![]() Airships also had the advantages of long range (when unladen, the R34 was said to have sufficient fuel for non-stop flights of up to 8,000miles), weight carrying and flight durability. The airship best of all,” stated Aircraft on 28 May after the failure of the Hawker & Grieves transatlantic flight. “The single-engined aeroplane is not, and never will be, a long distance over water machine. Unlike an aircraft, an airship which experienced engine trouble could still remain in the air. The reason why airships why airships were perceived as the transport of the future was because they were considered safe. It's safer by airshipĪ proposed London-New York airship. “For commercial purposes the airship is a very serious contender to the aeroplane in long distance flights,” wrote Aircraft on 4 June 1919. In a lecture on commercial aviation given shortly before the flight of the R34, Captain Illingworth from the RAF said that the immediate future of Atlantic flying lay with airships while aeroplanes would remain the instrument for short or rapid trips between 800 to 1,000 miles. Following the success of the R34’s two transatlantic flights in July 1919, contemporary commenters were all convinced that the future of long-distance passenger air transport lay with lighter-than-air vessels. However, while heavier-than-air aircraft were starting to be considered safe enough to use for short distance commercial flights, long-distance flights would be conducted by the safest and most reliable form of aerial transport currently known – the airship. R34 – the pioneer of long-distance travel travel? (NAL) Aircraft manufacturers and private operators were also eyeing the commercial possibilities of using proven existing aircraft designs to carry passengers and cargo safely over shorter distances. However, these pioneering and somewhat risky in terms of safety long-distance flights were not the only aviation developments. ![]() As already described in a previous article, 1919 saw the first flights across the Atlantic between America and Europe, as well as from Britain to Australia. With the Great War now over, the aviation industry was now looking to the future and how new technology and aircraft designs developed in wartime could be used for peacetime operations. Returning to where it all began in 1919, this article delves in the historical archives of the RAeS National Aerospace Library to look at the background to the first international passenger flights and how the aviation press thought that air transport would develop in the future.ġ919 was an exciting year in the history of aviation. BOAC was later merged in 1974 with BEA to create British Airways. ![]() With the outbreak of WW2 in 1939, Imperial Airways and another airline, British Airways Ltd, were taken over first by the Air Ministry-run National Air Communication (NAC) and then, in 1940, combined into a new company called British Overseas Airways Corporation. This company lasted until 1924 when Imperial Airways was formed with the incorporation of Daimler Airways, Instone Air Line Company, British Marine Air Navigation and Handley Page Transport. The assets of AT&T were acquired by Daimler and combined with Daimler Air Hire to form Daimler Airways Ltd. First formed in 1916 as part of the Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited (Airco), AT&T became part of the BSA Group in 1920 but went bankrupt at the end of the year. The links between AT&T and BA are somewhat complicated and not a little confusing. ![]() The centenary is not of the British Airways’ name, which dates back to 1974 with the merger of British European Airways (BEA) and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) but to a small company called Air Transport & Travel (AT&T) which, on 25 August 1919, launched the world's first daily international passenger air service from London to Paris. This year British Airways (BA) is celebrating its centenary. Flying from the Ritz to the Ritz, long-distance luxury airships and pilots playing bridge - BILL READ FRAeS looks at how the aviation press of 100 years ago reported on the birth of international air travel in 1919 and how they thought it would develop in the future. ![]()
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