MAN to Ronaldsway late 40's early 50's

[seac]

Does anyone know who, if anybody flew this route in the late 40's early 50's , and if they did what a/c they used ?

TIA

[Shaggy Sheep Driver]

RAS, BEA, Rapides?

[renfrew]

It appears Isle of Man Air Services flew Manchester/Blackpool/Isle of Man in Winter 1946.The service was then taken over by BEA but then suspended later in 1947 until 1951.
The September 1951 timetable has upto 17 Dakota flights a week Manchester/Isle of Man.

[JB007]

I heard a quote recently that during the 50's (I think!) that air traffic to the IOM counted for approx 50% of all UK movements...

[seac]

Guys , many thanks for the info , anybody else who has further it would be greatly appreciated. Trying to help a relative , who has distant memories of a childhood flight on this route , but checks with immediate family are not coming up with anything.

[jabberwok]

Indeed I have seen the ATC logs for that period (they still exist) and any outfit with a DC3, Rapide or Avro 19 seem to have flogged the route silly. The division between scheduled and charter is a bit woolly back then but the latter far outnumbered the former.

I heard a quote recently that during the 50's (I think!) that air traffic to the IOM counted for approx 50% of all UK movements...

From a look at the logs I would not doubt that statement. Absolutely fascinating documents of the period.

[WHBM]

Isle of Man Air Services, a Rapide operator, was nationalised in February 1947 and rolled into BEA.

BEA maintained an extensive operation from Liverpool to IOM with DC3s, but gave up Manchester to the independents. In the summer 1949 timetable North-West Air Lines and Sivewright Airways both operated daily, building up to 5 North-West and three Sivewright on August Saturdays.

North-West, based in the IOM, started in 1949 with Rapides but moved on for the summer peak to a couple of DC3s, the Rapides still occasionally standing in. Things built up so well for them that BEA took the route back in March 1951 with their own DC3s, which led ultimately to the failure of North-West who were left with less worthwhile IOM routes and suffered from the perennial problem of low winter demand.

Sivewright was a prominent Manchester-based charter operator of the period who started flights to the IOM with Avro 19s in 1946, and used a medley of these and Ansons, Rapides, DC3s and an Aerovan over the next few years as they progressed to formal scheduled services. Like North-West they were hit by BEA taking back their plum routes from Manchester to IOM and Jersey, and folded in 1951.

By 1952 BEA had built up to 9 DC3s on August Saturdays, in addition to even more service from Liverpool. BEA didn't have enough aircraft to cater for this peak surge, and so at summer weekends would charter in from the many charter operators around at the time.

[WHBM]

I've had a spare few minutes to cut/paste the Saturday (busiest day) August 1952 departures from Isle of Man.

0800 BEA DC3 Liverpool
0800 Manx Air Rapide Carlisle
0815 Manx Air Rapide Liverpool
0830 Lancashire Rapide Blackpool
0840 BEA DC3 Manchester
0905 BEA DC3 Belfast
0925 Aer Lingus DC3 Dublin
0930 Starways Anson Glasgow
1000 Manx Air Rapide Carlisle
1020 Manx Air Rapide Liverpool
1030 BEA DC3 Manchester
1045 Lancashire Rapide Leeds
1105 BEA DC3 Liverpool
1105 Lancashire Rapide Blackpool
1135 BEA DC3 Manchester
1210 Scottish Rapide Prestwick
1215 BEA DC3 Manchester
1230 Starways Anson Liverpool
1310 Manx Air Rapide Liverpool
1320 BEA DC3 Belfast
1320 Lancashire Rapide Blackpool
1400 BEA DC3 Manchester
1415 Lancashire Rapide Leeds
1430 Lancashire Rapide Birmingham
1430 Manx Air Rapide Carlisle
1500 BEA DC3 Liverpool
1510 BEA DC3 Manchester
1510 Manx Air Rapide Liverpool
1525 BEA DC3 Liverpool
1525 Scottish Rapide Prestwick
1540 BEA DC3 Northolt
1540 Starways Anson Glasgow
1600 Lancashire Rapide Blackpool
1645 Manx Air Rapide Carlisle
1655 BEA DC3 Northolt
1735 Lancashire Rapide Leeds
1745 Manx Air Rapide Liverpool
1800 BEA DC3 Manchester
1805 Aer Lingus DC3 Dublin
1810 BEA DC3 Manchester
1810 Scottish Rapide Prestwick
1840 Starways Anson Glasgow
1900 Lancashire Rapide Blackpool
1915 Manx Air Rapide Carlisle
2000 Manx Air Rapide Liverpool
2125 BEA DC3 Belfast
2125 BEA DC3 Liverpool
2130 Starways Anson Liverpool
2359 BEA DC3 Manchester

49 flights. Not a huge number, but more than today. Some points such as Newcastle and Hartlepool were only served on other days.

[seac]

Many thanks