The passengers checking in for flight BE 329X2 at London's Northolt airport were in for a big surprise. It was Saturday 29 July 1950 and they were about to make civil aviation history. Rubbing shoulders with senior government officials and titans of the British aeronautical industry, they were to be the first fare-paying customers to fly in a new type of aircraft that would change air travel forever. Seventy years ago this summer, the state-owned British European Airways borrowed the prototype Vickers Viscount 630 for a four-week series of commercial flights with the world's first turbine-powered airliner. It was a gamble, but one that paid off handsomely. The aircraft performed well, passengers loved it and the flights paved the way for the start of regular Viscount services. But it might not have happened. As much as anything, it was the drive and determination of Vickers' chief designer George Edwards to persist with the Viscount despite problems with its Rolls-Royce Dart engines, and the vision and enthusiasm of BEA chief executive Peter Masefield, that made this historic day possible.
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