December 1958 to January 1972
South African Airways (SAA)
ZS-CDX - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
South Africa registered
November 1956
Registered to South African Airways (SAA) / Suid Afrikaanse Lugdiens.
7 December 1958
First flight from Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
20 December 1958
Delivered to South African Airways (SAA) named as 'Wildebees'.
Originally it had SAA titles in Afrikaans on the starboard side and English on the port side but this was later changed to various combinations.
6 January 1959
Entered SAA service.
SAA
'orange tail' livery'
from 1962
Painted in the new SAA 'orange tail' livery which was first introduced on the Boeing 707 in 1960.
January 1969
SAA changed its registration policy and was allocated registration blocks in the ZS-S** range.
Registration ZS-SBX was not taken up as the South African DCA would not allow SAA to change the registrations on its existing Viscount fleet.
This policy was later changed, but came too late for the Viscount fleet as it was nearly time for them to be disposed of.
1 February 1972
Operated the last ever SAA Viscount service from Windhoek, Keetmanshoop, Upington and Bloemfontein to Johannesburg as SA744.
Withdrawn from SAA service and stored at Jan Smuts International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Total time 25,852 hours.
1 January 1972
Sold to British Midland Airways (BMA).
|
January 1972 to February 1972
British Midland Airways (BMA)
G-AZLU - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
November 1971
BMA Managing Director Michael Bishop discovered that the SAA Viscount fleet was for sale by reading an advertisement in a Flight International weekly magazine during a business trip to Tel Aviv, Israel.
He quickly travelled to Johannesburg with the intention of buying two of the aircraft but was dismayed to find out that SAA were only interested in selling the complete fleet of seven aircraft together with a spares package.
Mike discussed this situation with SAA and made an offer of £98,000 for the aircraft and £37,000 for the spares package.
To his surprise this offer was accepted. He subsequently purchased their Viscount simulator for a further £5,000.
December 1971
Chief Buyer George Morrell, Chief Inspector Tony Topps and Planning Manager Mike Baker travelled out to Johannesburg together with Air Registration Board representative Ray Atwood to finalise things and review the fleet.
3 February 1972
Rolled out at Jan Smuts International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa in ex SAA livery less titles with the incorrect registration G-AZLU applied.
G-AZLU had already been issued to a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver 6 January 1972.
We don't know why this error happened. Details please to information@vickersviscount.net
8 February 1972
Registered as G-AZNA to British Midland Airways (BMA).
|
February 1972 to November 1982
British Midland Airways (BMA)
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
8 February 1972
Registered to British Midland Airways (BMA).
11 February 1972
Rolled out at Jan Smuts International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa with the correct British registration applied to the basic South African Airways (SAA) livery minus titles and fin logo.
7 March 1972
Departed from Jan Smuts International Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa on delivery together with Viscount G-AZNB (C/N 351).
9 March 1972
Noted being refuelled at Cairo International Airport, Almazah, Egypt together with G-AZNB (C/N 351).
10 March 1972
Arrived at East Midlands Airport, Castle Donington, Leicestershire, England, together with G-AZNB (C/N 351).
18 April 1972
UK Certificate of Airworthiness (CofA) issued.
21 April 1972
First service from East Midlands Airport, Castle Donington, Leicestershire, England to Aldergrove, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
22 November 1972
Noted at East Midlands Airport, Castle Donington, Leicestershire, England undergoing spar boom change work with BMA.
19 January 1973
Returned to service.
12 March 1974
Landed fast and steep at Newquay Airport, St Mawgan, Cornwall, England on a service from Heathrow Airport, London, England resulting in the collapse of the nose undercarriage in a rearward direction. Captain Monty Rogers, his crew of 3 and 21 passengers all escaped without injury. Luckily none of the propellers were damaged.
The aircraft was recovered by a crew from RAF St Mawgan but they chopped off the nose undercarriage doors as there was an urgent need to clear the runway to allow the RAF Avro Shackletons to continue their maritime patrols.
BMA tried to get the use of a hangar to carry out temporary repairs but this was not available so they made up a scaffolding frame to support large canvas sheets in a dispersal area near the terminal building.
After repairing the nose undercarriage the aircraft was ferried back to East Midlands Airport for further repairs flown by Captain David Court and crew. The undercarriage was left locked down.
Repaired and returned to service.
29 January 1982
Withdrawn from service at East Midlands Airport, Castle Donington, Leicestershire, England after arriving from Aldergrove, Belfast, Northern Ireland and placed into storage.
Noted in a partial
Manx Airlines livery
25 August 1982
Returned to service in Manx Airlines livery with British Midland Airways (BMA) titles.
1 November 1982
Leased to Manx Airlines in full Manx Airlines livery.
|
November 1982 to October 1984
Manx Airlines (Skianyn Vannin)
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
 Viscount illustrations by David Carter
1 November 1982
Leased from British Midland Airways (BMA) in full Manx Airlines livery with the Manx language operators name 'Skianyn Vannin' also applied.
6 October 1984
Returned to British Midland Airways (BMA).
|
October 1984 to October 1985
British Midland Airways (BMA)
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
6 October 1984
Returned from Manx Airlines lease.
It was initially put back into BMA service still in the full Manx livery, but was later repainted in full BMA livery.
October 1985
Leased again to Manx Airlines named as 'Sklanyn Vannin' in full livery.
|
October 1985 to November 1985
Manx Airlines (Skianyn Vannin)
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
October 1985
Leased from British Midland Airways (BMA) in full Manx Airlines livery.
16 November 1985
Returned to British Midland Airways (BMA).
|
November 1985 to May 1986
British Midland Airways (BMA)
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
16 November 1985
Returned from Manx Airlines lease.
7 May 1986
Sold to British Aerospace PLC (BAe) as part of an ATP purchase deal.
|
May 1986 to May 1986
British Aerospace PLC (BAe)
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
7 May 1986
Purchased from British Midland Airways (BMA) as part of an ATP purchase deal.
Immediately leased back to British Midland Airways (BMA).
|
May 1986 to February 1988
British Midland Airways (BMA)
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
7 May 1986
Leased back from British Aerospace and re-painted in the new BMA livery.
British Aerospace had refurbished the cabin to make it wider and even installed modern overhead bins.
This was the only Viscount in the British Midland Airways (BMA) fleet to wear the 'Diamond' livery introduced for the McDonnell Douglas DC-9.
Viscount illustrations by David Carter
18 February 1988
Operated the final Viscount service for BMA from Jersey, Channel Islands to East Midlands via Guernsey Airport.
20 February 1988
Sub-leased to Manx Airlines.
|
February 1988 to February 1988
Manx Airlines (Skianyn Vannin)
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
20 February 1988
Sub-leased from British Midland Airways (BMA), leased from British Aerospace.
27 February 1988
Returned to British Aerospace.
|
February 1988 to March 1988
British Aerospace PLC (BAe)
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
27 February 1988
Returned from British Midland Airways (BMA) lease, Manx Airlines sub-lease and stored at East Midlands Airport, Castle Donington, Leicestershire, England.
5 March 1988
Sold to STH Sales Ltd.
|
March 1988 to July 1988
STH Sales Ltd
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
5 March 1988
Purchased from British Aerospace PLC (BAe) and ferried to Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England for major maintenance work with British Air Ferries (BAF) Engineering.
STH stood for Sean T Hulley who owned Baltic Airlines (UK) and Hot Air.
4 July 1988
First entered service with Hot Air.
|
July 1988 to July 1988
Hot Air
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
4 July 1988
Owned by STH Sales Ltd and entered service with Hot Air from Heathrow Airport, London, England to Quimper and Paris, France.
STH stood for Sean T Hulley who owned Baltic Airlines (UK) and Hot Air.
10 July 1988
Leased to Ligacoes Aereas Regionais (LAR).
|
July 1988 to July 1988
Ligacoes Aereas Regionais (LAR)
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
10 July 1988
Leased from STH Sales Ltd./Hot Air for use on their Lisbon, Portugal to Oporto service while their Avro 748 was being overhauled.
STH stood for Sean T Hulley who owned Baltic Airlines (UK) and Hot Air.
29 July 1988
Returned to STH Sales Ltd at Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England.
|
July 1988 to November 1988
Hot Air
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
29 July 1988
Returned to STH Sales Ltd at Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England from Ligacoes Aereas Regionais (LAR) lease.
STH stood for Sean T Hulley who owned Baltic Airlines (UK) and Hot Air.
20 October 1988
Noted back in service with Hot Air in an all white livery with no titles.
1 November 1988
Nose undercarriage leg collapsed during the landing run at Gatwick Airport, West Sussex, England after a ferry flight from Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England.
It was scheduled to operate a charter flight to Jersey, Channel Islands.
6 November 1988
Ferried back to British Air Ferries (BAF) at Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex after repairs.
11 November 1988
Leased to Gambia Air Shuttle.
|
November 1988 to April 1990
Gambia Air Shuttle
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
11 November 1988
Leased from STH Sales Ltd and departed Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England in full Gambia Air Shuttle livery named as 'Viscount Banjul'.
5 March 1989
Returned to Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England for maintenance with British Air Ferries (BAF).
17 March 1989
Returned to the Gambia to continue the lease.
23 July 1989
Returned to Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England for maintenance with British Air Ferries (BAF).
14 August 1989
Returned to the Gambia to continue the lease.
1 December 1989
Returned to Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England for maintenance with British Air Ferries (BAF).
22 December 1989
Returned to the Gambia to continue the lease.
16 April 1990
Lease from STH Sales Ltd terminated.
20 April 1990
Noted at Las Palmas, Gran Canaria, Canary Islands on its way back to the UK.
Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England.
1 May 1990
Leased to British Air Ferries (BAF).
|
April 1990 to May 1990
STH Sales Ltd
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
21 April 1990
Returned from Gambia Air Shuttle lease to Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England.
STH stood for Sean T Hulley who owned Baltic Airlines (UK) and Hot Air.
1 May 1990
Leased to British Air Ferries (BAF).
|
May 1990 to January 1991
British Air Ferries (BAF)
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
1 May 1990
Leased from STH Sales Ltd.
STH stood for Sean T Hulley who owned Baltic Airlines (UK) and Hot Air.
5 May 1990
Noted at Guernsey Airport, Channel Islands in BAF service still in full Gambia Air Shuttle livery and still carrying the name 'Viscount Banjul'.
12 May 1990
Noted at Guernsey Airport, Channel Islands with British Air Ferries titles applied to the ex Gambia Air Shuttle livery and still carrying the name 'Viscount Banjul'.
2 July 1990
Noted operating a service for Ryanair from Collinstown Airport, Dublin, Ireland to Speke Airport, Liverpool, England.
2 July 1990
Noted operating a BAF service at Guernsey Airport, Channel Islands, now in an all white livery.
13 July 1990
Withdrawn from service at Teesside International Airport, Darlington, County Durham, England.
October 1990
Ferried to Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England for continued storage.
January 1991
Sold to Sean T Hulley (Sales) Ltd.
|
January 1991 to September 1992
STH Sales Ltd
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
January 1991
Purchased from British Air Ferries (BAF) and registered to Sean T Hulley (Sales) Ltd.
It remained stored at Southend Airport, Rochford, Essex, England in a plain white livery.
circa June 1991
Noted with all four Rolls-Royce Dart engines and propellers removed.
17 June 1992
Registration cancelled as permanently withdrawn from service.
15 September 1992
Sold to Roger Kerremans for display outside his N9 Dancing 'Kokoriko' discotheque.
|
September 1992 to
N9 Dancing Kokoriko
G-AZNA - c/n 350 - a V.813 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
15 September 1992
Purchased by Roger Kerremans from Sean T Hully (Sales) Ltd.
Dismantled and transferred by road to his facility near Zomergem, Belgium, next to the N9 road between Eeklo and Ghent and mounted with its undercarriage lowered on three poles next to Roger's 'Kokoriko' discotheque / night club in an all white livery still with the name 'Viscount Banjul' still on the port side of the nose.
Google Earth location 51 07 36.10 N 3 36 26.86 E (copy and paste)
Subsequently fitted with poorly shaped dummy propellers.
27 June 2016
Noted with two dummy propeller blades snapped off.
2022
This aircraft appeared in the movie 'Zillion', which unsurprisingly is about a famous discotheque in Antwerp.
7 February 2023
Two delivery trucks damaged the aircraft, with one punching a hole in the weather radar nose dome and another breaking off one of the wooden propeller blades on the No.3 engine.
A replacement nose dome is now being sought! Roger has spare propeller blades.
|
