Air Freighters. Part-Two.

World War-II (1939-45).

From 1918 to 1939 aircraft got larger and larger in size and with this were enabled to fly further. It was British Imperial Airways, operating out of London-Croydon airport who took advantage of all of the latest British aircraft types. The Handley Page converted bombers were the height of luxury flying and they had the additional cargo space for mail.

HP 0/400 Twin-engined carried 12 passengers, The Vickers Vimy was similar and both were scrapped by 1924.

By 1928 the Shorts three-engined Calcutta flying boat was in service carrying 15 passengers and two pilots at 110mph. By 1930 the HP42 was capable of 38 passengers and just before 1939, shorts had in service the first 16 sleeper cross-Atlantic flying boat.

It was not until the second world war that there was a demand for mass production air transport and aircraft such as the Douglas DC-3/47 came to the fore. Other large aircraft in the war years were the Shorts Sunderland flying boats, which were a massive improvement on the Handley-Pages.

The Biz Jets. Part-One.

Business.

From almost day one in aviation the idea of the business plane was born, for the business man to get from A to B without the bother of being with other people. Early flight was initially either for the very rich or for military uses, it was not until the 1920's that new types of aircraft allowed for longer and longer distances to travel.

From cross Channel to Continental flight, some business people preferred travel with the post rather Handley-Page types than mixing and this continues today. Early aircraft were limited, but during World-War-II )1939-45) this type of travel came to the fore. British PM Mr. Winston Churchill prop-seated in a Douglas  DC-3/C-47 around the world negotiating an effective alliance against Adolf Hitler. The U.S and Soviet Russia followed.