Tripoli, Libya, and Kano and Lagos, both in
Nigeria, previously served by Avro Yorks. It
was wearing BOAC’s new dark blue and white
livery rather than just polished metal and had
an interior layout for 40 passengers. BOAC’s
Hermes served on west, east and south
African routes.
In a dramatic incident BOAC Hermes
G-ALDN carrying ten passengers and eight
crew on a scheduled service from Tripoli to
Kano (Nigeria) flew substantially off course
owing to a navigational error. The aircraft
crash-landed in the desert near an oasis in
Mauritania on May 26, 1952. None were
injured but during the five-day wait for rescue
the co-pilot died from heat exhaustion.DISPOSALS
The Hermes’ career was short with BOAC,
and on being replaced by Canadair
Argonauts in 1952, they were cocooned at
Heathrow. When the DH Comet jetliners were
unexpectedly grounded, several were briefly
recommissioned from July to December 1954.
BOAC replaced its Hermes fleet as they were
expensive to operate, noisy and tended to
fly tail-down reducing speed, but increased
drag and fuel consumption. Despite their
shortcomings, BOAC had had little difficulty
in disposing of the surplus aircraft to British
operators and Hermes were acquired by
Airwork, Skyways and Britavia.
As BOAC would not accept the early
Hermes IVs, G-AKFP, G-ALDA, ’B or ’C and
G-ALDF (after its crash-landing at Hurn) they
were leased to Airwork from mid-1952 after
it had won a sizeable contract for moving
British troops around the world. Considerable
modifications were made to the aircraft. The
Bristol Hercules 763 engines were replaced
by Hercules 773s, enabling the use of a more
easily available, lower-octane fuel. These
aircraft were redesignated as Hermes IVA,
the first of which, G-ALDB, was delivered
to Airwork in April 1952. Fitted with 68
strengthened, rearward-facing seats and
painted in military markings, the Airwork
Hermes IVAs plied regularly between
Blackbushe, Hampshire, and RAF Fayid in the
Suez Canal Zone. Delivery of the four other
Hermes followed.
Airwork then ran an almost nightly service
via Malta to RAF Fayid in the Suez Canal
Zone. This was the first employment of
pressurised aircraft for trooping by Britain.
Airwork also leased and then purchased
G-ALDG and G-ALDO. For trooping flights
some of the Airwork Hermes carried military
registrations; G-AKFP became XD632,
G-ALDA-G-ALDC and G-ALDF became
WZ838-WZ841 respectively.
Airwork’s experience with the Hermes, like
BOAC’s, had its incidents. On July 23, 1952
G-ALDB was en route to Malta over France
on a troop flight to Khartoum when an inboard
engine ran out of control, its reduction gear
disintegrated hitting the outboard engine.
With heavy drag on one side of the aircraft
the Hermes started descending rapidly and
vibrating dangerously leaving the pilots noalternative other than to crash-land in the dark
French countryside near Pithiviers. All the
occupants escaped safely.
In a further event, G-ALDF was flying on
a Sudan government charter on August 25,- It had taken off from Blackbushe, but
then one and then another inboard engine
failed when the aircraft was an hour’s flight
from Malta. The remaining two engines
then gave out. The pilot ditched the aircraft,
which stayed afloat for about ten minutes
and help was soon forthcoming for the
passengers but sadly seven of the 57 people
on board died.
The first Hermes IV, G-AKFP ended its ‘life’
ignominiously on September 1, 1957 when
it landed on an incorrect runway at Calcutta
Airport colliding with Douglas DC-3 and was
written off. Airwork disposed of its remaining
Hermes in 1959 and became part of British
United Airways in 1960.TROOPING
Skyways won a one-year trooping contract
in 1955 to transport 12,000 people fromStansted via Rome and Nicosia, Cyprus, to
the Middle East, Africa and the Far East. To
carry out this task it purchased nine Hermes
IVs from BOAC in 1955. These were;
G-ALDD and ’E, G-ALDH, G-ALDR, ’S and ’T,
G-ALDV, G-ALDW and G-ALDY.
Skyways’ Hermes G-ALDW was destroyed
by a bomb placed in its luggage hold at
Nicosia on March 4, 1956. Thankfully, the
aircraft was empty at the time so no one was
hurt in this terrorist act. Skyways also lost
G-ALDV when it crashed after take-off on
a test flight from Stansted on April 1, 1958,
with the loss of the three crew on board. The
accident was caused by an extraneous object
jamming the elevator control. By 1961 the
Hermes had been disposed of and the airline
merged with Euravia.
Britavia was another important user of
the type. G-ALDU, one of the six Hermes
operated by the company was first of
its ‘breed’ to fly the North Atlantic. It left
Blackbushe on November 14, 1955 carrying
39 passengers and reached New York in
17hrs 15mins flying via Shannon and Gander,
Newfoundland; it returned via Gander, in
16hrs 9mins. Its other Hermes were G-ALDI-
G-ALDK, G-ALDP, and G-ALDX purchased in
1954-1955.
The airline operated trooping and charter
flights with Hermes but lost two in accidents
in 1956. Its work for the military continued
until 1959 when Britavia merged with Silver
City Airways.
The Hermes were then employed on flights
supporting the oil industry in Libya and onhttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 81HERMES IV SPECIFICATION
Length 95ft 10in (30m)
Wingspan 11 3ft (34.4m)
Height 30ft (9.1m)
MTOW 84,000lb (38,102kg)
Cruising speed 280mph (451km/h)
Range 2,000 miles (3,219km)
Passengers 82The first Hermes IV, G-AKFP in Airwork livery. BOAC refused to accept it because it was
heavier than specification. It was leased and then sold to Airwork. T ChapmanAn unidentified Hermes undergoing heavy maintenance at Airwork’s Blackbushe base. Key Collection78-82_hermesDC.mfDC.indd 81 06/06/2018 11:09