Originally Posted by
compton3bravo
If you read the whole Daily Mail article it says Southend was apparently the initial base for Freddie Laker's Skytrain service to New York! Wonderful, where do they get these reporters from - obviously absolutely no knowlege of aviation whatsoever.
Actually not as far away as it may seem. Laker certainly started off at Southend after WW2 with a whole range of companies - Aviation Traders, Air Charter, Channel Air Bridge, before heading off to larger companies at Gatwick, and it was where he developed his ability to have cheap air travel to challenge the majors. He was one of the key pioneers who built up operations at the airport at the time; would it, even now, be the centre for airliner engineering it now is, if he had not started it all off ?
I agree that the prospect of Skytrain DC-10s getting off the runway would be interesting !