A little Horse Trading with Drift.
Image Skeets Meadows. (Paulick Report).
The above is not the subject aircraft. Image dates from 1960. (Not Bovingdon).
Bradford Observer 6th November 1948.
Source 'Truth' (Brisbane Australia) 7th November 1948.
Later publications state that the dogs were U.S.Army Police Dogs.
Image from Drisa Archive.
The above illustrative of the use of a horsebox in a C54 Skymaster. In this case a photograph from January 1960 with 'Tiger Fish' aboard Skymaster ZS-AUA of South African Airways.
The first Transatlantic shipment of horses by air was made one day during November 1946 when six thoroughbreds were flown in an American Airlines C54 Skymaster from Shannon to Newark N.J. and then onwards to Burbank, California.
Manchester Evening News 22nd November 1951.
Manchester Evening News 27th November 1951.
'No British airline could handle the job....'
Well I don't know what Skyways would have said about that, albeit the image below is from 1952.....departure of Britain's Olympic Equestrian Team from Blackbushe.
Source: 'Foxhunter' Harry Llewellyn.
The Americans have laid claim to the first Racing Thoroughbred to be transported by air. A horse bearing the strange name 'Wirt G Burman' was transported between San Diego and San Bruno in October 1928.
However:
Britain's Instone Air Line lay claim to transporting the first Racehorse by Air in 1921 and continue in the same business today. Image Instone Air.
Another early claimant is 'Phantom' with Betty Rand - I'm not sure which is which.
January 30th 1928.
Image Michael Matson (Barn Mice website Canada) The aeroplane is reported as being French - can anyone identify it?
Indianapolis Star 29th February 1932.
Finally the header (C54 Skymaster N79000) had an interesting history: delivered to the USAAF in February 1943. At the time the above photograph was taken the Skymaster was owned by California Airmotive and was on lease to Global Airways for two months only in 1960. Images of the aircraft in Global colours are understandably quite scarce but you can find photographs of it at Prestwick and elsewhere if you search. It was subsequently sold to and operated by Continental Deutsche Luftreederie, Germany period 1961-62 as D-ADAM . They went bust. Aviation Traders purchased the aircraft in 1963 and converted it into a Carvair which then operated as G-ASKN with BUAF/BAF 1964-76.
(1968)
In June 1976 this Carvair was sold to Society Anonyme de Construction for the transportation of construction materials based in Libreville, Gabon as TR-LWP. It flew only for 5 months before being impounded at Brazzaville Airport( in what is today The Republic of Congo) for the non payment of servicing fees. There it remained, despite a change of ownership, robbed for spares and in turn being unable to obtain the same, finally scrapped in May 1986. Further reading: 'The ATL-98 Carvair' by William Dean.(McFarlane and Co Inc 1994).
KB29 4484005 of the 420th ARS based RAF Sculthorpe at Bovingdon's 'Open House' 17 May 1958. Photographs by John Young.
And finally a Mystery Solved ?
I've often wondered about this uncaptioned snap which you can find on the Bovingdon Airfield link. Page 1 this thread # 11.
A couple of weeks' ago I was reading a really super book called 'Catalina over Arctic Oceans' by John French. (Pen &Sword 2013) when I came across this.( The author was with the Air Ministry Accident Prevention Directorate at the time,
c1947).
' One day I was air testing the Mosquito 34 after an inspection and on the air test, the propeller which I had feathered, failed to unfeather. The resulting single-engined landing was successful, although with no overrun on that particular Bovingdon runway, I had to turn rather smartly to the left onto the grass, this slightly strained the undercarriage. My passenger had been a young electrician who had worked on the inspection and I jokingly said "That's what happens when there's an electrical fault!" The poor lad was out of the aircraft in no time at all and away.'
My thanks to Anthony Duir, John French's Grandson, and editor for permission to quote from their book.