Which was the first?

Don’t let’s forget the Noratlas.
Which was the first twin boom transport? The C82 design dates from 1941 (first flight 1944), while the C119 and Noratlas were of 1947 vintage, although I think the C119 flew first (1947 as opposed to 1953 for the Noratlas). So was the C82 the first, or were there any earlier?
Laurence

9 AFTS

Bonjour Anthony
9 AFTS was at Wellesbourne Mountford 1951-1954

Laurence

Transport Command “M” codes

Slightly off the Hastings thread, but relevant to the meaning of the “M” code:

Beverleys in the late 1950s – early 1960s used the M callsigns too. The last letter was the aircraft’s code, as displayed on the fuselage:
eg XL148 of 242OCU was MOBCY, coded Y
XB268 of 53 Sqd was MOBXD, coded D
XB284, also of the Abingdon group (53 or 47 Sqd), was MOBXH, coded H.

If I remember correctly the M code was on the instrument panel in front of the pilot, for RT use.

Laurence

Cesnna 170 panel

I still have the instrument panel, with all instruments, from a Cessna 170 I used to fly. Would anyone be interested?

Laurence

A rare old Italian

I wonder if these two pictures fit in this new thread. They are part of the collection that Tony Tubbenhauer took at Benghazi in 1943, and that we published on http://l.garey.googlepages.com/benghazigraveyard

Two views of an interesting SM79. This is not the usual hunchbacked bomber version, but an SM79T “Atlantici” of which three were used on the famous flight from Rome to Rio in January 1938. The wording on the fuselage is:
ALA LITTORIA S.A. LINEE ATLANTICHE
This is probably I-ALAN, used for regular flights between Italy and Brazil, mostly for mail. In May-June 1940 it was impressed in military service, still in civil markings, for flights in the Mediterranean area and to Abyssinia. On July 16 1940, en route to Abyssinia, it aborted take off at Benghazi and the undercarriage collapsed. British troops found the wreck in February 1941, and Tony found it still there in 1943 when flying Baltimores with 203 Sqd RAF.

Laurence Garey