History of Cubana de Aviación of its fleet, opting to replace its long-range piston-prop Super Constellations with turboprop aircraft, and to expand its existing Vickers Viscount turboprop fleet in the immediate future. Cubana placed orders for four long-range Bristol Britannia (Model 318) and four Vickers Super Viscount (VV-818) aircraft, all turboprops, for its international services (which included Madrid, New York, Mexico City, Miami, Montego Bay, Nassau, Port-au-Prince), and for some of its domestic routes (Camagüey, Santiago de Cuba, Varadero). The first Bristol Britannia (CU-T668) was delivered in late 1958, and was placed in service in the airline's New York route. The new Britannias and Super
Vickers Valetta Vickers Valetta The Vickers Valetta is a British twin-engine military transport aircraft of the late 1940s. It was an all-metal mid-wing monoplane with a tailwheel undercarriage. The Valetta was a military transport development of the Viking civil airliner. The 58th Viking (c/n 158) became the prototype Valetta, which was first flown from Brooklands by test pilot Mutt Summers on 30 June 1947. The Valetta differed from the Viking fundamentally in being fitted with more powerful engines, a strengthened floor and large loading doors. Although named after the Maltese capital Valletta, the aircraft name is spelt with only one "l". The