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John Rodger sends us this photo of Viscount fin #607 -
John. |
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History of this aircraft -
It was flown to Canada by Gabe Robb 'Jock' Bryce accompanied by his wife Nancy. She was born at Ocean Falls, British Columbia, Canada and became the first female to fly across the North Atlantic in a turboprop aircraft. November 1, 1955 - First Viscount on the Dorval (YUL) to Vancouver (YVR) route (with several stops). It was withdrawn from service on January 6, 1963 total time 17,994 hours, 14,743 landings and was sold to William C. Wold and Associates, New York on March 2, 1964, who sold it to Air Inter, France on April 2, 1964, who sold it on to Alidair October 24, 1975 and registered G-BDRC. Alidair leased the aircraft to various airlines until January 4, 1984 when it was sold to Hards Travel for operation by Janus Airways and named "Sarnia II", but never entered service due to severe corrosion. Withdrawn from service and donated by Hards Travel to the Central Training Fire Service Establishment of the Royal Air Force at Manston Airport, Kent, England in November 1984. Fuselage noted minus its wings and in poor condition in March 1991. Emergency access training use had hacked out a large section on the port side of the fuselage. Remains sold to Hanningfield Metals for metal salvage in August 1993 and broken up into sections and taken away to their yard at Templewood Industrial Estate, Stock Road, West Hanningfield, Essex for final processing. (Source: vickersviscount.net) |
In NetLetter #1423, Stephen Helms made a request to contact Max Stollar who, in NetLetter #1422 advised that he had a number of photos, pins and aircraft models for donation to some organization.
We passed the contact information on to Stephen Helms, and this was the response we received.
I started collecting models, during my training days. Mine are generally metallic, resin, or plastic snap fits. Although, I do have one made from mahogany (the only way, short of scratch built, to acquire the "North Star"). Some were custom built ( i.e. the Bristol Freighter & Beech 1900 ).
I tried to collect either what I had worked or flown on, at first. But it spread out, over time. It's always amazing to me where models pop up. For example, behind the bar, at the Crows Nest Club in YYT, there is a beautiful metal (very rare) model of a North Star, among others. If it could only talk! There were 2 DC-8 (short series) models that used to grace the ticket office floor in Scotia Square - YHZ (back in the day - 70's ?).
When everything moved to the airport, they were packed up and put into storage (sans wings)! How does one misplace those? Damn shame, that! They were built in England and probably very expensive to purchase.
Anyway, always on the lookout for new acquisitions. My collection ranges from 1/52 to 1/200 scale (dependent upon the size the model was produced in). But I would not rule out something a bit larger, provided I don't have to plead with my wife to add an addition to the house!
Best, Stephen
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She was the first person to fly solo, non-stop across the Atlantic from east to west. She wrote about her adventures in her memoir, "West with the Night", now out of print. |
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When Markham decided to take on the Atlantic crossing, no female pilot had yet flown non-stop from Europe to New York, and no woman had made the westward flight solo, though several had died trying. Markham hoped to claim both records. She became the first person to make it from England to North America non-stop from east to west and was celebrated as an aviation pioneer. (percival-vega-gull.jpg) (Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beryl_Markham) |
