Judging from the photo in post #61, it looks like the 2-abreast seating is staggered, with 6 on the left and 7 on the right.

It was seven seats on the port side and six on the starboard, due to the single door being on the starboard side.

Avro Lancastrian tales
 

This might be of interest. This is a picture taken of my old friend Reg Langtry at the controls of a Lancastrian of BSAA. His log book dates this as April 1947 and it would either be G-AGWK or G-AHCD. It shows he flew both of these aircraft on local training flights from London with Captain Griffin who you can just see in the shot on the right.

He flew as a First Officer on the routes to South America and then as a Captain of a Tudor flying on the Berlin Airlift. He completed 147 trips to Berlin during this time.

He then returned to flying the Lancastrian and York before joining BOAC in 1951 on the Comet fleet.

Attachment 1303

Attachment 1306

Hello tourman,
Thanks, that is interesting.
Was he an ex-Bomber Command pilot?
Ed

Yes he completed two tours.

The first as a WO/AG on Wellingtons, that would be in 1940/41. He completed his tour before the rest of his crew and sadly they were all killed three trips later.

His second tour was as captain on the Halifax from 1943. He joined BSAA in 1947.

His log book from the war years makes for very intersting reading.

Thank you tourman.
I bet that logbook is very interesting!
I understand the boss did his best to hire ex-bomber boys, but I had wondered if a few guys with a civilian background had made it through the recruitment process.
Ed

Lancastrian
 

As an A.T.C. Cadet in the early '50s I spent a lot of time at RAF Hendon. One of the Controllers described how he had closed the tower one evening and was on his bicycle when a Lancastrian landed apparently mistaking Hendon for Northolt. He described how the aircraft was stripped of seats etc. so that it could be ferried to Northolt. Anybody remember the incident?.

Lancastrian Milk Run - Autumn 1947

In the autumn of 1947 following a severe drought the milk ration for adults in the UK was cut to 1½ pints per week. The shortages were so severe that Lancastrians were pressed into service to do a "milk run" between Northern Island and the mainland. One coming to grief in the process.

More details in the press cuttings below.


http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...psyw21vyjp.jpg


http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r...pswzougqrn.jpg


WT

Briani

Not mistaking this for the B707 that mistakenly landed at Northolt instead of Heathrow? ISTR this 707 had to have some modifications to allow it to take-off safely from Northolt. More details here: http://www.pprune.org/aviation-histo...-airfield.html

Probably not:

Thanks warmtoast...does anyone know which airframe was involved in the milk run crash and who the crew were?
Ed

Accident at Nutts Corner on 03 Oct 1947 involved Skyways "Sky Path" G-AHBU (c/n 1289). The aircraft was written off. Have no information on the crew.

Thanks Planemike,
If I remember correctly, 'BU' was the aircraft that had taken the King of Greece back to his homeland after the end of WW2.

Planemike
'AirportsEd'
Photo of 'G-AHBU' sporting a Greek flag on pprune here (post #143): http://www.pprune.org/aviation-histo...ed-look-8.html

Warmtoast............. You beat me to it !!

Crashed carrying 1,000 gallons of milk.

I wonder how many gallons of fuel were used by the aircraft doing Belfast to Liverpool and back.

Yes, that's the one Warmtoast!
Many thanks,
Ed

350 mile round trip. 200 mph. 1h45.

75 gph x 4 x 1.75 = 525 gallons.

That's expensive milk!

Expensive

At 2s 0d (10p decimal) per gallon not too dear.

Two bob a gallon in 1947 is £3.78 now, but more importantly, milk was three bob a gallon, so that's a very expensive delivery fuel bill.

Obviously, using electric milk floats was an attempt to reduce the average delivery cost. ;)