ICLASSICAIRLINERS76 Older Types, Worldwide,Described and Illustrated in ColourTOM SINGFIELDMidland PublishingThis book is dedicated tothe memory of Steve Piercey, whoseenthusiasm for classic 'Propliners' wasan inspiration to many around the world.He was a great friend and I miss him.Classic Airliners 2000 Tom SingfieldISBN 1 85780098 2First published in 2000 byMidland PUblishing24 The Hollow, Earl ShiltonLeicester, LE9 7NA, England.Telephone:01455847256 Fax: 01455 841805E-mail: midlandbooks@compuserve.comMidland PUblishing Is an imprint ofIan Allan Publishing LimitedWorldwide distribution (except North America):Midland Counties PublicationsUnit 3 Maizefield, Hinckley Fields,Hinckley, Leics,LE10 1YF, England.Telephone: 01455 233 747 Fax: 01455 233 737E-mail: mldlandbooks@compuserve.comNorth American trade distribution:Specialty Press Publishers and Wholesalers11605 Kost Dam Road,North Branch, MN 55056, USATelephone: 6515833239 Fax: 6515832023Toll free telephone: 800 895 4585All rights reserved.No part of this publicationmay be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,transmittedin any form or by any means, electronic,mechanical or photo-copied, recorded or otherwise,without the written permission of the publishers.Design concept and layout2000 MidlandPublishingPrinted in ChinaPhotograph onprevious page:Shown prior to delivery in 1959, Northwest Airlines'first L-188C Electra, N121US, carries the early tailinsignia. (Lockheed Martin Corporation)ContentsIntroduction 4Aero Spacelines Guppy 8Aerospatiale/BAC Concorde 10Airspeed AS.57 Ambassador 12Antonov An-2& SAMC Yunshuji Y-5 14Antonov An-8 16Antonov An-1 O 18Antonov An-12 20Antonov An-22 22Antonov An-24 24Armstrong Whitworth AW,650 Argosy 26Aviation Traders ATL98 Carvair 28Avro 685 York 30BAe 748 and HAL 748 32BAe(BAC) One-Eleven 34Boeing 307 Stratoliner 36Boeing 377 Stratocruiser 38Boeing 707 40Boeing 720 42Boeing 737-100/200 44Boeing 747-100/200 46Breguet Br 761/763/765 48Bristol 170 Freighter/Superfreighter/Wayfarer 50Bristol Type 175 Britannia 52Canadair DC-4M North Star 54Canadair CL-44 & Yukon 56Convair 240/340/440......................... 58Convair 540/580/600/640 & 5800 60Convair 880 and 880M 62Convair 990 and 990A 64Curtiss C-46 Commando 66Dassault Mercure 68de Havilland DH.1 06 Comet. 70de Havilland DH.114 Heron 72de Havilland Canada DHC-4 Caribou 74Douglas DC-2 76Douglas DC-3 & C-47 78Douglas Super DC-3 (DC-3S) 80Douglas DC-4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Douglas DC-6 84Douglas DC-7 86Douglas DC-8-1 0/20/30/40/50 88FairchildF-27/FH-227 90Fokker F.27 Friendship 92Grumman G-64 & G-111Albatross 94Grumman G-159 Gulfstream 1 & G.1 C 96Handley Page Hermes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98Handley Page Dart Herald 100Hawker Siddeley HS.121Trident. .. , 102Ilyushin IL-12 104Ilyushin IL-14 106Ilyushin IL-18 108Ilyushin IL-62 . . . . . . . . . . . . 110Junkers Ju52/3m, CASA C352L, AAC.1 112LockheedModel 18 Lodestar 114Lockheed Constellation.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116Lockheed Super Constellation & Starliner 118Lockheed L-188 Electra 120Martin 2-0-2 and 4-0-4 122NAMC YS-11 . . . . . 124Nord 260,Nord 262 & Mohawk 298. . ..126SAAB 90 Scandia.. . 128Saunders ST-27 130Scottish Aviation Twin Pioneer. 132Short Sunderland/Sandringham/Solent . . . .. 134Sud-Est SE-210 Caravelle 136TupolevTu-104 138Tupolev Tu-114 'Rossiya' 140Tupolev Tu-124 142TupolevTu-134 144TupolevTu-144 146VFW-Fokker VFW 614 148Vickers Viking 150Vickers Viscount 152Vickers Vanguard & Merchantman 154Vickers VC-1 0 & Super VC-1 0 156Vought Sikorsky VS-44A 158Abbreviations and GlossaryAPU Auxiliary Power Unit - on-board power unitfor ancillariesCofA Certificate of Airworthiness - national (orinternational) approval of an aircraftFAA Federal Aviation Administration - USlegislative and administrative bodyFSU Former Soviet Union - used to denote theregions/nations previously within the USSR3GAZGEICAOMTOWP&WP&WCRRGovernment Aircraft Production Plant - FSUGeneral Electric - US engine producerInternational Civil Aviation Organisation -legislative/administrative authorityMaximum Take-off WeightPratt & Whitney - US engine producerPratt & Whitney Canada - subsidiary of P&WRolls-Royce - UK engine producerArguably the most elegant of all the propliners, the gracious Lockheed Constellation no longer flies commercially. Vern Raburn's California-based 'MATS'L-749 was rescued from storage in Arizona and epitomises the growing interest in the operation of classic airliners. (Lockheed Martin)IntroductionThe current interest in all forms of 'Classic' transport,whether it beaircraft, cars, buses, boats, trains ortractors, has prompted authors and publishers toproduce books,magazines and videos to satisfy theenthusiast'sdesire for a dose of transport nostalgia.Withthisbook, I hope tointerest andeducateboththe dedicated aircraft enthusiast and the casualobserver. I am sure both types will enjoy the spreadof colour photographs and hopefully some willappreciate theinformationregarding the'survivors'.Some readers like myself can probably recall long-ago days at your local airport when many of the visit-ingairliners hadpiston radial engines and the job of'Airport Security' was to lock the aircraft door at night!Others, myself included, havenomemoriesof theearly daysof classicairlinerswhensuchwondrousmachines asPanAmStratocruisers andBOACBri-tanniasgracedthetarmac, but despitethis, weallenjoy seeing their pictures andreadingabout them.Tothefansof today'smodernairliners, peoplelikemewhothrill tothe sight and sound of apistonenginecoughingintolifeareprobablylivinginthepast. But tomy mind, today's high technology, highspeed,reliable and efficient transports canbe prettyuninspiringandnowherenearasinterestingastheclassic airliners described herein.4With the increase of organised aviation enthusiasttours, I amhappy toreport that there are now moreandmoreopportunities forenthusiaststotravel theworldtoseekout classicairlinersandphotographand especially fly in them. In addition to the joy ridesorganisedabroadby these touroperators, enthusi-astscannowtakevintageairlinerjoyflightsat airshows andopendays inmany countries. It is worthmentioningthat in thelast coupleof years, enthusi-asts havebeenabletotryout types suchastheIlyushinIL-14and18, JunkersJu-52, Convair 580,LisunovLi-2, LockheedConstellation, ScottishAvia-tionTwinPioneer, VickersViscount, AntonovAn-2and the Douglas DC-3, 4 and 6.I wouldencourage anyone whohasaninterest intheseoldaircraft totry to takea ride, particularlyinsomeofthesurvivingpiston-poweredairliners. Bydoingso, youwill beabletore-livethe'good' olddaysof air travel andcompareit totoday'sknee-crushingofferings. Theymaynotappreciateit, buttoday'sharassedpassengers jammedinto their Air-busesand777sowemuchtotheearlydesignerswhooftenstruggledwithpoormaterials, inefficientengines,bizarre airline specifications andevengov-ernment interference to build what we cannow con-sider to be 'Classic Airliners'.This book follows on frommy previous effort,'Air-liners Worldwide', that was published in 1997.Althoughthisbookisgenerally similarinformat, inthisvolumeeachtypefeaturedisgenerouslyillus-tratedwith threephotographs and thesurvivors aredescribedingreaterdetail. Wherepossible, I havetried to find high-quality colour illustrations that allowreaderstoseetheseairlinersindifferentphasesoftheir existence. However, the original goal of an'early' shot for theheadingphoto followedby an'inservice' shot and lastly one of a surviving example inits current condition has proved to be a challenge forsome types andimpossible for others. For instance,colour photographs of BEA or Lufthansa Junkers Ju52s probablydon't exist andthenumber of high-quality colour images of Aeroflot An-1 Os and IL-12s inservice is probably zero!Theproductionof thisbookhaspromptedsomediscussion among my colleagues as to the definitionof a 'Classic Airliner'. The term'Classic' tends to getmisused these days, but I make no apology for usingit todescribe the airliners featured. Everyoneis enti-tled to have their own favouriteclassic airliner types,andalthough the enclosed are my choices,I'm surethat youwill findsome airlinerswithinthat are indis-putably classic and others that qualify for inclusion byage, scarcityorinterest. Thebasicideabehindthebook was toinclude all 'classic' airliner designs thatareout of production, haveseatsforabout 15pas-sengers or more and that have at least one examplestill in existence somewhere in the world. These para-metershavemeant that theScandiacanmakeanappearance(one survivor), but sadly suchtypesasthe Languedoc, Marathon, H.P.42, Armagnac,Princess, Tudor, Halton and Flamingo have no placeinthisbookbecausenonehavesurvived. Readersmayspottheabsenceof oneortwotypesthat doqualify for this book, but these have had to be exclud-edduetospacerestrictionsor picturequality. Inaddition tothe 'first generation' jetlinersfeatured,I have alsoincludedsuch types such as theBoeing737,747 and Concorde. These types merit the 'Clas-sic'adjunct because they are all highly significant inthe world of air transport.My ownpersonal Number OneClassichas tobethe immortal Douglas DC-3. No other aircraft can layclaim to such a distinguished and lengthy career anditis gratifying toknow that theDC-3ismore thanamuseumpiecewithdozensstill earninga livingfortheir owners all overthe world. Although all of the cur-rentoperatorsrealise that theyare flyinganhistoricaircraft,many of themare just thankful for the Dako-ta's enduring qualities of reliability,safety, low main-tenance and good economics. They may not pampertheir charges with dailypolishes andfancy paint-work,they may not evengive themthebest mainte-nance, but they fly themto make a profit and Iapplaud everyone of them.I am delighted that worldwide interest is growing inmaintaining classic airliners in airworthy condition. Ofcourse, many old airliners are flown for strictly com-mercial reasons, but a new breed of owner is appearingwhoappreciates thesignificantpart inthedevelop-mentof worldtravel thattheseoften-neglectedair-craft achieved. Some of these praiseworthy concernsmanage to operate on a purely commercial basis, butyouare just as likely to finda restoredairliner in thehands of a group of enthusiasts. Airshows used to irri-tate me because of their bias towards current and vin-tagemilitaryfighters. Thankfully, this is changing,andairshow visitorsareoftenable tosee, andper-haps fly in, a selection of beautifully restored classicairliners. Around the world, groups suchas the SAAHistoricFlight, Lufthansa Traditionsflug, AirlinersofAmerica, AirAtlantique, DutchDakotaAssociation,Le Caravelle Club, Save a Connie Inc., the MidAtlantic Air Museum and the Australian Historical Air-craft RestorationSocietyshouldall takeabowfortheir excellent work in saving classic airliners in flyingcondition for future generations.The crew of this Braniff International Convair 340, N3429, complete their pre take-off checks while Delta's 440 N4823C waits its turn for departure.(Jay Miller collection)5ItisiAevitable ina work of thiskind that theinfor-mation published regarding thesurviving airlinerscansoonbecome out of date and thereported exis-tence of a particular aircraft may be incorrect.I havetried to use the most accurate and up to date sourcesregardingthesurvivorsaswell asusingthewillinghelp of many friendsandcolleagues withaccess toreliableinformation. Manyof theillustrationswithinare from my personal collection of colour slides gath-eredover 25yearsandIamafraidthat Ihavenotbeen able to identify every photographer.I apologiseto anyone who recognises their uncredited work andthankthemwhoevertheyare. Aspecial thanksforhelp with this book goes to the Gatwick Aviation Soci-ety,Ken Ellis,Nick Webb, and Tony Eastwood at theAviation Hobby Shop.I would also like to thank the following for help withphotographs, adviceandinformation. ColinBallan-tine, Erik Bernhard, Tony Best, Peter Bish, Bob Cook,Robert Cote, Bruce Drum, Nigel Eastaway, BoEdwards (LockheedMartin), A.Geneve, Mike Green,JacquesGuillem, Scott Henderson, Chris Herbert,Jon Hillier, Peter Hillman, Harry Holmes, VinceHoran, Dave Howell, Kevin Irwin, Tony Merton Jones(Propliner Magazine), Craig Justo (AeroAspects),SteveKinder, BernardKing, FredKnight, Cliff Knox,Josef Krauthauser, Andy Leaver, Phil Lo Bao,Philippe Loeuillet (Avimage), Chris Mak, Ian Malcolm(AfricanAviationSlideService), Peter Marson, TheGlenL. MartinAviationMuseum, MattMartin, FrankMcMeiken, Rudolf Merison, Jay Miller, Richard Ness,Robert LNorth (NewEnglandAir Museum), BobOgden, Keith Palmer, Simon Pank (Rolls-Royce),NevilleParnell,AlainPeletier, Pierre-AlainPetit, Mal-colm Porter, Patrick Vinot Prefontaine,Robert Ruffle,Trevor Scarr(DuxfordAviationSociety), Bob Shane,Robbie Shaw, Graham Simons, The Singfield family,TerrySykes, JulianTemple(BrooklandsMuseum),Henry Tenby, Frank Tyler, Christian Volpati, RayWagner (SanDiego AerospaceMuseum),Bob Wall,Simon Watson, John Wegg, and Jeff Whitesell.Please note that the manufacturers' addressesshownin this book are intended to reflect those cur-rent whentheaircraft concernedwerebeingmade;they should not be used for current correspondence.Tom Singfield,Horsham, SussexMarch 2000Above: There's nowhere quite like Sharjah... A daily fee paid to the airport authority allows anyone ramp access to get up close to a variety of classicairliners. Here is your author with a Samara Antonov An-12. (Kevin Irwin)Below: Thankfully not all old airliners are cut up for scrap at the end of their careers.Here at Duxford the Imperial War Museum/Duxford Aviation Societyhave on view an impressive and well cared for line up of British types. (Author)6International Aircraft Registration PrefixesAP Pakistan I Italy TV Benin 4R Sri LankaA2 Botswana JA Japan TZ Mali 4X IsraelA3 Tonga Islands JU Mongolia T2 Tuvalu 5A LibyaA40 Oman JY Jordan T3 Kiribati 5B CyprusA5 Bhutan J2 Djibouti T7 San Marino 5H TanzaniaA6 United Arab J3 Grenada T9 Bosnia- 5N NigeriaEmirates J5 Guinea Bissau Herzogovina 5R MadagascarA7 Qatar J6 St.Lucia UK Uzbekistan 5T MauretaniaA9C Bahrain J7 Dominica UN Kazakhstan 5U NigerB China, Peoples J8 St. Vincent and UR Ukraine 5V TogoRepublic,and Grenadines VH Australia 5W West-SamoaTaiwan LN Norway VN Vietnam 5X UgandaC Canada LV Argentina VP-A Anguilla 5Y KenyaCC Chile LX Luxembourg VP-B Bermuda 60 SomaliaCN Morocco LY Lithuania VP-C CaymanIslands 6V SenegalCP Bolivia LZ Bulgaria VP-F Falkland Islands 6Y JamaicaC5 Portugal N USA VP-G Gibraltar 70 YemenCU Cuba OB Peru VP-L British Virgin 7P LesothoCX Uruguay OD Lebanon Islands 70 MalawiC2 Nauru OE Austria VP-M Montserrat 7T AlgeriaC3 Andorra OH Finland VO-T Turks and Caicos 8P BarbadosC5 Gambia OK CzechRepublic Islands 80 MaldivesC6 Bahamas OM Slovak Republic VT India 8R GuyanaC9 Mozambique 00 Belgium V2 Antigua and 9A CroatiaD Germany OY Denmark Barbuda 9G GhanaDO Fiji P North Korea V3 Belize 9H MaltaD2 Angola PH Netherlands V4 St. Kitts and Nevis 9J ZambiaD4 Cape Verde PJ Netherlands Islands 9K KuwaitD6 Comores Antilles V5 Namibia 9L Sierra LeoneEC Spain PK Indonesia V6 Micronesia 9M MalaysiaEI Ireland PP, PTBrazil V7 Marshall Islands 9N NepalEK Armenia PZ Surinam V8 Brunei 90 Dem Rep of CongoEL Liberia P2 Papua New Guinea XA, XB, XCMexico 9U BurundiEP Iran P4 Aruba XT Burkina Faso 9V SingaporeER Moldovia RA Russia XU Cambodia 9XR RwandaE5 Estonia RDPL Laos XY Myanmar 9Y Trinidad andET Ethiopia RP Philippines YA Afghanistan TobagoEW Belarus 5E Sweden YI IraqEX Kyrghyztan 5P Poland YJ VanuatuEY Tadjikistan 5T Sudan YK SyriaEZ Turkmenistan 5U Egypt YL LithuaniaE3 Eritrea 5U-Y Palestine YN NicaraguaF France 5X Greece YR RomaniaF-O France Overseas 52 Bangladesh Y5 EI SalvadorG Great Britain 55 Slovenia YU Serbia-MacedoniaHA Hungary 57 Seychelles YV VenezuelaHB Switzerland 59 Sao Tome Z Zimbabwe(and Lichtenstein) TC Turkey ZA AlbaniaHC Ecuador TF Iceland ZK New ZealandHH Haiti TG Guatemala ZP ParaguayHI Dominican TI Costa Rica Z5, ZUSouth AfricaRepublic TJ Cameroon Z3 MacedoniaHK Colombia TL Central African 3A MonacoHL South Korea Republic 3B MauritiusHP Panama TN Congo 3C Equatorial GuineaHR Honduras TR Gabon 3D SwazilandH5 Thailand T5 Tunisia 3X GuineaHZ Saudi Arabia TT Chad 4K AzerbaijanH4 Solomon Islands TU Cote d'ivoire 4L Georgia7Originally delivered to Pan American as a Stratocruiser in 1949, Aero Spacelines Boeing 377MGMini Guppy Nl 037V 'Spirit of Santa Barbara', is seen atHeathrow in November 1969. The hinges for the swing tail are clearly visible on the starboard rear fuselage. (Author's collection)AERO SPACELINES GUPPYAero Spacelines Inc,VanNuys, California,USAIn the early 1960s, theidea of converting astandard passenger airliner into alargecapacity freighter for use by theUS spaceindustry was envisaged in the USA by John MConroy of Van Nuys-based Aero SpacelinesInc.At that time, large rocket sections weretransported from the California plants to thetest sites in Florida by barge through thePanama Canal. By flying these bulky sectionsin converted airliners, many days could besaved compared to the longsea journey andthe load could also be delivered directly tothe launch site.Conroy bought 27 retiredBoeing 377Stratocruisers(see page 38)and instructedtheOn Mark EngineeringCo to commenceconversion of the first 'Pregnant Guppy'.This aircraft, then claimed tobe the largest intheworld, was createdby stretching aModel377 Stratocruiser by 5.08m (16ft 8in)andreplacing the upper 'bubble' of the fuselagewithan oversize shell that was built fromscratch. Loading was achieved by removingtheentire rear fuselageand empennageallowing straight in loading of the cargo fromtherear.The Pregnant Guppy first flew inSeptember 1962 and from June 1963 it wasemployed carrying Saturn rocket sectionsintheUSA.The first 'Super Guppy', withan evenlargercapacity fuselageand turboprop engines,flew on31 st August 1965 at Van Nuys. Thisaircraft was converted fromthe unique P&WT-34 turboprop-powered YC-97J. Because ofthehuge fuselageandextra power, theSuperGuppy was built withan extended tail fin toprovide better control.Loading was muchquicker on this design because the entirenose section was on hinges allowing entryfor the cargo from the front. Four furtherexamples of theSuper Guppy 201were thencompleted, twoin the USA and two by UTA atLe Bourget. These four were flownon behalfof Airbus Industrie transporting bulkyfuselagesand wings between the AirbusIndustrie factories at Bremen, Finkenwerder,Manchester, Naples,St. Nazaire andToulouse. Theyhave now been retiredandtheir job has been takenover by the equallyimpressive A300-600ST Super Transporter,the'Beluga'.Asingle 377MG Mini Guppy was built thatretained the Stratocruiser's R-4360 DoubleWasp radial engines and flying surfaces.This had ahinged 'swingtail' for loading andfirstflew in May 1967.Next to be built was asingle Mini Guppy101with afuselage similar in size to the MiniGuppy, but with Allison 501-D22C turbopropengines. This first flewin March 1970 butcrashed on atest flight two months laterbefore entering service. Studies for furtherGuppies included one with six Allisonenginesand the 'Colossal Guppy', basedon aconverted B-52 bomber with a40ft diameterfuselage!8Of the eight conversions completed,six survive including one still in service.The unique T-34 powered Super Guppyispreservedin itsNASA livery at the Pima AirMuseum in Arizona. The Mini Guppy ispreserved at the Tillamook Naval Air StationMuseum in Oregon and three Super Guppy201 s are preserved at Bruntingthorpe,Finkenwerder and Toulouse.NASA bought theremaining ex-Airbus Super Guppy 201and itis currently flying from Los Alamitos AmnyAirfield in California in support of theInternational Space Station programme.Specifications (forthe Guppy 201)Span: 47.62m(156ft 3in)Length: 43.84m(143ft lOin)Engines: Four 3,666kW (4,912 ehp)Allison 501-D22C turbopropsCruise speed: 407km/h(220kts)Payload: 24,494kg(54,000Ib)Volume: 1,100 cU.m(38,846 cu.ft)Re-registeredN422AU in 1981, the Boeing 377MG Mini Guppy was bought by Erikson Air-Crane of Central Point, Oregon. In 1995 this aircraft was flownto the Tillamook NASM for preservation. (Bob Shane)The future looks bright for this preserved Super Guppy 201F-BPPA. Photographed at Toulouse in February 1999, it is preserved by Ailes AnciennesToulouse who also have a collection of airliners includinga Caravelle, DC-3 and a Breguet Deux Ponts. (Bob Wall)9Photographed at Le Bourget in June 1979 is the first French-built Concorde F-WTSS. This aircraft first flew in March 1969, one month before the British-built G-BSST, andwas retired to theMusee de I'Air in 1973.(Jacques GUillem)AEROSPATIALE/BAC CONCORDEBritish Aircraft Corporation Ltd, Filton, Englandand Sud-Aviation, Toulouse,FranceIn November 1962, the governments ofFrance and Great Britain signedan agreementinitiating collaborationon the design andconstruction of aSupersonic Transport (SST)airliner. Prior to this,both countrieshad carriedout design work on their own versions of anSST, France with the delta winged'SuperCaravelle',and Britain with theBAC 223.However both countries decided that althoughit was feasible to buildanSST, the costsinvolved were beyond any Individual company.After much deliberation, thename'Concorde' was chosen, and the designemergedasan elegant slim fuselage with apointed nose, together with ahighly complexogival delta wing.The technical complexitiesin producinganSST threwup many problems,each of which were expensive and time con-suming to solve. Much discussion concernedthe Concorde's maximum speed.Protectionof the airframe fromhigh temperaturescausedby air friction while cruising betweenMach 2.5and 3.0 would have involved theconsiderable use of expensive heat-resistantmetals,so acompromise was made wherethe cruising speed was restricted to Mach 2.2.This decision allowed designers to limit theuse of expensive titanium and stainlesssteelin the Concorde. Another problem involvedcrew visibility at low speeds. Here, thesolution was the'droop snoot'nose that islowered for landing and take-off. Just ascomplicated are the engine nacelles. Theyarefittedwith amultitude of inlet and exhaustdevices to enable the engines to operateeffectively at subsonic and supersonic speeds.Most prospective buyers specified trans-Atlanticrangein order to attract the lucrativebusiness market.The manufacturer'spromised performance brought'commitments' for atotal of 80Concordesfromseveral of the worlds' major airlines,includingPan Am, Lufthansa and Qantas.Design consultations delayed the start ofprototype construction until February 1965.Two were built,one at Toulouse and the otherat Filton and the French-built prototype wasthe first to fly on 2nd March 1969. Alongdevelopment programme further delayedConcorde's entry into revenue service until1976, by which time only British AirwaysandAir France remainedas customers.The lackof any other orders and the staggering costsinvolvedin creating this technological marvelcausedan enormous financial loss for the twocountry's manufacturers and taxpayers.For many years, the anti-noise lobby triedto get Concorde banned because of its sonicboomand its ear-splitting engine noise attake-off.Because of its noise, the Concorde Isseverely restricted to where it canland andisbanned from supersonic flight over muchofthe world's landmass. Despite this, Concordehas now beenin regular, andprofitable,supersonic airline service for over 20 yearswithout aserious accident. In the last few10years British Airways have spent millions ofpounds refitting their Concorde fleet,ensuringthat this unique airliner can remain safe andreliable into the21 st century.InMay 1999, Air France announced theyhad carried their one millionth Concordepassenger on theNew York to Paris service,and that despite areappearance of amovement to remove Concorde from theUSAdue to its noise, they vowed to continue theirdaily supersonic schedule.Apart from the Concordeson scheduledservices seen inParis,London andNew York,many other airports have allowed individualvisits for special flightsand airshows. After 30years of flying,Concorde still causescontroversy but it continues to turn the headof any spectator, either away from the noiseor towards it to appreciate atrue piece ofaviation history. From the 20 Concordes built,13 are in service,one has been scrapped, twoare stored at Filtonand Toulouse andpreserved Concordes are on display atDuxford, Yeovilton,Orly,andLe Bourget.SpecificationsSpan: 25.56m (83ft 10in)Length: 62.1 Om(203ft 9in)Engines:Four 170.2kN(38,050Ib)Rolls-Royce/ SNECMA Olympus 593 Mk.61 0turbojets with afterburnersCruise speed: 2, 179km/h(1, 176kts)Accommodation:144 maximumTaxying out from Heathrow's Terminal 4 for a service to New York is Concorde 102 G-BOAC. Theincredibly complex wing design and the improvedforward visibility from the drooped nose are evident in thisphoto. (Author)This remarkable Concorde colour scheme was only carried for about ten days. Air France Concorde 101F-BTSD appearedin the new Pepsi colours foran advertising campaign at Gatwick in April 1996.(RobbieShaw)11AmbassadorMk.11 G-AMAE was bought by Dan-Air London from Australian airline Butler Air Transport. Its last service was withDan-Air on 30thSeptember1970 after which it was flown to Lasham where it was scrappedin December 1971. (Graham Simons collection)AIRSPEED AS.57 AMBASSADORAirspeed LtdChristchurch AerodromeHampshire, EnglandAt the height of the Second World War, theBrabazon committee recommended severalcivilairliner projects to the British governmentfor post war commercial use. Among theirrecommendations, the TypeIIA was proposedas aDouglas DC-3/Dakota replacement forEuropean short-haul services. The toughchallenge of bettering the faithful'Dak' wasacceptedby thesmall Airspeed companybasedat the former Government shadowfactoryat Christchurch Aerodrome.During their design work, Airspeedcorrectly predicted that future commercialtransport in Europe would require abigger,faster and more comfortable airliner. Theirdesign for the Ambassador therefore grewandevolved intoan all-metal, tricycleundercarriage airliner with two powerfulpiston radial engines mated to ahigh aspectratio, high-mounted wingand asleekpressurised fuselage.To achieve highspeeds, great attention was applied to theaerodynamics. This included the design of thelow-dragCOWlings on the 'quick change'power cells that were able toopenup likeflower petals allowing superb access to theengines.Airspeedalso proposed othervariants based on the Ambassador including adedicated freighter, the 'Ayrshire' militarytransport andan armed maritimereconnaissance aircraft. All these projectswere cancelled as was the AmbassadorMk.11powered by four turboprops.The first of the three prototypes was flownby the famous test pilot GBSErrington fromChristchurchon 10th July 1947. After agreatdealof discussions,and despite BEA'sinterest in the promising Vickers Viscount,they grudgingly made a3 million order for20 Ambassadorsin September 1948. Sadly,after de Havilland bought Airspeedin 1948,sales prospects for the Ambassadordisappeared and only BEA's order wascompleted. The type was known as the'Elizabethan'withBEA, whose first scheduledAmbassador service was to Parisin March1952.BEA's 'Elizabethan'services were graduallyreplaced by the Vickers Viscount from 1956,and after retirement fromBEA servicein1957/58, three aircraft weresold to Butler AirTransport in Australia, whileothers found theirway to Autair, BKS,Dan-Air Services andGlobe Air. The Royal Jordanian Air ForceandShell Aviation each acquired twoAmbassadors for executive duties and theprototype aircraft later found valuable use as aflying engine test bed for Bristols,Napier andRolls-Royce.Probably the last Ambassador to fly was theoneoperatedby the Decca Navigator Companyas an airborne laboratory from1963 until itwas retired in 1971. This aircraft was oftenusedas acompany 'shuttle'for the Paris AirShow. Sadly,it was scrapped whilein finecondition at West Mailing in the early 1970s.12Very few Airspeed designed aircraft of anytype have managed to survive. You may findan Oxford, aHorsa or aConsul preservedin amuseum here and there, but I doubt whetheryou could findan Envoy, aFerry or aCourieranywhere. Thanks however to the staff of themuch loved, but departed British airline Dan-Air, asingle example of Airspeed's finalandmost elegant commercial aircraft, theAmbassador,is safely preserved among theclassic airlinersat the Imperial War Museum,Duxford.This aircraft, G-ALZO, completed Dan-Air'slast official 'Lizzy' service, areturn tripGatwick-Jersey on 26th September 1971; itwas then flown to Dan-Air'smaintenancebase at Lasham Airfieldin Hampshire forpreservation alongside their Avro York. Bothof these aircraft were later moved to Duxfordwhere they are undergoing fullrestorationasstatic exhibits in Dan-Air London colours.SpecificationsSpan: 35.05m(115ft Oin)Length: 24.99m(82ft Oin)Engines: Two 1939kW (2600hp)Bristol Centaurus 661pistonradialsCruise speed: 386 km/h(240mph)Accommodation: 47-60The tiny viewing deck at Jersey Airport is now sadly closed. Great views such as this shot of BKS's Ambassador 2 G-ALZT taxying out in August 1966 willnever be repeated. (Harry Holmes)The world's only survivor from the 23 Ambassadors built is seen here part way through a lengthy restoration with the Duxford Aviation Society in August1999. It will be at least two yearsbefore G-ALZO reappears in full Dan-Air London colours. (Author) 13In March 1992, the forbidding and freezing cold ramp at Ulan Bataar in Outer Mongolia was host to more than 30 Mongolian Airlines An-2s in a variety ofcolour schemes. Since then, many of them have been scrapped.(Colin Ballantine)ANTONOV An-2 &SAMe YUNSHUJI Y-5Anlonov Design Bureau, I Tupolev PIosped,252062, UkrainePZL MOIec,PnIskiego 3, Ilielec, PoIaOOShfozhuang Aifcrnll MIg COIp, POBox 164, Shijiazhuang, He!Jej 050062, ChHlaWith atotal production figure in the region of20,000, the An-2(NATO reportingname'Colt') is the world's best selling commercialaircraft.After the Second World War, OlegAntonov's design bureau set out to producean aircraft that would meet aspecificationproposed by theUSSR Ministry of AgricultureandForestry for amulti-task machine. Theresulting An-2 that first flewon31 st August1947 was, and still is, aremarkableaeroplane, strong, simple, reliable,adaptableand long-lived. The fact that uncompleted'new' An-2s were still available from PZl inPoland fifty years after the first flight,isnothing short of incredible.After 1960, the PZl worksat Mielec, inPoland, took over fullproduction responsibilityexcept for the An-2M which continued tobebuilt in Russia.Since the first Polish-builtAn-2 flew on 23rd October 1961, PZl-Mielechas made continuous improvements to theailirame allowing the current versions an in-service life of 15,900 hours.More than 90%of the 10,000 Polish-built An-2s wereexported, most of them to the USSR.Thanks to its huge wing area and high-liftdevices, the An-2 is remarkably docile in theair. It has astallingspeed of 95 krn/h (52kts)combined with aSTOl peliormance allowingagrass take-off run of only 170m. Manydifferent versions were built including theAn-2T (transport -1500kg freight or 12passengers), An-2P (12 passengers), An-2TP(cargo/passenger), An-2V Floatplane, An-2SAmbulance(6 stretchers plus attendants),An-2PK (5-seat executive), An-2L WaterBomber, An-2Skh/An-2M agricultural modelsand the Polish-built Utility An-2R (1300kgduster/sprayer).The home-produced An-2Mcanbe identified its larger, square-shaped tailfin. Aturboprop-powered An-3 was alsodeveloped and is currently available as aconversion for existing An-2s.The first Chinese-built Antonov An-2(known as the Yun-5)was completed atNanchang as the'Fongshu 2' inDecember1957. The current Y-5B agricultureandforestry model, with aChinese-built HS5engine and avionics, first flewin 1989. OtherChinese variants include theutility Y-5Nandthe passenger Y-5C.Since the collapse of the Soviet Union,many An-2s that were formerly flown by thevarious Aeroflot divisions are now operatedby the newly formed airlines such as AirUkraine and Tyumenaviatrans. The type is stillcommonin the FSU and, despite variousreplacement designs; hundreds of An-2s willmost certainly still be in service for theforeseeable future.In order to raise valuable foreign currency,many FSU operators have tried to sell theirredundant An-2s to the West.Severalexamples have been sold 'abroad' and foundnew lives in the Western world giving scenic14flights,carryingparachutists or as 'toys' forimaginative andenthusiastic pilots. The mostincredible use of an An-2 is probably by thecompanyin Russia that uses their An-2sasaerial platforms for ballet dancing at 8000ft!The Moscow Flying Ballet commencedpeliormances in October 1995 with ballerinaswho peliorm various routines on the roof ofthe flying Antonov while wearing tutus andgoggles! Amazingly they refuse to wearparachutes because they say they restricttheir movements! Rather cruelly, theballerinas have nicknamed their historic steed'The Flying Cow'.Specifications(for the PZL built An-2P)Span:18.18m(59ft 8in)Length: 12.74m(41ft9in)Engine: One 746kw(1 ,000hp)PZL KaliszASz-62IR radial piston engineCruise speed: 185km/h (100kts)Accommodation: Maximum 19, normally 12This Polish-built Antonov An-2TP was delivered to the East German airline InterfluginAugust 1968. Based at Berlin Schonefeld airport, it was soldin 1990to Berliner SpecialFlug. Note the modified cockpit and cabin windows. (Author's collection)This late model An-2TP was built in Poland around 1990 and registeredin Czechoslovakia. In 1994 it was placed on the new Slovakian register as OM-UINand is seen here at White Waltham inSeptember whereI was fortunate to have a flight in it. (Author)15The elusive Antonovwas rarely seen by westerners until organised tours for aircraft enthusiasts were made into the Soviet Union in the 1980s. Hereis CCCP-13323 at Myachkovo in September 1991; it crashed in December 1993. (Author's collection)ANTONOV An-8Antonov Design Bureau1 Tupolev Prospect, 252062 KievUkraineBack in the days of the 'cold war' of the early1950s, the Soviet Union was not concerned iftheir latest aeronautical development wasunknown in the West. Indeed, with aguaranteed home market for any new airlinerand the occasional prospect of export sales tofriendly countries, they were hardly likely toadvertise their new products in the pages of'Flight International'.It wasin these circumstances that thegroundbreaking twin-engined An-8 was born.Hardly noticed by the Western aviation press,the An-8 was however asignificant milestonein the design progress of Antonov transportsthat eventually led via the An-1 0 (see page18), to the remarkable four-engine An-12(seepage 20) which formed the backbone of theSoviet transport fleet for many years.Until recent use in theUAE, South Africaand SriLanka, the An-8(NATO reportingname 'Camp') was virtually unknown outsidetheUSSR.Designed around 1952/53, it firstflew in 1955 powered by two Kuznetsov NK-6turboprops and made its first publicappearance at the Tushino Air Show in 1956.Up to 200 were built at the Antonov factory atGAZ No. 34 in Tashkent. The type first enteredservice with the Soviet armed forcesas amilitary transport in 1956 and it wassometimes seen with Aeroflot titles, but thiswas acommonpractice with Soviet militarytransport aircraft anddidn01 signify genuineownership by Aeroflot.Around 1979, thesmall fleet of military An-8s were withdrawnfrom front-line service and several weretransferred to Aeroflot as freighters.Even though it was only built in relativelysmall numbers, the An-8 was considered tobe aremarkable aircraft. Antonov had noexperience building highly stressed all-metalaircraft of this size,so the resulting highquality design was all the more surprising.Most significant of the advanced featuresprovided was thehigh winglayout with afull-widthrear loading ramp, which, combinedwith the high tailplane, enabled direct loadingof freight into the unpressurised 2.5m squarerear fuseiage.Thehigh wing whichkept thepropellers wellclear of the groundand thestrong, retractable, twin-tandemmainundercarriage housedin neat fuselage fairingsassisted operations fromunprepared fields.Military An-8s had arear gun turret at thebase of the fin, but this is now faired over for'civilian'use.The An-8 was given the nickname 'Kit'(Whale) by its crews. This caused oneMoscow company to adopt the name'Kosmos i Transport Aviakompania', allowingthem to paint KIT titles on their An-8s andeven have acartoon of awhaleon the tail.Afew dozenare reportedas stored orpreserved in the FSU, while only ahandfulsurvive in airworthy condition.In the late1990s, flyable examples of this very rareaircraft could be foundon freight services in16the darkest corners of Africa,in SriLanka andat Sharjah in the UAE. Judging by theconditionof an An-8 I inspected at Sharjah,some of them lead atough life. They areobviously flowninto unmade strips that throwup dirt and stones on to the elevators and it isdoubtful if they receive more than basicmaintenance. In March 1999, anew countryto operate the type was noted whenSingapore-based Air Mark addedan An-8 totheir fleet.SpecificationsSpan: 37.00m(121 ft 4in)Length: 30.74m(100ft 1Oin)Engines: Two 3,863ekW (4,190ehp)Progress AI-20D turbopropsCruise speed: 480km!h(255I