Vickers Viking

[Garry Russell]

Link to a Pathe preview clip

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=55498

Garry

[DaveB]

Loved that Garry.. cheers

I reckon that grassy airfield is Wisley and those officials are from the Air Ministry as the aircraft are AGOK and AGOL.. the first 2 prototypes. Pity there's no sound but that's often the way with these old clips ;-)

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[Garry Russell]

Seems brand new

I wouldn't shut an engine down at that low level :o

Certaily looks like Wisley from the pics of the Viscounts first flight when it was still grass.

Nice long preview..........I wonder if the logged on version has sound :think:

Garry

[TSR2]

Some of those flypasts make her look quite spritely!

Great find Garry

[DaveB]

In actual fact.. she WAS quite spritely mate. Her only downfall was that she never looked that way

Mutt Summers is the man in the P1 seat so the footage will be around the 1945 mark. Sadly.. AGOK didn't last much longer being written off in a forced landing the following year. I love what the chap in P2 is wearing. Tweed jacket and leather flying helmet I'm surprised neither of em had a fag on

ATB

DaveB :tab:

[Garry Russell]

Cruising speed 210.not bad eh!

The Freighter was more sprightly than given credit for.

Those Brsitol Hercules engines were the biz

Garry

[delticbob]

Dave, yes I'd noticed Mutt Summers in the line up just before the rear door is closed. Sadly I keep thinking of Patrick Barr, the actor - who played Summers in The Dam Busters film, every time his name (Summers) is mentioned :brick:

Good film anyhow.

Bob

[511Flyer]

I may have been an unwitting spectator to that display. Towards the end of the war, and for a few years after, we lived in Hatchford Farm cottage, which was actually below the level of the runway at Wisley. As a 6 year old, I used to walk up the slope and look through the fence which can be seen in the film. I seem to remember that there were always a lot of aircraft movements going on.

Thanks for pointing us towards it.

Dennis.

[Garry Russell]

Hello Dennis

I take it you saw the early Viscount flights....must have looked very futuristic then

Garry

[511Flyer]

Hi Garry.

I've always lived close to Wisley and the Vickers factory, so I've seen most of the aircraft, and a lot of the development flying that took place there. I remember the Viscount in particular because of the engine sounds. We little lads boasted at school of seeing a four engined Spitfire.

After leaving the RAF, I actually worked at Vickers in the VC10 wingshop before moving on to Heathrow, which is where my enthusiasm for working on aircraft declined to the point where I threw my ball of string away and said "&%$*# @?&"

Dennis.