Touch-down after pre-acceptance flight

The fifth Carvair conversion was registered G-AREK with Aviation Traders in November 1962, subsequently operating as N9757F, LX-IOG, F-BMHV, G-AREK and F-BYCL (Uni Air) by July 1977. Seen here just prior to delivery to Falcon Airways as as N83FA, it was leased to Kodiak Western in 1981, sold to Gifford Aviation in May 1982 and Custom Air Service in October 1985. Crashed at Griffin, GA on 4 April 1997

Seen here departing on the first leg of its long delivery flight to Texas, the second Carvair for Falcon Airways. Ex G-ASHZ and now one of only two of the 21 Carvairs surviving

Another shot from Cessna 172 G-ATLN during this test flight out of Southend over the Essex countryside before acceptance by Falcon Airways

Ex F-BYCL, registered 26th Aug 1979 and written off after crashing into shopping mall after take off from Griffin, Georgia USA 04/th Apr 1997

A shot of this amazing beast from my Cessna 172 camera ship

Delivered as Dove 1 to LAN Chile in April 1950 as CC-CAD. Sold as N4921V in March 1955. Converted by Carstedt Aviation in 1966 to be the first CJ600 with stretched fuselage and TPE331 tuboprops. Later reconfigured for freight. To N900MW.

Working at Southend Airport in the 'Seventies produced some great opportunities. Just before N80FA departed on its ferry flight to Texas, I was able to fix up an air-to-air session from Cessna 172 G-ATLN. We flew as fast as possible, the Carvair as slow as it could with everything down. I can still hear those P&Ws roaring over the sound of my open window and the general racket in the Cessna. I even sold my car to one of the Falcon directors who duly loaded and flew home to the States with it - truly Car-via-air as Freddie Laker originally intended. This aircraft crashed in Alaska in 1997 as N103; another of the few remaining Carvairs suffered a similar fate up there in May 2007, so now only two survive