aviation - the past, present and future of flight

that year and delivered to the carrier on
January 3, 1953. It was the  rst Viscount to
visit Manchester Ringway when it made a
series of demonstration  ights to the press
and travel industry on March 20 that year.
It also undertook inaugural BEA Viscount
services from Heathrow to Rome-Athens-
Istanbul on April 19, 1953; Zürich on April 25;
Copenhagen-Stockholm on July 1 and two
years later Munich-Athens on April 20, 1955.
Perhaps the most famous  ight carried
out by the prototype Viscount 700 G-AMAV
came with its participation in the London-to-
Christchurch Air Race in October 1953. The
aircraft already painted in the colours of BEA
was given the name RMA Endeavour.
It was operated with a BEA  ight crew
for the arduous trip to New Zealand and
covered the 12,500-mile (20,116km) journey
in an elapsed time of 40 hours and 45

minutes. The Viscount  nished second in

the transport handicap section, losing out

marginally to a Douglas DC-6A  own by a

crew from the Dutch carrier KLM.

Overseas orders were starting to come

in, with Air France signing for 12 series 708s,

Trans Australian Airlines (TAA) taking six

series 720s and Aer Lingus buying a pair

of series 707s. Air France stipulated an

interior capable of carrying 49 passengers,

while Aer Lingus went for 53. The TAA order

was to have a 44-seat interior but with extra

provision for two slipper tanks, one under

each wing offering increased range for

transcontinental  ights within Australia.

The  rst Viscount purchase from North

America came from Trans Canada Airlines

(TCA) which opted for an initial batch of 15

series 724s, however this hinged on Vickers’

ability to meet the demanding requirements

of the airline’s engineering department and

the North American market. The type went

into service in late 1954 and was christened

the ‘Skyliner’ in Canadian service.

The next signi cant sale came from

American carrier Capital Airlines based

in Washington DC. It ordered 40 series

745D Viscounts with options on more. The

record-breaking purchase was the British

aircraft industry’s  rst real success in

the lucrative US airline market. Capital’s

president, J H Carmichael, recognised the

tremendous appeal of the new Viscount and

did everything possible to promote his new

acquisition. The signs were promising.

Over the next few years more Viscounts

were snapped up by international customers.

Iraqi Airways introduced three series V.735s,

serving routes within the Middle East and

onwards to London; Indian Airlines started

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Aer Lingus Viscount EI-AFW St Brigid at Dublin circa 1956. Key Collection

A publicity shot of G-AOYF in support of the

Vickers Viscount 806/810 range. Key Collection