I handled lots of BAF Viscounts in my ramp-rat years at RTM; I wil never forget the cramped belly holds in which I had to crawl around while stowing the bags. And those sharp metal edges that separated the electrics bays from the holds… ouch! And the metal beams which supported the floor above… gave me a lot of headaches after repeatedly bumping my head! And pulling the plug of the GPU out of its belly after start-up… the hatch for the hookup was right in the middle of the fuselage, between engines two and three. So you had to be very careful and watch wat you were doing, if you tripped you could easily end up being chopped to pieces by one of the props. The Dart engines really screamed when you were so close to them, even with ear-defenders they were incredibly loud.
But boy, my one and only flight in a Viscount was a memorable one! I had a seat next to one of those big windows, and as it was an early morning flight there was some dampness in the air. I saw vortices streaming from the propeller tips which formed screwing patterns behind them. A truly great sight.

Tillerman.

I have also spent many a happy (?) hour crawling round the holds of Viscounts. I found that it was possible to load a 700 series without actually getting imto the hold whereas that wasn’t possible with the 800 series.

The other thing was that the 700’s used to taxi in on the outer engines whereas the 800 used the inner so you had to wait for the prop to stop rotating before getting too close. I always found that gripping the spinner at tightly as possible never seemed to stop it from rotating any quicker!

As for the those screaming Darts – weren’t they just music to the ears!

Fantastic shots and you’re right as they do tend to be overlooked! I have always had a soft spot for them and remember seeing them in the flesh in Valkenburg and also on board a couple of US carriers visiting Portsmouth.

I think that my first photo was a Tradair Viking taken at Southend in early 1963. I must try and dig it out!

Oh alright……go on then!

Couple of pics of me..then and now!
First is when I was young (19) and had no sense 😀
Second is at Gooney Bird’s Summer Soiree, flying my chopper in the marquee after 1 too many Pimms…
It was a well-known warbird operator that I was talking to at this party that suggested I take a look at this forum….

Gooney Bird shall I post a pic of you at the party watching my antics?

You must have had 1 too many Pimms as you didn’t crash it!

Don’t bother about a photo of me watching your antics as I also probably had 1 too many Pimms!

If I remember correctly when I few ‘GVG it was in all-silver colour scheme unlike all the other Austers owned by the club which I think were all in a very attractive two tone maroon colour scheme. However I certainly remember it being fitted with a very fine pitch prop!

Unfortunately I don’t have a photograph of this one although I do have photos of all the others in the fleet.

Emptying the toilets on Viscounts in Southend following long distance IT flights from the Continent. You had to be very careful not to spill any when carrying down the aircraft steps and emtying them the in cart.

When the cart was full, which didn’t take long, I then had to tow it over to the hangar on the north side of the airfied which meant crossing the runway. Unfortunately as the runway had a deep gutter either side it made the contents tended to slop about a bit with some of it being deposited on the runway!

Ah, happy days!