The Brian Burrage collection photo of KLM - Royal Dutch Airlines V.803 series Viscount PH-VIA was taken at at Schiphol, Amsterdam, Netherlands circa June 1958. The Ray Flynn collection photo of the same aircraft while being operated by Aer Lingus as EI-AOG was taken at Collinstown, Dublin, Ireland in September 1966. On 26 April 1957 this Viscount was officially named for KLM as Sir Sefton Brancker in a ceremony held at Heathrow, London, England. Appropriately, it was John Brancker, the son of the late Sir Sefton who was chosen to carry out the dedication using a bottle of Dutch Gin. He was a member of the executive committee at I. A.T.A. (International Air Transport Association) and based at their headquarters in Montreal, Canada. Sir Seftons widow Lady Brancker was also present. Major General C A L Dunphie, Chairman of Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd gave a short speech and thanked Mr I A Aler, the President of KLM for choosing a British airliner rather than one from across the North Atlantic. This Viscount was built for KLM - Royal Dutch Airlines as PH-VIA and first flew on Friday, 5 April 1957 at Weybridge, Surrey, England powered by Rolls-Royce Dart 510 engines. Its fate:- While being operated by Aer Lingus as EI-AOG it was damaged during a heavy landing at Lulsgate, Bristol, England. Temporary repairs were carried out and the aircraft was ferried to Collinstown, Dublin, Ireland via Speke, Liverpool and stored 7 October 1969. Proposed sale to Northern Ireland Airways not taken up October 1970. Registration cancelled as permanently withdrawn from use 26 July 1972. Broken up for scrap in July 1972. Click on this link to see 14 more photos of this Viscount. vickersviscount.net/Index/VickersViscount172Photos.aspx The Vickers Viscount Network is always on the lookout for more photos and information to help complete the histories of every Viscount built. If you can help please contact us by Facebook, Twitter or email. Your help will be really appreciated with this important historical project.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 09:14:27 +0000
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