Two British Air Ferries Carvairs operating a freight charter through Ringway. G-APNH "Menai Bridge" is left and G-AOFW (10351/12) is at the right edge of this scene on the cargo apron.

One of then only two flyable Carvairs in the world is seen here in a glorious take-off, a very rare and wonderful sight (and sound)! This beautiful oldie had already seen a lot of the world: it flew as LN-IAE, JA6012, HL4003, VH-INK, N54598, ZK-NWA, N5459X and C-GAAH, before ending up with Brooks Fuel in late 2002. Roger Brooks did a great restoration job on it, but then unfortunately crashed it near McGrath, AK on 30 May 2007.

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

Converted from an Ansett-ANA DC-4 in 1965