74 African Pilot April 2015
British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). The last named called
its airliners ‘Argonauts.’ Five of BOAC’s Argonauts were leased to East
African Airways which operated them on its Johannesburg service during
the late fi fties and early sixties. BOAC also sold four Argonauts to the
Royal Rhodesian Air Force which operated them from late 1959 to 1964
when they were sold to British operators.
Let us not forget Aviation Traders Limited’s ATL-98. A British company
Channel Air Bridge required a replacement for its Bristol 170 vehicle ferry
aircraft. As C-54s were going cheaply in the late fi fties they were ideal for
conversion and the C-54 became the ATL-98. A 2.6 m extension to the forward
fuselage allowed for a hydraulically powered swing nose and the cockpit was
redesigned to fi t above the fuselage similar to the Boeing 747. The rudder
and fi n area had to be increased to cater for the increased side area and
the raised cockpit. The ATL 98 could carry fi ve cars and 23 passengers in a
separate rear cabin. Twenty one C-54 airframes were converted. One example
of this rare aircraft exists in South Africa and is parked at the eastern side of
the Rand Airport maintenance area. There are still a number of DC-4s
in South Africa. ZS-AUB and ZS-BMF are still operational and belong
to the South African Airways’ Museum Society which leases the
airliners to Skyclass which operates charter and ‘fl ipping’ fl ights
along with former SAA Douglas DC-3 ZS-BXF. Douglas DC-4 (tail
number 43155 ex ZS-BMF) is displayed at the South African Air Force
Museum at Swartkop Air Force Base and a former Phoebus Apollo C-54
freighter ZS-PAJ together with ZS-AUA are displayed at the SAA Museum
at Rand Airport.