Early Restoration Photos
VH-TVL Vickers Viscount 756C History
- Built at the Vickers-Armstrong Hurn factory
- First flown – February 22, 1957
- Entered onto the Australia Aircraft Register as VH-TVL, March 1, 1957
- Registered to Australian National Airlines Commission
- Arrives at Melbourne (Essendon) Airport at conclusion of delivery flight, March 1, 1957
- Known Crew: Captain R. Andrews; F/O McCallum; Navigator C.O White
- Aircraft was named ‘George Evans’
- Operated first revenue service – March 21, 1957
- Set a speed record between Adelaide – Perth of 4 hours 25 minutes (Captain L.W. Manning) – July 23, 1957
- Set a speed record between Longreach – Brisbane of 112 Minutes (Captain D. Lawrence) – September 1, 1957
- Withdrawn from T.A.A. service and placed in storage December 30, 1968
- Returned to service with T.A.A. – February 27, 1969
- Operated final revenue service – August 19, 1969
- Placed in storage in Brisbane (Eagle Farm) Airport
- Cancelled from the Australian Aircraft Register – May 24 1971
- Aircraft had flown 30,275 hours with 21,474 cycles
- Sold to Les Arthur of the Toowoomba Aviation Museum – November 1971
- Dismantled and trucked by low-loader to Toowoomba – November 13 1971
- Sold to Jensens Metals, Toowoomba 1978
- Sold to J. Aspromourgus and transported to Wildmans Timber Yard – April 1989
- Transported by low loader to Possum Park – 25 March, 2013
Present Day Photos 2023
The interior of the restored TAA Vickers Viscount Plane as it looks today, is far different from its arrival in 2013.
Setup for future accommodation it has been one of David’s pet projects for over 10 years. It’s fully decked out with a kitchen, lounge room, twin beds, toilet and shower. It even has a chandelier in the cockpit, thats more finesse than Qantas.
Restoration Works At Possum Park
- May 2013 – Fuselage noted positioned on a newly constructed concrete area.
- May 2014 – Fuselage noted with dummy wings and engine nacelles being constructed.
- October 2014 – Fuselage noted with dummy wings, engine nacelles and propellers now completed and painted.
- November 2015 – Construction of a circular steel framed ex WWII Lysaght hangar in progress which will eventually cover the aircraft except for a portion of the starboard outer wing section. There is no port outer wing section or No.1 engine nacelle. The frame of the hangar was in poor condition and needed a lot of restoring with a new cladding to finish it off.
- September 2016 – Construction of the ex WWII Lysaght hangar was finally completed, which allowed the Viscount to become eligible for insurance cover.
- April 2018 – Replica instrument panels installed by George Hatchman who had constructed them.
- 2022 – Cockpit windows tinted.
- 2022 – Bathroom installed
- April 2022 – Nose was repainted with 2x grey undercoats and 3x black top coats.
- June 2023 – Head protection added to door arches.