NZFF

Remember these ?? The Vickers Viscount 800 series. I can still see them, and smell them, and hear them. Hear them,.........ohhhhhhhh the sound of those Rolls Royce Dart Turboprops,...... a very UNIQUE, and UNFORGETTABLE sound.
A sound that only 4 aircraft had in New Zealand, The Vickers Viscount, Fokker F27 Friendship, Hawker Siddelly HS-748, and Hawker Siddelly Argosy. All 4 used the RR Dart turboprops.

back at ya screenie holic
will you send me the vickers over for flt plning? did the ansett flt pln work ok?
did sky bus operate in nz? all these questions

That Viscount does look special!

Where do you keep finding all these stunning repaints Lawrie? You really need to share your secret

WHOOOOO that Skybus paint ! brillaint contrast in colour with others , look superb !

Trolly wrote: That Viscount does look special!

Where do you keep finding all these stunning repaints Lawrie? You really need to share your secret

No secret really Andrew. Just depends on where you go looking for things.
The National Airways Viscount is an FSDS2 model done by Rick Piper quite some time ago. Been using it for years. The Skybus repaint for it came from the now sadly gone FSFreeware site, although i did see it somewhere else a while ago, Surclaro.com (i think). I cant check on that for you at the moment. Im not at home, im at work, so havnt got access to all my FS stuff.

Lawrie.

Ian Warren wrote: WHOOOOO that Skybus paint ! brillaint contrast in colour with others , look superb !

Yeah, its a nice stand-out paint job Ian.
I actually had the privelidge of seeing the thing in real life during its all too short stay here in NZ before they got squeezed out by you-know-who.

Lawrie.

Was lucky to live under the app to EGHI when I was younger and the Viscounts used to be in and out all day,usually the BEA and Cambrian Airways ones although latterley the BMA and British World used to visit. Interesting as the OCL over our house was 250 feet so at that point they were probably 500 ish.
Managed to fly EGHI - EGJJ on G-APEX, cost me and my bruv 5quid each (return) and there were 3 pax on board each way !
The old Skybus viscount looks the part.
Nunner

Hi Nunner,.............. As i said to Ian Warren, i have seen the Skybus Viscount close up in real life. But better than that, have done many flights on a National Airways Viscount, back when they were flying the main trunk routes, before the arrival of the B732. If you lived directly under an approach path, then you know what i mean about that unique and unforgettable sound, peculiar ONLY to the Rolls Royce Dart Turboprop.

Lawrie.

Strangely, the F27 twin Darts were far noisier than the Argosy's four. I can't recollect if Viscounts flew into Invercargill, but you couldn't mistake the sound difference between the Friendship and Argosy. I had several F27 flights, but only one Viscount flight (Wn - Dn*, 1968, the onward flight to In was supposed to have been an F27, but lo and behold, there on the tarmac at Momona was a DC3, my final flight in one, surely right at the end of their NAC service).


That October day I returned from the Chathams (Te Hapupu) to Wellington Rongatai on BF170 RK (or LT), arrived Wellington after 3.5 hour flight and immediately after landing,** in very blustery conditions, the airport was closed except for 737s. A while later our Viscount flight to Dunedin/Momona took off okay, although I noted those long nascelles were jiggling up and down a bit too much for my liking. The flight was great, except for some rough air over Canterbury. On takeoff the Viscount passed over the wreck of the Wahine, which I caught a very brief glimpse of as we turned 180, heading south towards the Mainland.

**No one forwarned us poor pax about the 'slam one wheel firmly down first' technique used in crosswind landings, the BF 170 was a taildragger, with fixed gear.


If I'd gone to Chats in 1965, when orginally asked, I would have flown by RNZAF Sunderland........................................if only I'd gone then!

captain_bazza wrote: Strangely, the F27 twin Darts were far noisier than the Argosy's four. I can't recollect if Viscounts flew into Invercargill, but you couldn't mistake the sound difference between the Friendship and Argosy. I had several F27 flights, but only one Viscount flight (Wn - Dn, 1968, the onward flight to In was supposed to have been an F27, but lo and behold, there on the tarmac at Momona was a DC3, my final flight in one, surely right at the end of their NAC service).

From memory, i dont think the Viscounts did fly to NZNV. I think they did termimate at NZDN. I myself have changed planes from a Viscount (and later the B732), to an F27 for the trip to NZNV.
And yes, the Argosy did have a slightly different sound to the other dart powered aircraft. It was nicknamed "The Whistling Wheelbarrow", because of the sound it made.

Lawrie.

...the Argosy did have a slightly different sound to the other dart powered aircraft. It was nicknamed "The Whistling Wheelbarrow", because of the sound it made.

Lawrie, in that case the F27 was like a concrete mixer on speed. Actually, the sound was akin to the noise the old Hoovermatic washing machine made when spinning the clothes to remove moisture. Yes, a very similar whine.

They all had the same RDA-6 Dart, except for a couple of F27s that NAC purchased second hand from TAA in Australia. They had the slightly more powerful RDA-7 Dart.
No matter which one of them we are talking about, i really miss the distinctive sound of those old things..............

Lawrie.

Snowman wrote: I can still see them, and smell them, and hear them.

Go around sniffin many planes, do ya?

There is nothing Wrong with the scent of fresh mo'd lawn on a Northwesrter day in CHCH , and with the added smell off aero engine burn'n Kero ! 27's to 800s those were the real summer Days ! to catch the flames licking nacelles on old Bristols and Dak s .. hell was only a kid but still rememeber every detail , ..hey did i mention the smell off...

captain_bazza wrote: Strangely, the F27 twin Darts were far noisier than the Argosy's four.

Not at 3am outside Safe when I was trying to sleep.

JasFromOz wrote:

Snowman wrote: I can still see them, and smell them, and hear them.

Go around sniffin many planes, do ya?

I could say something Jason,............................................
But its just not worth the effort.....

Lawrie.

Ian Warren wrote: There is nothing Wrong with the scent of fresh mo'd lawn on a Northwesrter day in CHCH , and with the added smell off aero engine burn'n Kero ! 27's to 800s those were the real summer Days ! to catch the flames licking nacelles on old Bristols and Dak s .. hell was only a kid but still rememeber every detail , ..hey did i mention the smell off...

GOOD ON YA IAN !!!
Nothing like it is there matey..............
Old Turboprop, or old Piston Prop, these guys these days dunno what they have missed out on.
Real planes, with real engines, real sounds, real smells ....................

Lawrie.

Yip,I can still see that vickers viscount on its nose at Wellington and the sound the pilot made,SH@#t.Still it was a peice of our historyand won't be forgotten by those that flew in them.

gokanru wrote: Yip,I can still see that vickers viscount on its nose at Wellington and the sound the pilot made,SH@#t.Still it was a peice of our historyand won't be forgotten by those that flew in them.

Neil, you refferring to the one that slid off the runway into the drainage ditch in wet weather ?? If so, i was there. (not on the plane).
Also remember the F-27 that had the portside main landing gear fold on landing ???

Wasn't the runway shorter then? Also, remember the Sunderland that did a low flyover during the opening of Rongatai and touched the runway. It landed safely, but immediated settled in the water. A Sunderland also hit a reef in the Waitangi (Chathams) lagoon, was holed and partially sank. The main fuselage (dunno about the wings) was still on the island when I was there in '68, but I never got a chance to see it. I think a family was using it for storage on their (nearby) farm.

Prior to SAFE, flights to and from Chats were by RNZAF Sunderland, later RNZAF BF170s ( ?!) and even earlier, Catalinas were used.

Cheers Bazza