Ahhh... Silver City
 

I too remember Silver City and the Bristol 170. Drive down to Lydd, hop on the plane to Le Touquet, drive up the coast to Boulogne or Calais and hop on Motorail to either Lyon or, in later years, Avignon.

I mostly remember riding in the cockpit. You went from the passenger cabin at the back into the front section where the cars were and then climbed up a ladder into the cockpit which sat over the cars. Now, at this point my memory gets a bit hazy (I was only about 10) but I recall the aircraft were fitted with a paper moving map (Decca Navigator?) which slowly rolled its' way across the Channel. The map was fitted to rollers and a pointer. As the aircraft flew so the map rolled from one spool to the other with the pointer showing the current position.

Thanks much for the information about Silver City. As I was only 6 years old at the time, my memories are vague. I dig through my parents' photo albums and see if I can find a picture that confirms things.

Coventry(Baginton) airport was very busy in the 60's early 70's with Carvairs and Bristol freighters. Later used (if I remember correctly) for transporting flowers from Holland in the summer months.

How do you post images, i have a picture of a British United Carvair at Cov in the late 60's?

My third flight as a passenger {at the age of 20} was a day return from Lydd to Le Touquet in 1965. It was purchased as a "foot passenger special offer" from Silver City Airways for 5 guineas. The aircraft was a Bristol 170 and I'm almost sure the return leg was operated by an aircraft bearing the livery of Compagnie Air Transport.

EGMC
 

The Carvair was also fitted I believe with the tail unit from a DC-7 as the rudder needed enlarging, always interesting in a crosswind with the large hump!!

I lived a short distance from Southend airport as a youngster, in fact our neighbour was a Captain with BAF in the late 60's - early 70's ( Jack Chervall, wonder where he is now) and flew Carvairs, which he took me aboard once or twice, I remember too well the time an engineer carried out an engine run with me on board reducing me to tears with the emense noise of those huge avgas engines.
Many years later (Late 80's) i worked at the same airport, you could see the stains in some areas of the apron even then, where the oil used to seep out on stand, and the old oil bowser which they used to top them up with, was on the grass rotting away.
The delapedated former BAF building/offices i remember, were strewn with plans and diagrams of the Carvair some in very good condition, maybe i should have gathered them up, after all you can sell anything on ebay.

I flew a Chryser Crossfire when it was still a "concept car" from Willow Run (KYIP) to LAX in a DC-9 a few years back. Supposedly it crashed being driven back from there and a driver was killed