Airliner Classics 9

Hello and welcome to the latest instalment of the Airliner Classics series. Compiled by the industry-renowned team behind Airliner World, this latest edition turns the clock back once again to bring you the very best from the golden years of commercial aviation.

This includes the usual eclectic mix of aircraft, ranging from BOAC’s fleet of Canadair Argonauts, Beechcraft’s King Air turboprop, and Boeing’s ‘Special Performance’ 747SP to the BAC 1-11 and Britten Norman’s island-hopping Trislander. We also turn the spotlight on some famous names from the past, including Hugh Kennard’s Invicta and Air Ferry, West African Airways Corporation and Air California as well as the varied former Yugoslavian carriers from which modern-day Air Serbia can trace its heritage.

This issue also includes a detailed look at the early days of Qantas - from the Australian carrier’s original First World War surplus biplanes to the arrival of four-engined jetliners - and an overview of Canada’s Wardair, the latter written and illustrated by a former employee. We are also pleased to include an article about a very special pilgrimage to the site of a 1948 DC-3 crash in South Africa, with exclusive artwork paying tribute to the crew and passengers lost that fateful day.

We’ve trawled the archives to illustrate all the articles, which pay homage to some of the most important aircraft and airlines of yesteryear. We hope you enjoy reading them as much as the team has enjoyed researching and writing them and that this issue of Airliner Classics helps you re-live the glory days of air travel.

Stephen Bridgewater, Editor