Corporation name was used for this new WCI subsidiary.

18 February 1969
Sold to the Kearney & Trecker Corporation, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.


Photo of Kearney & Trecker Corporation Viscount N820BK

Country of Registration United States

February 1969 to June 1969

Kearney & Trecker Corporation

N820BK - c/n 233 - a V.745D series Viscount
United States registered

18 February 1969
Purchased from the Blaw-Knox Construction Equipment Corporation.

13 June 1969
Re-registered N1898T.


Photo of Kearney & Trecker Corporation Viscount N1898T

Country of Registration United States

June 1969 to January 1978

Kearney & Trecker Corporation

N1898T - c/n 233 - a V.745D series Viscount
United States registered

13 June 1969
Re-registered from N820BK.

1971
Withdrawn from service and stored at General Mitchell Field, Milwaukee Airport, Wisconsin, USA.

Total time 15,133 hours.

30 January 1978
Re-registered N98KT.


Photo of Kearney & Trecker Corporation Viscount N98KT

Country of Registration United States

January 1978 to August 1978

Kearney & Trecker Corporation

N98KT - c/n 233 - a V.745D series Viscount
United States registered

30 January 1978
Re-registered from N1898T.

29 August 1978
Re-registered N555SL.


Photo of Kearney & Trecker Corporation Viscount N555SL

Country of Registration United States

August 1978 to February 1984

Kearney & Trecker Corporation

N555SL - c/n 233 - a V.745D series Viscount
United States registered

29 August 1978
Re-registered from N98KT.

February 1984
Sold to Monarch Aircraft Inc of Chino Airport, California, USA.


Photo of Monarch Aircraft Inc Viscount N555SL

Country of Registration United States

February 1984 to November 1989

Monarch Aircraft Inc

N555SL - c/n 233 - a V.745D series Viscount
United States registered

February 1984
Purchased from Kearney & Trecker Corporation and converted the cabin for newspaper and light freight work on the US west coast.

November 1989
Sold to Tony Abad but registered to Clara Strauss Abad, Moreno Valley, California, USA.


Photo of Clara Strauss Abad Viscount N555SL

Country of Registration United States

November 1989 to May 1992

Clara Strauss Abad

N555SL - c/n 233 - a V.745D series Viscount
United States registered

November 1989
Purchased from Monarch Aircraft Inc by Tony Abad but registered to Clara Strauss Abad. Tony intended to operate it in the Philippines carrying light cargo. This did not happen and the aircraft remained stored at Chino Airport, California, USA.

June 1991
The Capital Airlines Association (CAA) approached the Mid Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM) to see if they would be interested in operating a Viscount from their museum airfield. MAAM said yes, provided that a proportion of the funding came from the CAA membership. The CAA had already tried to obtain a Viscount stored at Georgetown Airport, Delaware, USA but its condition was poor.

circa October 1991
The President of MAAM, Russ Strine visited Chino to inspect the aircraft and found it to be a suitable candidate, so he contacted Tony Abad about acquiring it for the museum.

1 May 1992
Donated to the Mid Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM).


Photo of Mid Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM) Viscount N555SL

Country of Registration United States

May 1992 to May 1992

Mid Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM)

N555SL - c/n 233 - a V.745D series Viscount
United States registered

1 May 1992
Donated by Clara Strauss Abad with the help of the Capital Airlines Association (CAA). A consignment of spares was also acquired.

21 May 1992
Re-registered N7471 for the Mid Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM), Carl A Spaatz Field, Reading, Pennsylvania, USA.


Photo of Mid Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM) Viscount N7471

Country of Registration United States

May 1992 to

Mid Atlantic Air Museum (MAAM)

N7471 - c/n 233 - a V.745D series Viscount
United States registered

21 May 1992
Re-registered from N555SL

15 June 1992
A team of volunteers arrived at Chino Airport to start preparing the aircraft for its first flight since 1989. The team consisted of Ralph W Hoffmaster - President of the CAA, Paul Breslin - CAA Member, Eugene 'Pappy' Strine - MAAM Vice President and Dave Readinger - MAAM Member. Hoffmaster and Breslin were ex Capital Airlines employees so they welcomed the trip back in time.

Some of the tyres needed changing and replacement wheel bearings were fitted where necessary. Apart from servicing and greasing, the systems were found to be operational.

20 June 1992
Eugene 'Pappy' Strine - MAAM Vice President and Dave Readinger started up the Rolls-Royce Dart RDa6 Mark 510 engines. The No.1 (port outer) engine had a fuel flow problem but this was soon resolved and all four engines were found to be acceptable for the proposed ferry flights.

22 June 1992
Russ Strine - MAAM President installed fresh radios and other modern avionics.

23 June 1992
A test flight was carried out by Richard ' Dick' Davies who was an experienced Viscount pilot originally from the UK. He had flown the Viscount for British Airways with over 5,000 hours on type. Russ Strine sat in the co-pilot's seat but this was his first Viscount cockpit flight. It had been planned to fly the aircraft to Albequerque, New Mexico but the weather forecast at their destination was poor so only a local area flight was carried out which proved successful.

24 June 1992
Departed Chino Airport, California to Albequerque Airport, New Mexico - Tulsa Airport, Oklahoma - Clark Regional Airport, Louisville, Kentucky where they stayed overnight. Funding for the ferry flights came from CAA members together with sponsorship by the Chevron Oil Company and United Air Lines.

25 June 1992
Departed Clark Regional Airport, Louisville, Kentucky to North Central West Virginia Airport at Clarkesburg, West Virginia.

The aircraft was then repainted here in Capital Airlines livery by the West Virginia Air Center.

Other spares including Dart engines and propellers were acquired from two aircraft stored at Georgetown, Delaware which were originally nominated for the National Air & Space Museum (NASM). These aircraft were subsequently scrapped.

August 1992
Ferried from North Central West Virginia Airport, Clarkesburg, West Virginia to Carl A Spaatz Field, Reading, Pennsylvania, USA in Capital Airlines livery with the incorrect fleet number of '384'. This aircraft was ordered by Capital Airlines in 1957 with fleet number '389' but it was never operated by them as the sale was not completed.

22 August 1992
Displayed at the Wilkes-Barre airshow, Scranton Airport, Pennsylvania, USA which was only a short hop from Reading.

October 1992
An authentic Capital Airlines interior was removed from one of the ex United Air Lines Viscounts stored at Georgetown, Delaware.

July 1993
Flown into Ronald Reagan National Washington Airport, Arlington, Virginia, USA for the 1993 Airliners International convention and remained on static display throughout the event. It caused quite a stir amongst the DCA controllers.

February 1997
Noted at Carl A Spaatz Field, Reading, Pennsylvania, USA being restored back to flying condition after a long period on the ground due to a defective Dart engine.

Cabin interior being restored to passenger configuration.
Cabin interior
being restored

September 2000
Cabin interior noted being restored to passenger configuration (a second time? See Oct 1992). The interior came from Viscount N7439 (C/N 137). However, the aircraft was still grounded.

2001
Noted still undergoing restoration and still requiring a replacement Rolls-Royce Dart RDa6 Mark 510 engine which is the main reason it had not flown again.

Noted still on display with faded external paintwork
Faded external paintwork

October 2015
Noted still on display outside with faded paintwork.

March 2020
Due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) the museum closed to the general public until further notice.


Photo of BEA - British European Airways Viscount G-AOJC

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Information@VickersViscount.net.


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