'VICTORIA LYNNE' FINALLY ARRIVES AT COVENTRY
Fusleage being lifted at MAM - Midland Air Museum, Baginton, Coventry, Warwickshire, England.
Update by Martin Garrett
Photos by Craig Martin via Viscount 35 Association
The starboard wing two being lifted over the fuselage.
Fuselage suspended in the air with two cranes.
Previous updates have told of how we were still looking for a sponsor for the move. At the last minute A E
Beckett & Sons Ltd stepped in with a very generous offer to cover the entire cost of the move. A E Beckett &
Sons Ltd is a family farming business situated at Wythall, just south of Birmingham, England. Bill MacSkimming,
father of Viscount 35 Association co-founder Rob MacSkimming, was employed by the company for a period of over
12 years until recently retiring. Bill had mentioned to Simon Beckett, the Managing Director of the company,
that the project was looking for a sponsor to cover the haulage costs from Hatch to Coventry.
Fuselage being reversed along the edge of the airstrip at Hatch.
Simon without hesitation offered the finance required to move the aircraft as he was keen not only to help
preserve a piece of British aviation history but also to help the son of a former employee who had given
sterling service to his company over a long period. The Viscount 35 Association would like to take this
opportunity to say a huge thank you to Simon and his company. It was a fantastic gesture that has helped the
project immensely.
The move of the aircraft was undertaken over a two day period, the 5th and 6th September. On day one we lifted
the two sets of wings onto a trailer placing them one on top of the other. The trailer was left in-situ at Hatch
overnight ready for the journey to Coventry the following day.
Fuselage passing through a narrow S bend at Hatch village.
Day two saw the lorry that was to carry the fuselage enter the Hatch site. We had planned to get loaded and away
from Hatch by 10.00 in the morning but didn’t finally leave until nearly 4.00 in the afternoon. Part of the
delay was problems of our own making but it also seemed that the fuselage just did not want to leave her
long term home in rural Bedfordshire. We eventually arrived at Coventry around 6.00 in the evening. From the
moment we entered the museum site it was all systems go with the wings finally being unloaded in the dark with
the only light coming from a number of flood lights. It was gone 11.30 when we finally waved the haulage
contractors away from 'Victoria Lynne’s' new home. It had been a very long two days both physically and mentally
for the team.
The wings travelling through the narrow lanes of Hatch village.
The emails and telephone calls of praise for what has been achieved seem all to be directed at Rob and me.
As co-founders of the association maybe that is understandable. But for us to take that praise is wrong and it
should be directed to the many people that have helped make this move happen. So thank you to all who gave their
time so freely, one a friend from DAS - Duxford Aviation Society, the remainder our friends who are fellow
volunteers at the MAM - Midland Air Museum. Thanks must also go to the MAM for not only allowing their
volunteers time away from museum projects but also for allowing us to preserve the Viscount on what is
admittedly a pretty large chunk of land on their site.
Lastly and completely unrelated to the move we finally have a website that is fully functional. Shortly we
will be adding more photos of the move in our gallery section and plan to have monthly news updates on
our website as well as here on the Vickers Viscount Network. To avoid duplicity we will endeavour to write
different stories for each site so please visit both regularly to get the full story of what’s
happening with our project.
For more information about this project please e-mail
the 'Viscount
35 Association' , or visit the
Viscount 35 Association’s web site
.
Dave Waters, a volunteer from DAS - Duxford Aviation Society, washing the starboard side of the aircraft.
