Boac 1945-48 Routes Gb-australia
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Boac 1945-48 Routes Gb-australia
I HAVE SEEN A TIMETABLE FOR "BOAC LANCASTRIAN" -1947/8...FROM LONDON-TRIPOLI-LYDDA-KARACHI-CALCUTTA-SINGAPORE-DARWIN-SYDNEY-DURATION 4 DAYS..AT THE SAME TIME THERE WAS THE "HYTHE" -FLYING BOAT SERVICE TAKING 8 DAYS.
.THE FULL SINGLE FARE WAS £300!!
ITS LONG AGO-ANYBODY OUT THERE REMEMBERS THIS ROUTE, AIRPORTS,MEMORIES, PERSONALITIES,ETC.?
regards
Plumkin, Sunbury,UK
.THE FULL SINGLE FARE WAS £300!!ITS LONG AGO-ANYBODY OUT THERE REMEMBERS THIS ROUTE, AIRPORTS,MEMORIES, PERSONALITIES,ETC.?
regards
Plumkin, Sunbury,UK
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If I recall, "Beyond the Blue Horizon" by Frater [?] should do the trick.
Folks who flew those services are still around but usually not on the internet. A friend is one of the original QF girls whose exposure flight to line ops was to be a Connie trip SYD-SIN. Couldn't make it. so she had to go by "boat". What an experience!!
G'day
Folks who flew those services are still around but usually not on the internet. A friend is one of the original QF girls whose exposure flight to line ops was to be a Connie trip SYD-SIN. Couldn't make it. so she had to go by "boat". What an experience!!
G'day
Here is the weekly BOAC Lancastrian timetable via Tripoli in March 1949 (table 30), which was cargo only, and the Constellation passenger service (table 26), twice weekly.
http://www.timetableimages.com/ttima...49/ba49-09.jpg
Notably both took 6 days to get there. For the Lancastrian to keep up with the Constellation must have been some going. Note how even a cargo flight did nightstops, the crew stayed with the aircraft for extended periods. Likewise surprising that such an aircraft, which as a matter of course returned from each wartime operation with multiple technical snags, was even used on round trips to Austalia. I wonder how many actually returned to London on time. Never mind, KLM used to do Amsterdam to Sydney with DC-3s !
If you want to see that complete BOAC timetable for March 1949, all the pages are here. Table 23 has the flying boats still operating from Southampton to Shanghai and Tokyo.
Index of /ttimages/complete/ba49
http://www.timetableimages.com/ttima...49/ba49-09.jpg
Notably both took 6 days to get there. For the Lancastrian to keep up with the Constellation must have been some going. Note how even a cargo flight did nightstops, the crew stayed with the aircraft for extended periods. Likewise surprising that such an aircraft, which as a matter of course returned from each wartime operation with multiple technical snags, was even used on round trips to Austalia. I wonder how many actually returned to London on time. Never mind, KLM used to do Amsterdam to Sydney with DC-3s !
If you want to see that complete BOAC timetable for March 1949, all the pages are here. Table 23 has the flying boats still operating from Southampton to Shanghai and Tokyo.
Index of /ttimages/complete/ba49
Last edited by WHBM; 24th Apr 2009 at 12:55.
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A former BOAC Captain (Ex Connies) used to tell a story about himself and his future wife (a BOAC Stewardess). They flew the UK - Austraila route regularly. On one particular flight, the aircraft arrived at Darwin with a major fault that required a couple of days stop-over.
Darwin airport, in 1949, was pretty basic. No baggage handlers etc, so the stewardess had to unload various pieces of the pax baggage to accomodate the unexpected stop-over. The Captain, in the meantime, was trying to arrange hotac for the pax.
Eventually, pax to hotac, baggage piled into truck, stewardess 'tuckered' out.
Once they got to the hotel, the Captain spied a 'native' of Darwin sitting on the verandah, complete with pants, vest, Aussie hat with corks and a cold bottle of beer.
He enquired, with his very plummy English accent, of the 'native Aussie', if he would assist the stewardess with the unloading of the baggage from the truck.
"Whats wrong with the sheila?" was the reply "Is she crook?"
Captain Jeff and Sally 'Sheila' Rees (RIP)
Darwin airport, in 1949, was pretty basic. No baggage handlers etc, so the stewardess had to unload various pieces of the pax baggage to accomodate the unexpected stop-over. The Captain, in the meantime, was trying to arrange hotac for the pax.
Eventually, pax to hotac, baggage piled into truck, stewardess 'tuckered' out.
Once they got to the hotel, the Captain spied a 'native' of Darwin sitting on the verandah, complete with pants, vest, Aussie hat with corks and a cold bottle of beer.
He enquired, with his very plummy English accent, of the 'native Aussie', if he would assist the stewardess with the unloading of the baggage from the truck.
"Whats wrong with the sheila?" was the reply "Is she crook?"
Captain Jeff and Sally 'Sheila' Rees (RIP)
Last edited by taxydual; 24th Apr 2009 at 17:57. Reason: Added names and respects
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You are right -'Beyond the Blue Horizon' by Alexander Frater first published 1986. I have a much thumbed and well loved copy in front of me as I write. Frater was however writing more about Imperial Airways and it was their routes and staging posts which he set out to trace half a century later. A fascinating story. As for the Connies and Lancastrians a decade or so later, equally gripping, and especially interesting to read the BOAC timetables posted above. GBP600 return (there appears to be no pound sign on this keyboard)? That would have been about the price of a small car or a semi-detached house in 1948. Today, one might pay GBP1500 (economy), a tenth of the price of a car or a hundreth the price of a house, and get there in a day or so, not a week of droning pistons and hot sweaty night stops. But, given the opportunity and a serviceable Connie, who wouldn't want to do it all again?
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Hi folks,
thanks for these 4 replies-i have only just joined this site-getting used to how it works. I need to have a detailed look at the old timetables....
I see the old route was via Tripoli[Libya?) and also Lydda[Palestine up to 1948 under the Mandate]. In later years the uk-oz route was always via Rome and Beirut?
I grew up in the Croydon area-1970s well after the great airport closed-although the grass and some old buildings remain!I have read the airport officially closed end September 1959....almost 50 years exactly.........warrants a celebration, press, flypast etc.
nice weather here-west London-marathon on at the moment!
thanks for these 4 replies-i have only just joined this site-getting used to how it works. I need to have a detailed look at the old timetables....
I see the old route was via Tripoli[Libya?) and also Lydda[Palestine up to 1948 under the Mandate]. In later years the uk-oz route was always via Rome and Beirut?
I grew up in the Croydon area-1970s well after the great airport closed-although the grass and some old buildings remain!I have read the airport officially closed end September 1959....almost 50 years exactly.........warrants a celebration, press, flypast etc.
nice weather here-west London-marathon on at the moment!
I just have some detail for the BOAC Australia route in summer 1946 as well. Not on web pages I'm afraid so details here :
A notably rapid and long-ranged Lancastrian operated 3 times a week. Just 6 sleeping passengers in lower and upper berths. No galley, refreshments in Thermoses.
Heathrow 1145 Thu
Lydda (Tel Aviv) 0200/0400 Fri
Karachi 1530/1730
Singapore 0930/1130 Sat
Darwin 2300/0130 Sun
Sydney 1030 Sun
More capacity was in the flying boats. These were Shorts Hythes, converted Sunderlands. 6 times a week as far as Singapore, two per week continuing to Australia.
Poole 0600 Thu
Marseilles 1000/1100
Augusta (Sicily) 1640/1740
Cairo 2359/0230 Fri
Basra 0930/1030
Bahrain 1340/1440
Karachi 2240/0200 Sat
Calcutta 1140/1240
Rangoon 1710
(Nightstop)
Rangoon 0545 Sun
Penang 1205/1305
Singapore 1555
(Nightstop)
Singapore 0600 Mon
Surabaya 1145/1245
Darwin 2330/0130 Tue
Bowen (N Queensland) 1000/1100
Sydney 1700 Tue
A couple of things. Firstly those legs done by the Lancastrian are notably long. My father (WW2 bomber crew) said their Halifaxes were pushed for range on Yorkshire to Munich and (hopefully) return, this is much longer. Must have had very little payload.
Secondly, the grand old days of elegant travel and nightstops in hotels every night are obviously long gone. That initial leg in the flying boat, Britain to Rangoon with nearly 60 hours without a rest must have absolutely knocked the passengers for six. Presumably the crews slipped every 12 hours or so. But it was spartan flying, which the war had doubtless prepared everyone for. Also a lot of night-time water takeoffs and landing, which must have been challenging in poor weather.
The BOAC operations to the Middle East and beyond were in a state of flux in 1946. The Sydney route had previously been Yorks, but changed to Lancastrians, which sounds retrograde for accommodation. There were still other Yorks heading for intermediate points along the way, as well as Dakotas and a few Lockheed Lodestars, while the Hythe flying boats were still being supplemented on shorter runs by the last of the pre-war Empires (it was their last year of service).
A notably rapid and long-ranged Lancastrian operated 3 times a week. Just 6 sleeping passengers in lower and upper berths. No galley, refreshments in Thermoses.
Heathrow 1145 Thu
Lydda (Tel Aviv) 0200/0400 Fri
Karachi 1530/1730
Singapore 0930/1130 Sat
Darwin 2300/0130 Sun
Sydney 1030 Sun
More capacity was in the flying boats. These were Shorts Hythes, converted Sunderlands. 6 times a week as far as Singapore, two per week continuing to Australia.
Poole 0600 Thu
Marseilles 1000/1100
Augusta (Sicily) 1640/1740
Cairo 2359/0230 Fri
Basra 0930/1030
Bahrain 1340/1440
Karachi 2240/0200 Sat
Calcutta 1140/1240
Rangoon 1710
(Nightstop)
Rangoon 0545 Sun
Penang 1205/1305
Singapore 1555
(Nightstop)
Singapore 0600 Mon
Surabaya 1145/1245
Darwin 2330/0130 Tue
Bowen (N Queensland) 1000/1100
Sydney 1700 Tue
A couple of things. Firstly those legs done by the Lancastrian are notably long. My father (WW2 bomber crew) said their Halifaxes were pushed for range on Yorkshire to Munich and (hopefully) return, this is much longer. Must have had very little payload.
Secondly, the grand old days of elegant travel and nightstops in hotels every night are obviously long gone. That initial leg in the flying boat, Britain to Rangoon with nearly 60 hours without a rest must have absolutely knocked the passengers for six. Presumably the crews slipped every 12 hours or so. But it was spartan flying, which the war had doubtless prepared everyone for. Also a lot of night-time water takeoffs and landing, which must have been challenging in poor weather.
The BOAC operations to the Middle East and beyond were in a state of flux in 1946. The Sydney route had previously been Yorks, but changed to Lancastrians, which sounds retrograde for accommodation. There were still other Yorks heading for intermediate points along the way, as well as Dakotas and a few Lockheed Lodestars, while the Hythe flying boats were still being supplemented on shorter runs by the last of the pre-war Empires (it was their last year of service).
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Hi,
Many thanks for your replies-great detail-is this period your "specialised subject"?
Getting hold of this old BOAC timetable, dated 2/11/47 has prompted me to do some digging.
This title came up on a search-are you aware of it?
Climb to and Maintain
£9.95 +Shipping charges
ISBN 1-84683-024-9
!
aviation memoir
Clear plastic book protector (+£0.60)
by Eric Woods Memoirs of a former BOAC navigator in the postwar years
In this entertaining memoir, former air navigator Eric ‘Timber’ Woods looks back on the postwar years, during which he flew with B.O.A.C. on its expanding overseas routes.
His memories of planes such as the York, Argonaut, Constellation and Boeing 707 will be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in the history of aviation and his entertaining stories of the antics of his colleagues in far-flung places in those now far-off days will bring back many happy memories for those who were also fortunate enough to fly with BOAC during those exciting, pioneering years.
More details...
regards, Plumkin, Sunbury
Many thanks for your replies-great detail-is this period your "specialised subject"?
Getting hold of this old BOAC timetable, dated 2/11/47 has prompted me to do some digging.
This title came up on a search-are you aware of it?
Climb to and Maintain
£9.95 +Shipping charges
ISBN 1-84683-024-9
!
aviation memoir
Clear plastic book protector (+£0.60)
by Eric Woods Memoirs of a former BOAC navigator in the postwar years
In this entertaining memoir, former air navigator Eric ‘Timber’ Woods looks back on the postwar years, during which he flew with B.O.A.C. on its expanding overseas routes.
His memories of planes such as the York, Argonaut, Constellation and Boeing 707 will be enjoyed by anyone with an interest in the history of aviation and his entertaining stories of the antics of his colleagues in far-flung places in those now far-off days will bring back many happy memories for those who were also fortunate enough to fly with BOAC during those exciting, pioneering years.
More details...
regards, Plumkin, Sunbury
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Following on the Lancastrian them-is there anybody out there who ACTUALLY FLEW in this civil aircraft, say from 1945-50.The routes would be BOAC or BSAA, possibly also smaller airlines, troop movements,etc.
Thanks
Thanks
There's a fascinating and very readable thread here on PPrune of an account of a flight from Poole to Rangoon by Caladonia flyingboat in the early 1940's. Similar BOAC flyngboat routes were resumed at the cessation of hostilities to the middle/far-east and beyond.
http://www.pprune.org/aviation-histo...caledonia.html
http://www.pprune.org/aviation-histo...caledonia.html
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Thanks Warmtoast for this interesting link [Flatus Veteranus]to the old flying boat era.
I have a copy of "Corsairville" by Graham Coster-although not yet had a proper read of it...
I understand the early Lancastrian flights were from Hurn [1945-6?] before LHR became fully operational.What with the flying boat services from Poole, this part of the south coast must have been a spotters paradise, although these long haul flights must have all but ceased by say 1950?
I have a copy of "Corsairville" by Graham Coster-although not yet had a proper read of it...
I understand the early Lancastrian flights were from Hurn [1945-6?] before LHR became fully operational.What with the flying boat services from Poole, this part of the south coast must have been a spotters paradise, although these long haul flights must have all but ceased by say 1950?
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If you are still interested in this thread my father was an apprentice steward on the Lacastrians flying from Hurn to the Middle East circa 1946/47. He later moved onto the Flying Boats operating from Poole Harbour.
He still lives in Poole and has fond memories of his time with BOAC.
He still lives in Poole and has fond memories of his time with BOAC.
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BOAC Hurn 1945
Hi, Interested to read your post re your father being a steward on the 'Eastern' flights out of Hurn. According to my mother my Dad flew from there on the first flight[s] to Aus after the war, later flying to India,Rhodesia and Egypt etc. He did talk to me also about flyingboats to S Africa but whether he was passenger or crew I cannot be certain. He was Radio Officer. During the war he was seconded with BOAC to Leuchars to do night flights to Sweden. Alas he died back in 1969 but it would be great to pick up a thread somewhere. Sorry I didnt see your post before.
Pete SMART
Pete SMART
