'Victoria Lynne' starts her journey

Since we announced the project to the aviation community during mid January its been a very busy few weeks for the both of us. Eager to see 'Victoria Lynne' once more and to crack on with the project we planned a working visit to Bedfordshire for the 9th February. As part of the deal which had seen 'Victoria Lynne' change hands we also found ourselves in possession of a number of spares that were stored in the various holds of the aircraft. We wanted to bring these parts back to her new home so that we could catalogue the items and then place them safely in store.

Cabin passenger vents and lights

In the event it was limited what we could hope to bring back. The vehicle we had planned to use which featured a towing capability suddenly went sick. Undeterred by this hiccup or even the overnight downfall of snow we bravely (or foolishly) elected to travel down to Bedfordshire as originally planned.

As you can see from the pictures we managed to completely fill two decent sized family hatch’s with Viscount parts. We brought back a large number of instruments along with three wingtips, a number of external panels, cabin interior items, spare cockpit transparencies, jet pipe and nacelle covers along with a few other assorted items.

Martins SAAB filled with parts

While unloading the aircraft of these items Rob completed a little TLC to the exposed mating surfaces of the airframes and also tied and wrapped up the exposed electrical plugs and wiring in the wing roots. A small step forwards but it helps us for the time when the aircraft moves. Anything we can prepare now makes the team's job easier on the day of the move.

Thankfully the snow held off until we got back to Coventry. Albeit a little colder and since then we have catalogued what we brought back and have sorted what are believed to be the serviceable instruments from those that are unserviceable. Some of the readers may be aware that old instruments, luminous indicators and switches feature luminous paint that overtime breaks down and becomes radioactive. Following good practice we tested the levels of radiation on each instrument and was pleased to find that apart from two items they all tested within acceptable limits. The two offending items have now been disposed of correctly.

Panels and wing tips

A lot of behind the scenes planning has also taken place in the last few weeks. We are presently looking at the area she will be displayed on at the Midland Air Museum and also the logistics of moving her. We have been getting quotes from various haulage and crane hire companies and have been looking at the services they offer. Its not a simple case of picking the cheapest. To move 'Victoria Lynne' we are needing to raise a sum of approximately £4000 inc VAT. This figure covers both the haulage and crane hire. Although we are actively chasing sponsors, if anybody can help with sponsorship or donations we would very much like to hear from you.

Could we also apologise to those people who keep going to our website expecting us to be online. Unfortunately the webmaster is running a little behind schedule but it will be online very soon. Watch this space as they say.

To finish off with I would on behalf of myself and Rob (AKA The Viscount Boys as we have been renamed at the Midland Air Museum) would like to thank everybody for the overwhelming support we are receiving. We have not only received numerous emails from well wishers but have even had people turn up at the Midland Air Museum wanting to meet us and offer their support, some even donating parts to us. We never thought that our project would create so much anticipation and good will and we are overwhelmed by it.

If anybody wants to know more about the project please do feel free to contact us at the 'Viscount 35 Association'.

For more information on this project visit the Viscount 35 Association’s web site and watch the news pages here at the Vickers Viscount Network.