Vickers-Armstrongs

15 January 2025

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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.

Viscount history

Letter from HRH Prince Philip

See and hear a Viscount

Newsletters

Flight Magazine Reports

Aircraft operational
records and photos

Viscount illustrations
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.

Share your photos and stories

Live Magazine

Our 'Live Magazine' is used by members and non-members to share their Viscount photos and stories with fellow enthusiasts located throughout the world in real time.

You are able to send in your photos, stories and comments by Facebook, Twitter or email and we will post them for all to enjoy.

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information@VickersViscount.net

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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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Artwork by José A Placeres

Created as a dedication to all those who designed, built, flew and perished in this aircraft.

'CU-T603 tribute' - José A Placeres

'CU-T603 tribute'

In memory of V.755D series Viscount CU-T603

On the 1 November 1958 Compañía Cubana de Aviación S.A. V.755D series Viscount CU-T603 crashed into the sea at Nipe Bay, Cuba. It had been hijacked by pro-Castro rebels during flight CU495 from Miami International Airport, Florida, USA to Varadero Airport, Northern Cuba.

The aircraft had departed from Miami at 22:00 local time and estimated to arrive at Varadero at 22:49. During the flight, control of the aircraft was taken over by anti-government rebels acting on behalf of Fidel Castro, who requested that the pilots divert to a small airfield near the Preston Sugar Mills, Oriente Province, Cuba which was 600 KM southeast of Varadero and in an area controlled by the rebels.

When the pilots refused to divert, one of the rebels took over control of the plane. Eventually the flight crew agreed to go to Preston but because of the delay and the extra distance the aircraft ran out of fuel during the final approach and crashed into the sea at Nipe Bay, Cuba. The airfield, which was close to where Fidel Castro had his base had no runway lighting which severely hampered the landing attempts in the dark. All 4 crew and 13 of the 16 passengers (including the rebels) on board were killed.

This was the first recorded hi-jack of an aircraft anywhere resulting in the deaths of innocent passengers and crew.

History and photos of Viscount c/n 91 CU-T603

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.

Click here for more details about the Vickers Viscount Network