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19 August 1949
Re-registered from the Ministry of Supply - VX211 to Vickers - Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd for trials use.
6 - 11 September 1949
Exhibited at the SBAC show at Farnborough, England with BEA - British European Airways titles, logo and Union flag applied to the basic Vickers livery.
15 September 1949
Restricted Certificate of Airworthiness (No.7796) issued after 290 hours and 160 flights which did not include the pressurisation or thermal de-icing systems or tropical operations. This was the first C of A issued to a turbine transport aircraft anywhere in the world.
September 1949
Pressurisation trials carried out involving flights above 30,000 feet and emergency descents.
January 1950
De-icing trials carried out off the coast of Ireland with the aircraft based at Shannon, Ireland.
20 March 1950
Departed from Northolt, England on an eight European capital tour with the aircraft painted in a new BEA livery. 4,400 miles were flown by G R 'Jock' Bryce and BEA Captain W J Wakelin involving 61 hours and 70 landings. One sector was flown with two engines feathered during descent to demonstrate the engines reliability and potential fuel economy measures at low altitudes, although this was later abandoned for safety reasons. The aircraft remained in BEA colours for the rest of its life.
5 June 1950
Departed for tropical trials at Nairobi, Kenya and Khartoum, Sudan, flown by G R 'Jock' Bryce with BEA Captain Richard Rymer. They were accompanied by a Vickers Valetta flown by J 'Mutt' Summers to carry all the support equipment. Mutt Summers and Jock Bryce swapped roles during the various flights. Representatives from Vickers, BEA, Rolls-Royce and A & A E E Boscombe Down travelled with them. Eighty takeoffs were performed using a new Water Methanol injection system developed by Rolls-Royce for the Dart engine.
July 1950
Returned to UK after successful completion of the tropical trials.
26 or 27 July 1950
Full Certificate of Airworthiness (No.A-907) issued to allow BEA - British European Airways to carry out commercial operations.
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