68 years ago today

[om15]

On 28 June 1948 the US launched Operation Plainfare which became known as the Berlin Airlift. Following the Russian blockade of Berlin, the only way to supply the population was by air.
Civil and military aircraft were pressed into service as cargo carriers, and several well known British airlines in the 1950's and 1960's were created by the Airlift.

Airlift.jpg (12.05 KiB) Viewed 1316 times

[om15]

C47 crash, Berlin Airlift.jpg (9.12 KiB) Viewed 1315 times

[om15]

Avro York.jpg (164.4 KiB) Viewed 1315 times

Sunderland_201_Sqn_on_Havel_during_Berlin_Airlift_1948.jpg (132.13 KiB) Viewed 1315 times

[ian16th]

........and the brand new Handley Page Hastings that went straight off the assembly lines to carry coal to Berlin.

There was still coal dust in them when they were scrapped.

[om15]

Hastings in the Airlift.jpg (51 KiB) Viewed 1306 times

[om15]

Hastings TG503 in the Allied Museum, Berlin

TG503 Allied Musuem Berlin.jpg (75.24 KiB) Viewed 1305 times

PEL-Allied-Museum_007-S.jpg (38.27 KiB) Viewed 1305 times

[ian16th]

I wonder how many of those pictured I worked on?

[Sisemen]

The one and only Hastings that I flew in, TG 536, ended up being shagged by a VC10

[Alisoncc]

Just looking through old passports and 47 years ago today I was flying that very same corridor into Tempelhof in the sharp end of a Pan-Am 707. IIRC there wasn't a lot of lateral leeway to get around Cb's and the like, which made for interesting flying.

Alison