Stewardess Gill
Price – a former ‘Miss
BOAC’ – serves drinks
in the rear cabin of an
Argonaut. The shot
was posed: passengers
would normally be
served from in front,
not from behind!
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The short-lived
‘Double Speedbird’
livery, with the
corporation’s
trademark appearing
twice on the upper
fuselage but not on the
tail, is demonstrated
as G-ALHU Artemis is
towed in to position.
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Flexible Cabins
From 1951 changes inside the cabin brought greater flexibility.
Freight bins were produced that could quickly replace either
the first one or two rows of seats for flights with high cargo or
airmail demand and a freight door was installed on the main
deck to allow carriage of outsize cargo. The following year six
of the fleet were adapted to allow provision of luxurious VIP
accommodation in the rear cabin and over a 13-month period
from August 1952 all of the Argonauts were modified to enable
an all-Coronet Tourist class high density layout with 54 seats,
with the fleet increasingly used in this configuration. When thus
fitted the wardrobe and aft lounge were removed, the amidships
toilet moved to the front and the ladies’ powder room was
converted to an extra freight hold.
Conversion between any of these cabin layouts could be
accomplished in a few hours and freight bins or seats could be
folded and carried on the main deck while VIP fittings and
freight door components could be stored in the holds. The
changes increased the Argonaut’s maximum take-off weight and
improved the aircraft’s range, and the fleet became prized as a
highly flexible utility workhorse.
The Argonauts were appreciated by BOAC’s load controllers
too, as their broad range of centre of gravity was very usefulThe crew of G-ALHK
Atalanta prepare for
another departure.
BOAC’s policy of
‘slipping’ crew down
route meant that on
the Argonauts’ multi-
stop schedules the crew
could be away for up
to three weeks.
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46 AIRLINER Classics 2018