aviation - the past, present and future of flight

The 800 series found favour with many
airlines throughout the world, and was
ordered by Lufthansa, KLM, Continental
Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Ansett-ANA,
New Zealand National Airways Corporation,
Aer Lingus, South African Airways and
Pakistan International Airways.
The Viscount remained a favourite with
the public even after the introduction of the
 rst of the new-generation short-haul jets,
as the  ight times varied very little. But by
the end of the decade orders for the British
turboprop had slowed to a trickle and the
last new Viscount was delivered to the Civil
Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) on
April 16, 1964. The aircraft was a series 843
and was registered as G-ASDV before taking
up its Chinese marks of 412 after delivery
from Hong Kong. In total, 459 Viscounts
were built.
A number of follow-on versions were
proposed by the manufacturer, including

the 840 with uprated Dart RDa.11

powerplants, which would have given

the aircraft a cruising speed of 400mph,

matching the Lockheed Electra. Another

model, the 850, would have had a further

stretch of the fuselage to carry in the

region of 100 passengers but in the end

the company decided to go with an all-new

design, the Vanguard.

SECOND-HAND MARKET

As the Viscount was withdrawn by original

operators during the late 1960s and early

1970s, many examples found their way

onto the second-hand market. Channel

Airways, based in Southend, Essex,

acquired several former BEA 701s and

then purchased the  eet of 812s from

Continental. British Midland started its

Viscount story with a single airframe,

G-AODG, bought from British United

Airways and ended up with a large  eet

coming from Germany and South Africa.

British Air Ferries similarly began with one

example, EI-AOI leased from Aer Lingus,

and ended up with a signi cant part of the

British Airways Regional Division inventory.

The airline changed its name to British

World Airlines in April 1993 and continued

to operate the Viscount until it ceased

trading in 2001. The carrier was the last

major operator of the type.

Although it was a relatively small

aircraft in today’s terms, the Viscount

• together with its Rolls-Royce Dart
  engines – played an important part in
  the development of today’s aerospace
  industry. No examples remain airworthy,
  but occasionally word comes out of the
  Democratic Republic of Congo of a series
  802 for sale. Perhaps we could hope that
  one day we might hear the Viscount’s
  mighty Dart’s rumbling again, even if only
  on the ground.

http://www.aviation-news.co.uk 47

PRESERVATION

Today, we are lucky enough to have a large number of Viscounts on

display around the world. These include examples that can be seen at

Duxford in Cambridgeshire, where G-ALWF is on show in BEA markings;

at Brooklands in Surrey G-APIM is on display in British Air Ferries colours,

and at Coventry F-BGNR proudly wears the livery of its former owner,

Air Inter. Two former Air Canada aircraft are on display in Winnipeg and

on Vancouver Island, while in New Zealand’s South Island, ZK-BRF is

exhibited at the Ferrymead Heritage Park.

Bouraq Indonesia Airlines Viscount 843, PK-IVX, at Hong Kong. This aircraft was one of eight Viscounts operated by the carrier. It had

been delivered to CAAC in 1963 and bought by Bouraq in 1983, serving for nine years before being written off in a landing accident in 1992.

Bob O’Brien Collection

Viscount G-APIM on display at Brooklands Museum in Surrey. Key-Craig West