"Centaurus" prepares to depart for New York (Idlewild) via Prestwick on the the inaugural BOAC transatlantic flight from Manchester (Ringway) Airport. A crowd of interested onlookers observes from inside Hangar No. 6.

What a stroke of luck! During a visit to the AMC Museum, NASA's Super Guppy made a fuel stop at Dover AFB. She was returning to Houston after delivering an Osprey to Philadelphia.

Ex-Arizona ANG 52-2761 has been stored at Greybull for many years but is still almost totally intact.

This old girl serves as the gate guard at the Octave Chanute Aerospace Museum. The museum closed in November 2015 and the C-97 and C-133 were offered for scrap at government auction in September 2017.

'No.4' arrives at Ringway to pick up a set of Airbus wings which has been brought by road overnight from BAE's factory at Chester.

This image gives a good view of both the Stratocruiser and the Seattle-Tacoma terminal building. N74602 was delivered to NWAL on 22 June 1949 and served until sale to Lockheed in 1959. Scrapped in 1963. Obtained from the airline 60 years ago.

Ex USAF Stratofreighter 52-2764. Used for worldwide flights to relieve famine etc.

"Clipper Southern Cross" was delivered to Pan Am on 30 March 1949. It is seen shortly after repainting in an updated colour scheme. Sold as 4X-AOH in 1962. Obtained from Pan Am over 50 years ago.

This Strat is operating the LHR-Ringway-Prestwick-Idlewild (JFK) schedule. She served BOAC from February 1950 until sale in January 1959 and wears unusually large company titling.

"RMA Centaurus" on finals to Runway 06 direct from NY (Idlewild) when operating the inaugural BOAC scheduled service to Ringway. G-ALSC served the airline from December 1949 until sale to Transocean in December 1958 as N406Q.

Ex USAF KC-97G 53-218. Converted to KC-97L. Last served 191 ARS, Utah ANG. Seen here stored at Greybull, but still in USAF markings with additional Flight 97 Restaurant logo and titles, from the time it was in use as such from 1986 until 1989. The Flight 97 Restaurant was a two-storey restaurant at the airport at McMinnville, OR, with this C-97 aircraft attached to it as a dining room. It opened for business in Feb 1986, after the C-97 had been flown there from Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ in Sep 1985. The venture was a failure and the restaurant closed in 1987. The C-97 was put up for auction in 1988, but initially remained unsold. It was eventually sold in Dec 1989 and to the Minnesota ANG Museum in 2000.

"RMA Caribou" operating a LHR-MAN-Idlewild (later JFK) scheduled service

Built for USAAF as a KC-97G tanker 52-2698 and later modified to KC-97L. Sold to Hawkins & Powers and converted to C-97G standard. Still active in 2006. Note the Aluminum Overcast nose art.

The first Stratocruiser for AOA, N90941 was delivered to the airline on 13 June 1949. AOA merged into Pan Am on 25 September 1950. This aircraft was damaged beyond repair in a belly landing at Tokyo on 9 July 1959. This publicity photo of pax boarding into the lower deck was obtained from AOA over 60 years ago.

Three Arizona Air Guard KC-97L Srtratofreighter tankers on oetachment to Rhein-Main AFB with 0-22761 in the foreground.

A pair of A300 wings has arrived at Ringway by road from the Chester factory. The lorry tractor unit is carefully propelling the wings into the Super Guppy's capacious fuselage before departure to the Airbus plant.

The first of seven Stratocruisers delivered to UAL during late 1949 and early 1950, seen during a pre-handover photo sortie off the Washington coast. N31225 served UAL from 28 September 1949 until sale to BOAC as G-ANTX on 29 December 1954. Obtained from Boeing 60 years ago.

AOA's "Flagship Great Britain" at Boeing Field before delivery to the airline. Served from 13 June 1949 until AOA was merged into Pan Am on 25 September 1950. Damaged beyond repair in a belly landing at Tokyo on 9 July 1959. From AOA over 60 years ago.

It was a treat to see these aircraft on visits to Frankfurt in the 1970s. This aircraft of the Texas ANG is seen taking off

This Stratofreighter, owned by Stratolift Inc, shows misleading identification marks. It is ex USAF 52-0883 (with some difficulty '0883' can be seen below the faded U.S. Air Force titles on the nose), but the tail clearly shows '0237'. This is because the original tail fin was damaged, and it was replaced with that of 53-0237 (cn 17019). The missing cowling of engine #3 suggests that this aircraft had already been withdrawn from use at the time. It was slowly reduced to scrap here during 1994-1996.