TV Airline comes to life - REDAIR

[Ops Bangle]

I noticed in Flight this week an article about RedAir - a new carrier operating a DC10 from Gambia to the UK.

The name made me think and a quick rummage through some old photo's came up with the picture of a Britannia fuselage on the back of a low-loader at Luton with Redair on the side.

Further musing's brought up the name of a TV series 'Bucannear (?)' from the early eighties concerning the torrid going-on's on a freight airline called REDAIR. (I think they used Cranfield with a few palm tree's or something to represent a tropical destination). It stuck in my mind because Hannah Gordon was in it (Sorry must lie down for a few moments.......)

A quick search on the net produced a potted history of Redcoat Air Cargo (the real company) and the name Lynn Wilson who is both associated with the new Redair and was with Redcoat from the begining.

It can't think of any other examples of an airline appearing first on TV then in real life (and with the same people involved).

Good Luck to all involved.

[Nopax,thanx]

Let's hope they don't go out the way that Redcoat did.............:(

[scroggs]

It was at Church Fenton - or at least some of it!

[major1]

Didn't they lose a Britannia coming out of Boston?
I seem to recall the FE was the only one who survived.

[EGGW]

Hey, they could reclaim the fuselage of the Britannia at LTN, the Redair titles have faded back through :) I believe all were killed in that crash out of Boston that Redcoat had.

[EXCIN]

A few years ago, around 1993, there was also a Redair (=Regional Economic Devellopment by Air) in Belgium based at Charleroi if I remember....
They used a Boeing 737-400 (OO-VDO) but closed after a short period of time.

[Dr Jekyll]

The TV series was Buccaneer, and Redair's pilot was called Tony Blair!

[JetMender]

Redair was based on and used Redcoat Cargo Airlines Britannia freighters for filming. One "exotic" destination was filmed @ Cranfield (complete with pyrotechnics going off around the airport "under attack"). Impressive low passes were filmed there. External & ramp shots were filmed outside Redcoat's hangar at LTN. The Britannia fuselage (G-AOVS now on LTN's fire dump) was used for much of the static filming.
The majority of Redcoat's flying was between LTN & West Africa (although the commercial office was near LGW). They lost a Britannia which crashed due icing after take off from Boston (returning from the weekly MOD Belize flight). Only the Flight Engineer survived (with extensive injuries) after being thrown clear on impact.
After the airline's demise, I beleive a company of similar name was set up as a freight forwarder, using other Cargo airlines.

[Alberts Growbag]

Sod the aeroplanes.............Hannah Gordon!..........Oh, what she did (and still does) to us men of a certain vintage!!

;)