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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 1072.PDF
FLIGHT, 21 August 1953 226 EVERYDAY AIR ILVER •- The Superfreighter can carry two of the largest cars- this 19ft Cadillac—or three smaller vehicles. A busy tarmac scene of this kind usually greets the driver as he turns into Lympne Airport. • -. • Company drivers load an aircraft in S min, and within another 4 min cars and passengers are airborne. A Mk 32 Superfreighter takes aboard its payload while, in the background, an earlier Mk 21 is unloaded. MORE than a quarter of the total vehicle traffic ferried between England and France is now carried on the routes operated by Silver City Airways. The air ferry, which recently celebrated its fifth anniversary, has entered its busiest season. Bookings for this year are expected to total 45,000— compared with 10,900 vehicles carried last year. Of the 38,000 bookings already received, 31,500 are for the short Lympne-Lc Touquet route, 5,000 for the Southampton-Cherbourg crossing, 1,000 for Lympne-Ostend and the remaining 500 for the recently opened Gatwick-Le Touquet service. At Lympne, the scene of these sunny new Flight photographs, the tempo of activity must be seen to be appreciated. At peak week ends the Superfreighters and Freighters land or take-off every 2 min 18 sec. The 47-mile journey to Le Touquet takes 22 min, and aircraft are averaging 36 landings and take-offs each on the busiest days. Silver City claim that no other commercial aircraft are subjected to such rigorous use as are their Bristols, which continue to give extremely reliable service. The company's fleet now consists of eight Bristol 170 Mk 21s and six new Mk 32s, specially developed for the Channel ferry. The majority of the fleet are to be seen at Lympne, which handles 80 per cent of the traffic. Although motor cyclists and pedal cyclists are making increasing use of the service, cars still represent 50 per cent of the company's vehicle traffic—and, of course, a considerably greater proportion of the total revenue. The number of passengers accompanying vehicles is frequently less than the number of seats available in the cabin aft of the hold. To an increasing extent, the extra seats are being taken up by "pedestrian" passengers who find die 20-minute service to France excellent value for the price (£4 10s) of a return ticket. Over this coming week-end Silver City expect every available passen ger seat to be filled on the 180 services daily scheduled for the Lympne-Le Touquet route. Further substantial increases in air-ferry traffic are expected next year. Lympne, already working at maximum capacity, is incapable of further development; Silver City Airways recently announced their decision to establish their own terminal, to be known as Ferryfield, to handle the extra traffic. As a Superfreighter takes off, 0 Mk 21 Freighter waits to turn on to the grass runway at Lympne.
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