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Aviation History
1957
1957 - 0738.PDF
744 FLIGHT, 31 May 1957 El-ADO, L.749 Constellation "St. Kevin" of Aerlinte Eireann (Irish Airlines), was used by Aer Lingus on the Dublin-London and Shannon- Rome routes in 1947-48, pending its purchase by B.O.A.C. IRISH BIRTHDAY ... The first Aer Lingus DC-3, EI-ACA, was bought from the Fokker com- pany in April 1940, a few weeks before Holland was invaded by the Germans. It was destroyed by fire at Shannon Airport in June 1946. By June 1948 the Constellations and Vikings were withdrawnfrom use and the services Dublin-Belfast, Dublin-Rome^ Dublin- Brussels and Belfast-Liverpool were suspended. In the ensuingtwelve months a further increase in traffic justified the re-opening of the seasonal Dublin-Isle of Man service and the addition ofanother seasonal route to Jersey. The Shannon-London service was delivered via Dublin and an all-the-year-round service betweenDublin and Birmingham was introduced. The first "Starflights," air-coach night flights, were introduced on the Dublin-Londonroute in 1950 to offset the night "valley." Since 1951, a DC-3 has left Dublin Airport each weekday nightfor Manchester carrying all first-class mail between the Irish Republic and the United Kingdom. This "all-weather" flightreturns to Dublin shortly before midnight, carrying U.K. mail for Ireland. By August 1951 the company had carried itsmillionth passenger and re-opened the original Aer Lingus route to Bristol. In 1951 Aer Lingus ordered four Vickers ViscountV.707s, to be delivered in the spring of 1954—the first company, after British European Airways, to order these aeroplanes. Pendingthe arrival of the V.707s, four Bristol B.170 Wayfarers were ordered, for delivery in 1952, to cater for increased passenger andfreight traffic. Two further routes, to Edinburgh and to Cardiff, were opened in 1952, and "Starflights" to Manchester were alsointroduced. The arrival of the Viscounts in the spring of 1954 considerablyaltered the pattern of the company's operations, and enabled new routes to be opened in 1954 and 1955 to Lourdes and to Biarritzand Barcelona. In the following year, 1956, the company placed orders for new equipment in the form of three 65-seater ViscountV.808s and five Fokker F.27 Friendships, a logical partnership of short-haul turboprop aircraft. Equipment. The Dragon with which Aer Lingus beganoperations in 1936 was joined later in the same year by a D.H. 86A, the airline's first four-engined aircraft. The Dragonwas replaced in 1938 by a D.H. 89 Dragon Rapide and a D.H. 86B Express was also purchased in the same year. Thefirst American aircraft, two Lockheed L.14s, were delivered just before the war, and they were followed in 1940 by the firstDouglas DC-3. The latter aeroplane is interesting for two reasons; first of all, it marks the beginning of Aer Lingus Dakota operationsover 17 years, and, secondly, this aeroplane was bought from the Fokker company in April 1940, shortly before Holland wasinvaded. (Now Aer Lingus has once again bought aeroplanes from Fokker, for the five Friendships, already mentioned, aredue to be delivered in late 1958.) During the war years the two D.H. 86s and-the DC-3 carried all the traffic until joined by aLockheed L.414 Hudson and, for some obscure reason, a Super- marine Walrus. At the end of hostilities, a fleet of nine DC-3s wasintroduced into service to replace all other types. When, in 1947, five L.749 Constellations were delivered to Aerlinte Eireann,the Irish overseas airline, to operate transatlantic services (subse- quently suspended and later cancelled by Governmentaldirection) these aircraft were hired by Aer Lingus for a time and eventually were sold to B.O.A.C. in 1948. For about twelve months, between 1947 and 1948, a fleet ofseven Viking V.634s was added to the existing fleet of DC-3s and (Centre) EI-ADF "St. Ronan" was one of seven Vikings used by Aer Lingus in 1947-48; it was later sold to Misrair. Collinstown's tower had not at that time been fitted with its "bandstand." (Left) Bristol Wayfarer EI-AFP was originally G-AINL, owned by Bristol Aeroplane Co.; it was used in the summer of 1952 in company with -AFQ, R, S and T, purchased by Aer Lingus pending delivery of their first Viscounts in the spring of 1954.
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