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Aviation History
1946
1946 - 0523.PDF
MARCH 14TH, 1946 CIVIL AVIATION FLIGHT 267 A B.O.A.C. Boeing at Lagos. Native canoes were used for refuelling purposes in the early days of the route. Transatlantic Trio B«O»A»C/s Boeing Service to Bermuda Withdrawn : Regular Schedule Maintained Since 1941 with Three Flying Boats / | VHE recent decision of B.O.A.C. to withdraw from I trans-Atlantic service the three Boeing 314 flying-*- boats closes an interesting phase of the Corporation' s wartime effort. The three boats, Bristol, Berwick andBangOr, as they were named, flew well over one million miles each before being finally taken off the route. Whenthey w,ere withdrawn, Bristol had completed 203 trans- Atlantic crossings, Berwick, 201, and Bangor 192. Thefact that such a regular service was maintained, and that 596 ocean crossings were made with only three boats, is agreat tribute to B.O.A.C.'s operational organization. The history of these flying boats dates back to the darkerdays of the war. After the fall of France, when things were going badly in the Mediterranean area, the countrywas faced with the unpleasant chance that the Mediter- ranean route might at any moment be closed entirely.Further, there was the additional risk that Lisbon might fall into enemy hands. In such an event the only com-munication with Egypt, India and the Far East would have been by way of a roundabout route non-stop to WestAfrica and across that continent to Khartoum; there was, consequently, an urgent need for aircraft capable of flyingdirect from the U.K. to Takoradi. It was this crisis which led to the purchase, in 1941, ofthe three Boeings and they were intended to undertake, if , necessary, non-stop flights to Takoradi from Poole. Theywere not, however, the subject of an arrangement under Lend-lease. On the contrary, they were purchased, new,from Pan-American Airways, at a cost of ^259,250 each. The boats were delivered, one at a time, in May, June andJuly, 1941, and were put into service forthwith, making, as a beginning, a few odd trips to such places as Lagos andFreetown on the West African coast. To ensure that they were able to fulfil the purpose foiwhich they were bought, they were fitted before they left the U.S. with enlarged fuel tanks which provided a maxi-mum cruising range of 4,500 miles. In addition, a special galley and pantry was installed in each aircraft to giveadditional accommodation for the crew. In August, 1941, the regular trans-Atlantic service began, and this has been maintained with complete regularityfrom that time, until the last Boeing left Poole for America on March 7th of this year. The need for the Boeings tobe used for non-stop flights to West Africa, happily, never materialised, and with the continued availability to Britainof Lisbon as a stopping place, B.O.A.C. was able to in- augurate a service to Africa with its other aircraft. The trans-Atlantic Boeing service has operated to twodifferent frequencies and routes for summer and winter periods. During the winter months the frequency was oneservice per week each way, the outward journey being from Poole, via Lisbon, Bathurst, Belem (Brazil), Trinidad, andBermuda to Baltimore, taking an overall time of some 73J hours. The return route was via Bermuda, and Foynes(Eire) to Poole, which took 28 hours, but at times the returning aircraft had to be diverted through Lisbon onaccount of bad weather. The summer schedule was four services per week each way. but a shorter route was usedvia Foynes and Botwood (Newfoundland), giving an overall time of 47 hours and a flying time of 28 hours. Unescorted Flights This was no mean schedule to maintain with the frugalresources of only three boats, but British crews flying these aircraft conveyed Government-sponsored passengers to andfrom America throughout most of the war, flying without escort, and relying simply on the protection afforded bynormal Coastal and Fighter Command routine patrols. The time of take-off from U.K. during those dangerous yearswas always in the early hours of darkness, so as to allow the aircraft to fly through the night to Lisbon. Manyfamous people were carried. For example, the Berwick. in January, 1942, brought back Mr. Churchill, Lord Portal,who was then Chief of Air Staff, Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, the First Sea Lord, and Lord Beaverbrook fromtheir visit to Washington Servicing was, at first, a major problem, for the routedown to Lagos was virtually unsurveyed, and in the early days handling facilities along the West African coast wereof the most primitive kind, the aircraft having to be re-
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