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- SILVER CITY AIRWAYS: HOW THE 1st CROSS-CHANNEL SERVICE WAS BORN, EXPANDED & DIED
SILVER CITY AIRWAYS: HOW THE 1st CROSS-CHANNEL SERVICE WAS BORN, EXPANDED & DIED
THE STORY OF THE SILVER CITY CROSS-CHANNEL SERVICE
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Not many people remember the days before overseas holidays became the norm. For a start, you really had to have a car to get around and, just after the war, they were few and far between. Given that you have a car, the problem was how to get to France - only one way, by the sea-ferry, a process that involved lengthy queueing sessions for prospective passengers. Until, that is, the launch of the
SILVER CITY CROSS-CHANNEL AIR SERVICE.
With an initial stock of Lancastrian and Dakota aircraft, the new company commenced operating from Lympne, a former RAF Battle of Britain airfield, in 1948. Spotting a gap in the market, Silver City leased a newly-fangled Bristol 170 Freighter and, utilising its front-loading nose to embark cars with passengers, opened a route direct to Le Touquet in France, swiftly becoming the preferred choice for many travellers.
FROM 170 CARS IN 1948 TO 42,500 CARS IN 1954:
The story of how Silver City came from nowhere and in a very short time was operating the busiest airport in the UK makes for fascinating reading. Printed to order on high quality, heavyweight (100gsm) paper, the tale is told through contemporary news reports, articles from specialist magazines, period advertisements and colour graphics/photographs, all rounded off with 15 pages of rivetting rememberances written by a (then) young ex-RAF Lancaster jockey who, finding himself out of work at the end of the war, became Silver City's third pilot in 1946. Lastly, a selection of pictures of Silver City's marketing and customer information brochures is included in colour.
CONTENTS (not in order)105 pages in total:
Company Formation news report, 1946
The Channel Car Ferry, 1.5 pages 1950
New equipment order, 2 pages + Plan of Bristol 170 Mk.32, 1952
News report re discount prices, 1952
World Airline Statistice, 1956
Cars Take Wings, 3 pages, Autocar 1958
Confessions of an Airline Pilot, 15 pages 1991
The Airline that gave Cars Wings, 4 pages, 1972
The Golden Years, 2 pages, colour, 2002
Silver City Association, 1 page, colour, 2002
The Bristol 170 in 2 parts with full Cutaway drawing
Photos:
Lympne, 1952
Bristol 170 Mk.32 G-AMWA 1953
Loading cars into a Freighter, 1950
15 assorted photos
Marketing, PR, etc:
19 assorted Time Tables, all in colour