Here is a potted history of Airwork during its Blackbushe days from my research.
October 1947 Airwork move its Vikings to Blackbushe acquiring ‘number 1 hangar’ to the east of the terminal.The maintenance organisation employed 80 people onsite. Airwork had a contract with the Sudan Government to operate a leave service for it’s many British employees. The service operated from Khartoum via Wadi-Haifa twice a week using its six Vickers Vikings. During 1950 it carried it’s 10,000th passenger.
1948
Airwork also was involved in the Berlin Airlift with it’s newly arrived Bristol Freighter. It flew 74 flights with large cargo that the other aircraft couldn’t accommodate but its slow speed caused difficulty in keeping up with other aircraft in the stream so it was withdrawn
29/11/48
This saw the first, and only, civil use of F.I.D.O. on November 29th to enable Viking G-AJFS belonging to Airwork, piloted by Capt. Harding, to take off for Accra. Crown Agents for the Colonies had chartered the Viking to fly a consignment of urgently required currency to West Africa via Gibraltar. The visibility was 30 yards and this was increased to between 600 and 800 yards, which enabled the Viking to take off safely. This was thought to have cost around £1000
At the start of 1949 Airwork operated
7 Vikings, 3 Bristol 170’s, 17 DH Rapides, 9 DH Doves, 3 Avro Ansons,
, 2 Douglas DC-3’s, 2 Airspeed Consuls.
On Passenger and freight services , short and long haul, specializing in contract charter. Colonial coach service in association with Sudan Airways with Vikings from Blackbushe, via Marseilles, and Malta, to El Adem, Cairo and Wadi Haifa
December 1950 622 Sqn royal auxarilly airforce formed with two Valettas manned by volunteers mainly from airwork
mid 1952 Airwork acquire 5 Hermes for trooping but quickly loose two of these to accidents
June 14th 1952 saw the opening of the new weekly
service between London and Nairobi operated jointly by Airwork, Ltd. of Blackbushe, and Hunting Air Transport Ltd of Bovingdon
Early 1954 saw a further expansions in Airwork’s Colonial coach service . The new destinations were Salisbury Rhodesia via N’dola, and Lusaka , plus Accra via Bathurst, and Freetown .
Sadly Airwork lost one of its Vikings on August 15th 1954.G-AIXS departed from Blackbushe at 09:42 and was making a charter flight to Nice when an oil leak developed. It returned with one engine inoperative, and landed short of the runway and caught fire. None of the passengers was seriously injured but the aircraft was written off.
Jan 57 first two Viscounts received and Airwork take over Transair but retain separate identities.
June 1959 new service to Khartoum for Sudan airways from Gatwick. Services from Blackbushe transferred to Gatwick thought 1959 as Blackbushe closed May 1960.
July 1960 Airwork merged into British United
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