Vickers-Armstrongs

25 April 2024

This website is regularly archived by the British Library who selectively archive websites with research values that are representative of British social history and cultural heritage.

Museum search

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.

Contact us

information@VickersViscount.net

Follow @ViscountNet

Join the Vickers Viscount Network
for FREE

Membership details

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

This website does not use cookies or capture your details

Move delayed by appalling weather

Servicable cockpit glazing. Label on crate states destination was to be Indian Airlines Corporation, Calcutta, India.

Update by Martin Garrett

The hired panel van fully loaded.

The big news we were hoping to kick off with this month was that the fuselage and wings had been transported successfully to Coventry. Unfortunately the move had to be cancelled due to the unseasonal wet weather that caused the land we had to go over to get the Viscount out of the Skypsort site becoming soft and muddy. The haulage companies were concerned that their wagons would get bogged down. This would have been a big problem when you consider that one of the vehicles being used weighs in excess of 30 tonnes unloaded. Its hugely disappointing to have everything in place ready for the move only to have it called off by mother nature. The move date has been rearranged but again we are dependant upon the weather being kind.

Undercarriage doors.

On Monday 9th July we still visited the aircraft to prepare her for the move. To transport the airframe it needs to be loaded safely and securly and the best way to do this is to pack the load tightly using old car tyres. We hired a large panel van for the day and took up a load of tyres of various sizes. On the return journey we loaded the van with as many items as we could get in.

As the van was much larger than my Saab we were able to bring back bigger items. We spent a good couple of hours working out how and what would fit in the van and by the end of the day we had loaded various fairings, undercarriage doors, spare transparencies, flaps and a number of other smaller items. All that was now left at Hatch was the three remaining engines, fuselage, main wings and tail feathers.

Rudder & tailplane incuding elevator.

Mark also managed to work out how the two locks on the nose wheel undercarriage worked and proved that it can be retracted back into the wheel bay. Unfortunately Mark and I were not strong enough to retract the gear fully but were able to prove that it does swing so that on the day of the move, when we have more man power on site, we know that we will be able to retract it fully and secure it safely.

Fin & tailplane including elevator.

When I wrote last month the construction of the concrete pads for the Viscount to stand on at Coventry had just been started. The foundations had been laid and we were waiting for the concrete to be added, a task that had been delayed by, yes you’ve guessed it, the weather. Well, the beginning of July saw the builders come back and finish the job. I know its hard to get excited about three rectangular squares of concrete but as far as concrete goes they do look rather nice and are a vital part of 'Victoria Lynnes' long term preservation. It also shows that owning an aircraft can be satisfying and at times exciting but it also shows that investment is required in other mundane areas that don’t immediately spring to mind.

Innards of one of the tailplanes.

Friday 20th, a very wet morning, saw Tim Moore once again arrive at Coventry with more Viscount parts, this time the fin, rudder, tail planes and elevators. As soon as we had started unloading the parts from the trailer the rain turned into what must have been the hardest downpour ever. After a short break undercover waiting for it to ease we continued unloading. Thankfully the task didn’t take that long as the structures were surprisingly light and not overly large. A big thank you to Mark, Barry, Malcolm, Dave and of course Tim for helping in such appalling weather.

For more information about this project please e-mail the 'Viscount 35 Association', or visit the Viscount 35 Association’s web site and also watch the news pages here at the Vickers Viscount Network for further developments.

Some of the fairings brought back to Coventry.

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