Brooklands was a 2.767-mile (4.453 km) motor racing circuit and aerodrome built near Weybridge in Surrey, England, United Kingdom. It opened in 1907 and was the world's first purpose-built 'banked' motor racing circuit as well as one of Britain's first airfields, which also became Britain's largest aircraft manufacturing centre by 1918, producing military aircraft such as the Wellington and civil airliners like the Viscount and VC-10.
The Hawker Hunter is a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engine and the swept wing, and was the first jet-powered aircraft produced by Hawker to be procured by the RAF. On 7 September 1953, the modified first prototype broke the world air speed record for aircraft, achieving a speed of 727.63 mph.
The Vickers Viscount is a British medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs. A design requirement from the Brabazon Committee, it entered service in 1953 and was the first turboprop-powered airliner.
The Vickers VC10 is a mid-sized, narrow-body long-range British jet airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown at Brooklands, Surrey, in 1962. The VC10 is often compared to the larger Soviet Ilyushin Il-62, the two types being the only airliners to use a rear-engined quad layout, while the smaller business jet Lockheed JetStar also has this engine arrangement.
John Alcock and Arthur Brown were British aviators who, in 1919, made the first non-stop transatlantic flight. They flew a modified First World War Vickers Vimy bomber from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Clifden, County Galway, Ireland. The Secretary of State for Air, Winston Churchill, presented them with the Daily Mail prize of £10,000 for the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by aeroplane in "less than 72 consecutive hours". A small amount of mail was carried on the flight, making it the first transatlantic airmail flight. The two aviators were knighted by King George V at Windsor Castle a week later.
Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, with the remainder being divested as Vickers plc in 1977.
Number 10 Squadron is a Royal Air Force squadron. The squadron has served in a variety of roles over its 90-year history. It currently flies the Airbus Voyager KC2/KC3 in the transport/tanker role from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire.
The Farnborough International Airshow is a trade exhibition for the aerospace and defence industries, where civilian and military aircraft are demonstrated to potential customers and investors in Farnborough, Hampshire. Since its first show in 1948, Farnborough has seen the debut of many famous aeroplanes, including the Vickers VC10, Concorde, the Eurofighter, the Airbus A380, and the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. At the 1958 show, Hawker Hunters of the RAF's Black Arrows executed a 22-aircraft formation loop, setting a new world record.
Middle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L., more commonly known as Middle East Airlines (MEA), is the flag carrier of Lebanon, with its head office in Beirut, near Beirut–Rafic Hariri International Airport. It operates scheduled international flights to Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa from its base at Rafic Hariri International Airport.
The Vickers VC.1 Viking is a British twin-engine short-range airliner derived from the Vickers Wellington bomber and built by Vickers-Armstrongs Limited at Brooklands near Weybridge in Surrey. After the Second World War, the Viking was an important airliner with British airlines, pending the development of turboprop aircraft like the Viscount. An experimental airframe was fitted with Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets and first flown in 1948 as the world's first pure jet transport aircraft. Military developments were the Vickers Valetta and the Vickers Varsity.
The Rolls-Royce Avon was the first axial flow jet engine designed and produced by Rolls-Royce. Introduced in 1950, the engine went on to become one of their most successful post-World War II engine designs. It was used in a wide variety of aircraft, both military and civilian, as well as versions for stationary and maritime power.
A gate guardian or gate guard is a withdrawn piece of equipment, often an aircraft, armoured vehicle, artillery piece, or locomotive, mounted on a plinth and used as a static display near to and forming a symbolic display of "guarding" the main entrance to a site, especially a military base. Commonly, gate guardians outside airbases are decommissioned examples of aircraft that were once based there, or still are.
Byfleet is a village in Surrey, England. It is located in the far east of the borough of Woking, around 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of West Byfleet, from which it is separated by the M25 motorway and the Wey Navigation.
United Airlines Flight 823 was a scheduled flight from Philadelphia International Airport, Pennsylvania, to Huntsville International Airport, Alabama, with 39 on board. On July 9, 1964, around 18:15 EST, the aircraft, a Vickers Viscount 745D, registration N7405, crashed 2.25 mi (3.62 km) northeast of Parrottsville, Tennessee, after experiencing an uncontrollable fire on board, killing all 39 onboard. The fire of unknown origin occurred in the passenger cabin. One passenger abandoned the aircraft through the No.4 escape window prior to impact, but did not survive the free-fall. Among the victims was Durant da Ponte, professor of American literature and assistant dean of the University of Tennessee graduate school.
The Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada is an aviation museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
Brooklands Museum is a motoring and aviation museum occupying part of the former Brooklands Motor Course in Weybridge, Surrey, England.
The 1963 Ankara mid-air collision occurred on Friday, 1 February 1963 over Ankara, Turkey when Middle East Airlines Flight 265, a Vickers 754D Viscount completing a flight from Cyprus, came in for landing and collided in the air with a Turkish Air Force Douglas C-47A; after which both planes fell directly onto the city below them. All 17 people on board both aircraft died, along with 87 people on the ground.
On May 20, 1958 a Vickers Viscount airliner operating Capital Airlines Flight 300 was involved in a mid-air collision with a United States Air Force T-33 jet trainer on a proficiency flight in the skies above Brunswick, Maryland. All 11 people on board the Viscount and one of the two crew in the T-33 were killed in the accident.
Gabe 'Jock' Robb Bryce, OBE was a British aviator and chief test pilot for Vickers-Armstrong and later the British Aircraft Corporation. He flew, as pilot in command or Co-Pilot, the first flight of eleven prototype aircraft during his time as a test pilot, including the VC10.
Far Eastern Air Transport Flight 134 was a scheduled domestic flight from Hualien Airport to Taipei-Songshan Airport. On July 31, 1975, the Vickers Viscount 837D crashed into the runway during a storm while on approach. 27 out of the 75 occupants onboard were killed on impact, there were 48 survivors all of them made it out with injuries.
