A vintage doumentary of the Vickers Viscount the first turboprop airliner in the world #aviation #planespotting #airport #british #vickers #viscount #britishairways #britannia #britain
‘People depend upon aircraft to relieve them of the strain and fatigue of the older forms of travel’ and promptly developed the Airport Experience to bring it all back. I never had the opportunity to fly in a Viscount but I remember them flying over our house on approach to 28 Right at LAP. Every airline seemed to use them for their regional routes. They were a part of our junior school days and are sadly missed, as are the days when flying was a relatively civilised adventure. I have subsequently travelled in 87 types of passenger aircraft including DC3s, F27s, an Argonaut, a Britannia 312, Rapides and Comets (all on regular service routes) as well as Lockheed L1011s and the ubiquitous Boeing and Airbus varieties but this was one I regret missing.
I was lucky enough to work on the construction of the North Terminal at LGW back in ‘87 as a student, and clearly remember the short lived Viscount 806 G-AOYP Virgin service to Maastricht which was used as a euro feeder for their transatlantic service. It looked so small when parked near a Caledonian L1011, it was sadly a short lived service. A real privilege to hear those four Dart 525’s spooling up, a tremendous sound close up. Happy days
Great aircraft mid 1950s flew with my parents to Malta landing at l think Sardina to refuel .on the way the captain visited the cabin to chat to passengers including my father who worked at BEA On arrival the captain came down the cabin stairs in his tropics uniform so my father could take a movie camera shot of him My overiding impression of how there was no vibration from the engines and how long the engine nacelles were wonderful memories of a time flying was a great adventure
I flew on a BEA viscount in 1969,i sat on the starboard side overlooking the engine nacelles and noticed oil streaks on one of them,the engine then began rotating and the propeller boss seemed to be running off centre..but the procedure carried on to a perfect flight to Jersey. I think that it is an absolutely beautiful aircraft and it is a pity that is not still in service. PPS.I know that this is an old film,but i remember those gracious days and people being polite to each other.Not like flying today
Great film. My first ever flight was on a British Midland Viscount in September 1973. I flew on the Viscount only 4 times in total, all British Midland, one I recall from photos was G-BAPF. Thanks for bringing back memories.
What a wonderful video ! Thank you for uploading this. My first experience of flying was in 1980 in a British midland 800 series G-BFZL. I shall never forget that.
My Nan lived in oyster road byfleet. Remember as a nipper hundreds of Vickers workers pouring out the gates at home time. Later on we used to play around all the aircraft jigs that were stored around the brooklands track. Used to get in the covers and obtain m big. Bags of silica gel and pour it down the track slope. Sheet of metal bent up we had some of the best dangerous sledging going. The yellow security Land Rover frequently chased us off.
It may have been comfortable, but reliable it certainly was not. One third of all Viscounts built suffered crash damage, most with fatalities. The Australian safety authorities ordered the removal of all Viscounts from their territory because of their poor safety record.
I remember watching an ITN report when the Viscount retired. One of her early pilot said that she was built like a tank, but flew like an angel. BEA were very supportive of the Viscount and it helps Vickers sell hundreds of them. Given how fuel efficient tubro-props are, we may see them returning in the future.
Pretty selfish of the mother not to let her son sit by the window - although that seating arrangement was later used to validate the size of the windows. That maneuver at 19:20 would have a few coffee and tea cups fly around the cabin!
My dad flew on the Viscount as a Royal Marine being deployed abroad mid 50's. Re the video, guy at the start trying not to move his lips and test flying in suit and tie!
last airworthy Viscount, 9Q-COD, flown last in January 2009 for Global Airways in the Democratic Republic of the Congo On 18 April 1996, British World Airlines conducted the last Viscount passenger service in Britain, exactly 46 years after BEA's inaugural flight; on board the flight were Sir George Edwards (designer) and Sir Peter Masefield (BEA). last batch of six aircraft of 445 built was for the Chinese CAAC Airlines delivered during 1964.
