Australia’s civil aviation in 1950

Some used to go to Rathmines too. I'd watch them and Catalina's from the other side of Kilaben Bay. Nev

Did we see you in that movie, Nev?

Nah They only wanted the good looking young fella's  Nev

FH was the model for the Biggles series.

I didn't see any actual year the film was made? Late '50's or early 50's?

They were talking there about Feeder airlines and showed some of the feeder aircrtaft like the DeHavilland Dove.

That was the government policy then and it's a pity the government wasn't more strict because we would be seeing major airports at regional cities and big towns with feeder bus routes to the smaller towns.

What happened is that entrepreneurs tried to dominate the market, and a few, like Reg Ansett cleaned the competitors out then dropped the services so the rehional cities didn't grow and the capital cities became inefficient because of traffic delays. Today there is a huge potential market for commuter cities within a commuting distance of about 60 - 90 minutes, but we don't have the airports or fast processin systems to kick it off.

Seat Km costs for smaller turboprops don't get close to 200 plus seats on a Jet and everyone thinks they are getting ripped off. Connair had more route miles than BEA but needed a subsidy to operate. I think that is just a fact of life.. IF you live in remote areas you don't get a large specialist Hospital just down the road either. Nev

It's interesting to see that AF-KLM is investing in Airbus A220's in a big way, the day of the jumbo jet has gone. Electric aircraft for short haul will be the next big market, the running costs will be much lower, the pollution levels will be much lower, and they will be quieter. A lot of regional airports will more than likely get some serious upgrades in the next 10-20 years.

https://money.usnews.com/investing/news/articles/2021-09-29/air-france-sees-slight-rebound-in-domestic-business-travel

6 hours ago, turboplanner said:

They were talking there about Feeder airlines and showed some of the feeder aircrtaft like the DeHavilland Dove.

That was the government policy then and it's a pity the government wasn't more strict because we would be seeing major airports at regional cities and big towns with feeder bus routes to the smaller towns.

What happened is that entrepreneurs tried to dominate the market, and a few, like Reg Ansett cleaned the competitors out then dropped the services so the rehional cities didn't grow and the capital cities became inefficient because of traffic delays. Today there is a huge potential market for commuter cities within a commuting distance of about 60 - 90 minutes, but we don't have the airports or fast processin systems to kick it off.

Our little town had its own airline, with three or four small feeder planes that did daily flights Gunnedah-Tamworth-Quirindi-Sydney. A small group of us is writing a history of aviation in the Quirindi district (every time an old fart turns up they get a proper interrogation). We have turned up some surprising stories.

18 hours ago, Old Koreelah said:

Our little town had its own airline, with three or four small feeder planes that did daily flights Gunnedah-Tamworth-Quirindi-Sydney. 

Japan solved this problem using fast trains - Live in Mount Gambier, start work at 9 am in Melbourne CBD

Just had a (first) chance to view that in detail. Pretty good quality footage. An actual plane I flew to Cocos Is, PNG and Syd- Norfolk Is. Auckland DC-4, VH TAB is at 16 minutes and 20 minutes but I flew it some 15 years later when it had 72,000 hours on the airframe. A few good Avro Anson and Super Constellation shots and the extension of Rwy16 into Botany Bay. Thanks for posting that. Nev

3 hours ago, facthunter said:

Just had a (first) chance to view that in detail. Pretty good quality footage. An actual plane I flew to Cocos Is, PNG and Syd- Norfolk Is. Auckland DC-4, VH TAB is at 16 minutes and 20 minutes but I flew it some 15 years later when it had 72,000 hours on the airframe. A few good Avro Anson and Super Constellation shots and the extension of Rwy16 into Botany Bay. Thanks for posting that. Nev

Nev they sure built them to last!  We sometimes see DC-4 being flown in northern Canada by Arctic Air.

 I presume that VH-TAB had already done a bit of work before this film; if not, it would have averaged 13 hours work per day.

They weren't here in 1947 when TAA started so she'd be pretty new in 1950. Perhaps It may have originally been a C54. and have a few years  on it. When I joined TAB was in the hangar doing a major and was stripped bare and was offllne for months,  It was    then I learned of the hour s and the fact No cracks were found in the structure which is pretty much unheard of.'

  When a wing fell off a Vickers Viscount on approach to Port Hedland, all the Viscount's were immediately grounded and TAB being the only one equipped with interior and seats swung into action and 'WE' took the 8 am Sydney-Melbourne  businessman's special to the air in style and a good view at 8,000 feet altitude. You'd pay a lot extra for THAT today..( About a year later they were all sold and left the country).. I  really don't recall the Customer reaction. Our superb Sydney Hosties must have done a good job because I wasn't aware of any complaints.  They'd have  to look hard to find ones who "knew " the type at that stage of the game. The passengers also got an extra one and a half hours of flight for no extra charge. Nev

I have a mate who was destined to ride on that Vickers Viscount to Pt Hedland from Perth on 31st Dec 1968. At the last minute he was taken ill, and another bloke from his company took his place.

There were no survivors from the 26 people on board the Viscount, and I can still remember the national shock of that crash to this day. My mate is still incredulous over his "sliding doors" moment.

It had a spar replaced but not done properly.. Another had a wing fail with an engine fire on the way to Winton. Another had horizontal tail plane failure just after take off at Sydney, it encountered a storm cell and It fell into Botany bay.. Subsequent to that weather radar was installed in most planes in Australia big enough  to do it to. Nev