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Aviation History
1950
1950 - 0055.PDF
FLIGHT, 12 January 1950 35 CALEDONIA" NAMED Flagship of B.OA.Cs • 1- Stratocruiser Fleet in. Prestwick Ceremony The scene on the tarmac at Prestwick during the cere- mony. Pipers and drummers played Scottish airs. FLAGSHIP of B.O.A.C.'s new fleet of Stratocruisers,Caledonia was officially named by the Minister ofCivil Aviation, Lord Pakenham, at Prestwick last Saturday. This particular aircraft was the subject of three articles in December issues of Flight, describing the pre- paration and the delivery from Seattle. A large party accompanied the Minister on the trip from London Airport, including Sir Miles and Lady Thomas, the Hon. Thomas Pakenham (the Minister's son), Mr. G. S. Lindgren, Rear-Admiral Sir Arthur Bromley, Sir Frank Whittle, Sir William Murphy, Mr. J. Maxwell, Mr. Whitney Straight, Mr. J. Booth, Mr. K. Granville, Mr. E. Nelson, Mr. C. Abell and representatives of B.O.A.C. and associated airlines With Capt. John Woodman in command and Donald Hill as first officer, Caledonia took off just a-fter 10 a.m., climbed through the overcast and in five minutes emerged into bright sunshine with blue sky overhead. A billowy layer of white cloud below provided panoramas that, to many of the passengers, were a most welcome sight after weeks of cloudy weather on the ground. General opinion of the experienced air transport people aboard was that thj new Boeing double-decker is a magnificent aircraft, most comfortable and smooth in flight. The only point of vibration seemed to be in the forward cabin just ahead of the airscrews. Behind the wings the standard of comfort is most marked, and the lounge is a great asset. In 1 hr 32 min the aircraft touched down at Prestwick, where the party was welcomed by a crowd of Scottish guests " Flight " photograph including the Lord Provost of Edinburgh (Sir Andrew^ Murray) and Mr. William Ross, M.P. T3I JfililimitucTT Lord Pakenham, invited by Sir Miles Thomas to perform the naming ceremony, poured wine over the nose of the aircraft from a quaich, an ancient drinking cup from the City of Edinburgh plate. He praised Caledonia, spoke highly of B.O.A.C. and, though he said he welcomed criticism, affirmed that it was the finest airline in the world, and kideed a British asset. Sir Miles Ttwiiu- icctiled the part played by B.O.A.C. After the ceremony Lord Pakenham and Sir Miles Thomas addressed the guests in the airport building. Left to right are Sir Patrick Dollan, Sir Miles Thomas, Lord Pakenham, Sir Thomas Moore, M.P., and Mr. Lindgren, M.P. " Flight " photograph On the way to Prestwick : Sir Miles aniLJ-ady Thomas chat- ting with Sir Frank Whittle in the Stratc crews on the Atlantic ferry service during the war, and said that many of the same men, turning high adventure into a routine precision job, would be flying Caledonia and her sister aircraft to and from the ^ew WorM as they had for more than three years- been flying *the*Constellations. He went on to speak of travel between Scotland aud Southern England. Even in the. middle of the 18th cen- tury, he said, overland traffic was so slight that one coach a month each way between London and Edinburgh sufficed to carry it. A service was advertised " performing the whole journey in 13 days without any stoppages (if God permits) having 80 able horses to perform the whole journey." "Now," continued Sir Miles, "we can offer you the 14,000 able horses of the four-engined 60-seater Strato- cruiser, flying you from Prestwick to London, or vice versa, in one-and-three-quarter hours. Thence, by chang- ing aircraft you can be in Australia or the Far East in four-and-a-half days. That these facilities are valued in Scotland is clear from the volume of traffic we are handling. Apart from the passengers and freight we carry, since last August there has been a saving of 24 hours in the delivery of air mail posted in Scotland for the U.S.A. and Canada—a facility of which the Scottish business com- munity has not been slow to take advantage."
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