Front view of the Vickers Viscount.

Several of these flew out of Southend Airport up until the early 1990s, and this was the last one to be retired, in summer 1996. For its last flight, the airline decided to do a low altitude pleasure cruise from Southend, across Essex, over London, then back along the Thames all the way to the other side of Southend before orbiting back to the airport. Tickets were by and large snapped up instantly by aeroplane enthusiasts, but local radio station BBC Essex nabbed a pair to offer in a phone-in competition, which my father won. It was the first (and last, as of writing) time I went on an airborne plane.