BOAC’s post-war needs ….a twisted story
At the end of WWII the RAF had a squadron of Skymasters….these were lamely sent back at the end of lease-lend….they could have been retained for BOAC for a modest payment to our ally, instead BOAC had to use the Lancastrian…..at the end of WWII KLM’s Plesman got his foot in Truman’s door and obtained a fleet of C-54s which operated as the Netherlands Government Air Transport service initially….when KLM DC-4s purchased from the Douglas factory arrived some of the stop-gap C-54s were sold off to Skyways who proceeded to operate them for BOAC under charter!
BOAC were permitted by the UK Govt to buy only 5 L-049 Connies (from the batch of C-69s), these arrived in 1946. My opinion is that the Aer Lingus purchase of 5 L-749s in 1947 was always intended for BOAC (that was the skullduggery!) and after a few months of modest use by Aer Lingus to London and Rome they were sold to BOAC (at a nice profit). BOAC bought 3 more L-049s secondhand by 1953 from TWA and Pan Am.
BOAC’s new Strats started arriving in 1949, 6 (‘KGH-KGM) direct from Boeing and 4(‘LSA-LSD) fom a SAS order cancelled before delivery, I think.
Further secondhand Connies and Strats arrived in the aftermath of the Comet I disasters around 1954 partly through the close links forged with Capital Airlines re. the Viscount purchase.
Of the British types BOAC received I am always puzzled by their indifference to their 24(?) HP Hermes…..if you add on the 146 Hastings built for the RAF the Hermes/Hastings was a one of the better post-war aircraft programmes in the UK
More later, no doubt! 🙂
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