NZFF

P3Dv4. Flight Replicas' ATL-98 Carvair. Flying near Mt. Ruapehu.

In 1963 after my service in the RAF, I joined British United Air Ferries as a Traffic officer at Southend Airport in Essex in the UK. They were part of the British United Group, and we flew passengers from Southend to Calais, Ostend, Rotterdam, Basle, and other destinations. Aviation Traders who were also based at Southend Airport were also part of the BUA Group, and were the manufacturers of these aircraft, a conversion of the DC4, with a new nose, and a larger tail to compensate for the larger nose! they built I think 21 aircraft, as there were a number of unused DC4 available on the market at that time. Ansett bought 3, and they ended up here in NZ working with Nation Wide Air. They could carry 5 cars and 22 passengers and had a crew of 4, 2 pilot's and 2 hostess's, there were a few of them that could be converted to carry 55 passengers, with a false bulkhead installed and extra seats in the cargo hold. Had a few flights in them, a great aircraft. I know that ATL also had a DC6 version on the Drawing board, with Turbines to drive it, but it never eventuated. Fond Memories!