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Old 27th Jul 2012, 17:25
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PAXboy
Paxing All Over The World
 
Join Date: May 2001
Location: Hertfordshire, UK.
Age: 67
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Slight thread drift...
My great aunt used to tell me about the Empire Flying Boats of the 1920s/30s from Southampton Water to Table Bay via (IIRC) the Italian lakes (not sure if that was in one hop) then to the Nile. Next was Lake Victoria and then somewhere for the Johannesburg/Pretoria area but I can't recall where. The Vaal Dam was not completed until 1938. Then down to Table Bay for Cape Town.

She spoke of the wonderful hotels and dining at the Captain's table. They must have been very noisy and bumpy journesy but I was only 12 and didn't know that I'd be interested in the subject all these years later! She marvelled at how fast the journey was - only 5 days from the UK to South Africa! It was then nearly three weeks by boat, which came down to 11.5 days by the time the Union-Castle Line closed.

back on thread and the Short Solent, this from WikiP:
On 4 May 1948 BOAC introduced Short Solent flying boats on the UK (Southampton) to South Africa (Vaaldam) service.[3] The small village of Deneysville was used as a stop-over point by the old BOAC flying boats.
To the OP: If you seach the net simply for 'G-AKNO', you will get several images (some marked with copyright) about tyour machine and the aircrfat type.

Last edited by PAXboy; 27th Jul 2012 at 17:28.
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