Mail and cargo
is loaded through
G-ALHM’s forward
fuselage door prior to
a f light in 1951.
KEY C I
n the immediate aftermath of World War Two the British
government faced a dilemma: it recognised the need to
re-establish air links with the Commonwealth and with
major world markets through its state-owned airlines, BOAC
(British Overseas Airways Corporation), BSAA (British South
American Airways) and BEA (British European Airways).
However, it faced a wait before the British designs emerging
from the wartime Brabazon Committee would enter service, and
with the country’s weak financial position it had limited access to
dollars to buy aircraft from American manufacturers.
The Canadian manufacturer Canadair offered a persuasive
solution: derived from the Douglas DC-4, it had devised the
Canadair DC-4M using Rolls-Royce Merlin engines to give it a
competitive cruising speed (increased from 197kts to 282kts).
Based on a specification from Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA)
for an aircraft capable of both domestic and trans-ocean flying,
it combined an established, economical aircraft possessing
excellent handling qualities with engines of sufficient
power for the airline’s smaller airfields. It would
also be capable of flying above the worst of the
transatlantic weather.British Elements
For BOAC the Argonauts featured further
modifications including pressurisation (a first for the
carrier), use of different materials in some areas and
moving the cabin door further forward. With take-off
weight increased from 80,200lbs (36,378kg ) to 82,300lbs
(37,331kg ), the design also incorporated elements of the DC-6.
Canadian manufacture would save state-owned BOAC
precious US dollars as more than half the costs were to be paid
in Sterling. Further cost considerations saw British-built Merlins
used as well as British flight instruments, radio equipment, seats,
interior furnishings and tyres, effectively saving BOAC US$4.4
million on the order.
In July 1948, at the same time that the government announced
the abandonment of the Avro Tudor II, it announced the
authorisation for BOAC to order 22 DC-4Ms, which offered
greater capacity, speed and comfort than its obsolescent and
increasingly uncompetitive Avro Yorks and Lancastrians.
BOAC had floated the idea of purchasing DC-4s from Canada
as early as 1944 but had been rebuffed by the Air Ministry,
adamant that the flag carrier must ‘fly British’.
The corporation had maintained a close relationship with
TCA, which had operated the type – which it called the North
Star – on its Montreal-London service since April 15, 1947,
proving its trouble-free reliability, and Canadair demonstrated
the aircraft to BOAC later that same year, offering modifications
to optimise medium as well as long haul flying.
The British government was desperate for a way to maintain a
British presence on the world’s air routes in the period before the
de Havilland DH 106 Comet jetliner would begin operations
and BOAC estimated the Argonaut would produce a £10
million surplus over five years on its Eastern routes compared
with a £10 million loss with the Avro Tudor and Handley Page
HP.81 Hermes.Staying Power
http://www.airlinerworld.com 41“THE f lag carrier [BOAC]
must ‘ f ly British’”