aviation - the past, present and future of flight

service trial with British European Airways

(BEA), which started on July 29, 1950. The

aircraft was a big hit and the response from

the airline’s customers, extremely positive.

Passengers were particularly impressed with

the aircraft’s roomy interior and its smooth,

vibration-free ride – they also liked the huge

picture windows in the cabin. The pilots also

found the new aircraft a delight to  y, making

special note of the sprightly performance

and ease of handling both on the ground

and in the air. The  ight deck, although a

bit cramped, was functional and the forward

visibility excellent.

Due to the success of the early tests with

the prototype Viscount V.630, the design

team at Vickers decided to go ahead with

a stretched version, namely the V.700.

Components intended for the abandoned

third prototype G-AJZW were used in the

construction of the new variant, which was

powered by the recently uprated Rolls-Royce

Dart 504s and was to be registered G-AMAV.

The fuselage was built at the company’s

South Marston facility in Wiltshire and the

wings at the factory at Itchen, Hampshire.

Following assembly at Brooklands in Surrey,

the  rst  ight took place on August 28,

1950 under the command of Jock Bryce.

The airliner landed back at Wisley where

the company had its  ight test centre. The

subsequent trial programme took Alpha-

Victor far a eld, including tropical tests in

Africa, cold weather trials in Canada and

demonstration tours in India, Pakistan and

the Middle East. The order book started

to  ll, with the  rst signi cant commitment

coming from BEA which bought 20 of the

701 series, and this was later increased by

another six.

ENTRY INTO SERVICE

The  rst production Viscount 701, G-ALWE,

made its maiden  ight on August 20, 1952

• just in time to be included at the Society
  of British Aerospace Companies show
  at Farnborough, Hampshire. The aircraft
  was registered to BEA on November 17

44 Aviation News incorporating Jets September 2018

Viscount 700 G-AMAV RMA Endeavour and

its crew shortly before participating in the

London-to-Christchurch (New Zealand) Air

Race in October 1953. Key Collection

One example, military serial number VX217,

was completed as a type V.663 experimental

aircraft, powered by two Rolls-Royce Tay

turbojets. Key Collection