British United Air Ferries Officer Lesley Hardy became Britain's first airliner flown by an all-female crew. On 1 January 1979, BAF transferred its entire scheduled operation including associated aircraft and staff to British Island Airways (BIA). Following British Airways's decision to withdraw from its loss-making regional routes and to retire its Vickers Viscount turboprop fleet, BAF acquired the entire 18-strong fleet along with the spares inventory during the early 1980s. This acquisition made it the world's largest Viscount operator at the time. As a result of the changes the airline underwent in the late 1970s and early 1980s, BAF mainly concentrated on leasing, charter
Vickers-Armstrongs part of BAC) the VC10 jet airliner, which was used in RAF service as an aerial refuelling tanker until 2013. Vickers-Armstrongs was one of the few British manufacturers of marine diesel engines, notably for Royal Navy S, T-class and Estonian Kalev class submarines during World War II. In "The Adventures of Tintin" comic "The Broken Ear", the role of Vickers-Armstrongs in the Chaco War is parodied as "Viking Arms Co. Limited". A handgun described in a trial of Walter Mitty's alter ego is a 50 caliber Webley-Vickers revolver. Vickers-Armstrongs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger