Warmtoast - lovely evocative pictures of those great flying boats - thank you for reposting. When I first went to Australia (Jan. 1974) I arrived by B747, but was amazed to see that Sunderland/Sandringham flying boats bobbing about in Rose Bay Sydney still operated a scheduled service out to Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea.
Ian BB
PS After a little web research I now know how lucky I was to see this, as the service finished forever in September 1974 - presumably they had built a land runway on the island by then.
PPS QANTAS operated from Sydney to Norfolk Island using DC4 equipment until 1977 - quite amazing that WW2 airframes were still providing scheduled service in the age of wide bodied Jumbos and - at last - supersonic Concorde. There are DC4s still earning a living out in the world but no Concordes and no replacement for them - the first time in aviation history that speed took a backward step?
Last edited by Ian Burgess-Barber; 28th Oct 2017 at 21:03.
Reason: To add PS & PPS