Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Golden Age of Air Travel
    The Golden Age of Air Travel
    The Golden Age of Air Travel
    Ebook90 pages44 minutes

    The Golden Age of Air Travel

    By Nina Hadaway

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    For much of the twentieth century travel by air was a luxury available only to the wealthy, and accordingly the airlines – Pan Am, BOAC, TWA, BEA and many others – offered premium services that connected far-flung parts of the world with con trails of glamour. This book looks back at the golden age, from the 1920s to the 1970s, when well-appointed airliners whisked the rich and famous around the world on holiday and on business. It evokes the chink of champagne glasses, the aroma of expensive cigars and the roar of early jet engines: the experience of air travel before package holidays and budget airlines changed flying forever. The various types of aircraft, the routes and the airports, as well as the changes undergone by the industry, are all explored here and illustrated by fascinating historical material.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateApr 10, 2013
    ISBN9780747813477
    The Golden Age of Air Travel

    Related to The Golden Age of Air Travel

    Titles in the series (100)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    European History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Sid Cotton’s Air Force

      Jan 25, 2022

      Sid Cotton’s Air Force
      4 min read

    • Article

      Flying Far

      Oct 30, 2019

      Flying Far
      12 min read

    • Article

      The First Business Jets

      Aug 28, 2019

      The First Business Jets
      7 min read

    • Article

      Is It Bollocks?

      Oct 16, 2020

      Is It Bollocks?
      1 min read

    • Article

      The French Lindbergh

      Sep 3, 2019

      The French Lindbergh
      7 min read

    • Article

      Tragic Mistakes

      Feb 28, 2020

      Tragic Mistakes
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Glorious ‘Stringbag’

      Jan 1, 2019

      The Glorious ‘Stringbag’
      9 min read

    • Article

      Covert Lightning

      Jun 7, 2022

      Covert Lightning
      7 min read

    • Article

      1911-1920

      Jul 5, 2019

      In a time when few cities had unobstructed and suitable areas, a good alternative was taking off and landing on the water. In February 1911, Glenn Curtiss, a builder, introduces a version of its Model D equipped with floats, which wascapable to opera

      7 min read

    • Article

      Reaching New Heights

      Apr 1, 2019

      Reaching New Heights
      3 min read

    • Article

      The Weird World Of Airships

      Apr 13, 2023

      The Weird World Of Airships
      8 min read

    • Article

      From The Beginning Until 1910

      Jul 5, 2019

      It is not easy to detail which was the first flight experience of mankind. However, there ae records that in 1783, passengers have made experimental ascensions in the hot air balloon of brothers Joseph and Jacques Montgolfier, paper manufacturers in

      6 min read

    • Article

      A Century Of Change

      Feb 15, 2022

      To say that the face of aviation has changed beyond recognition over the past hundred years is accurate yet still an understatement. With about 500,000 people estimated to be in the air at any given time today, flying has become a much more accessibl

      1 min read

    • Article

      How Rail Crash-land Ed Over Air Services

      Jun 17, 2022

      Back in the 1960s, in the period just after Beeching and when the railway was starting to plan its way out of the negativity of closures and cutbacks, the designation ‘Inter-City’ was taken from a Western Region named express and applied to all BR’s

      4 min read

    • Article

      France’s Big Boat

      Nov 23, 2021

      France’s Big Boat
      3 min read

    • Article

      South America, By Air

      Sep 10, 2021

      South America, By Air
      5 min read

    • Article

      When Airships Ruled The Skies

      Sep 10, 2021

      When Airships Ruled The Skies
      7 min read

    • Article

      1951 - 1960

      Jul 5, 2019

      At the start of 1950s, was evident that the area of Santos Dumont Airport didn t had space to meet the crescent demand from the city of Rio de Janeiro. A solution found was to build (at the same time it was decided to built in the Galeão Air Base, wh

      8 min read

    • Article

      The Race across the Atlantic

      Nov 23, 2023

      The Race across the Atlantic
      6 min read

    • Article

      Aerofilms Collection

      Sep 21, 2022

      Aerofilms Collection
      3 min read

    • Article

      1921-1930

      Jul 5, 2019

      1921-1930
      7 min read

    • Article

      Poste Aérienne

      Jan 14, 2022

      Poste Aérienne
      5 min read

    • Article

      Air-cushioned Cruising

      Jul 8, 2022

      Air-cushioned Cruising
      2 min read

    • Article

      The First Ultralight

      Dec 20, 2019

      The First Ultralight
      9 min read

    • Article

      1991-2000

      Jul 5, 2019

      “If you want to know how much it costs, you don’t have money to have one”. The phrase is old and applies to many things, among jets high operating costs. In the early 1990, Pilatus Aircraft, a Swiss company was in search of a way of increasing the qu

      6 min read

    • Article

      Outstanding in its Field

      Jun 17, 2021

      Outstanding in its Field
      7 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Golden Age of Air Travel

    4/5

    1 rating0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      The Golden Age of Air Travel - Nina Hadaway

      INTRODUCTION

      When once you have tasted flight you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward… (Leonardo da Vinci)

      SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME , man has turned his eyes to the sky – and wondered. Flying has featured in fables, legends and myths. It has become a reality through trial and error, perseverance and scientific investigation, with the invention of both lighter-than-air vehicles such as balloons and heavier-than-air craft. Over the years the form of these creations has changed, with different disciplines and new technologies coming together to determine the latest designs. The role of the aircraft has also developed. This book looks at how commercial air travel has evolved from short joy-rides to round-the-world flights. It highlights the passenger experience from the 1910s to the 1970s; a golden age of air travel because of the way in which flying was undertaken, the attitude of the public towards flight during this period, and the many features that no longer form a part of today’s mass movement of people around the world. It was a time when flying was considered exciting and modern, both a novelty and a treat. It was a glamorous adventure to be savoured and enjoyed.

      An early woodcut depicting the story of Icarus flying too close to the sun.

      The monoplane Atalanta, built for the British Empire routes of Imperial Airways, flies over Croydon Airport in the 1930s. Contemporary artwork.

      EARLY DAYS OF AIR TRAVEL

      FLYINGWAS STILL IN ITS INFANCY when the first fare-paying passengers took to the air. As early as the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, huge crowds gathered to witness the ascents made by pioneering balloonists. Soon it became possible for members of the public to be taken up, and at the cost of a few shillings several minutes could be spent aloft.

      With the development of the aeroplane, enthusiasts promoted this exciting new mode of transport. Air shows and aerial derbies were organised during the 1910s. These caught the imagination of the public, and thousands attended meetings and displays. Those held at Hendon were very popular, and the ‘Hendon Habit’ was formed. Attending this venue became part of the summer social calendar alongside Ascot or Henley. The pilots taking part at Hendon became celebrities and offered joy-rides that were enthusiastically taken up by those who could afford them. It became fashionable to wrap up against the elements and to go on a circuit of the showground with one of these airmen. The thrill of such an experience was often accompanied by a degree of trepidation. Lieutenant Colonel Charles Edward Stewart was a passenger at Hendon in 1912. He recalled some years later:

      There’s nothing like your first flight! … I climbed … into the thing and saw my seat … was a plank with … wickerwork sides and back. The pilot’s body would come between my legs and his shoulders would be level with my knees so that if the thing’s nose dipped suddenly I should probably fall on top of him… I told him I felt most insecure.

      The idea of taking several passengers up at once was explored, and companies such as the Grahame-White Aviation Company Ltd built aircraft for this purpose. Between 1910 and 1914 airships in Germany carried over thirty thousand passengers on sightseeing trips or on flights between the country’s cities. By 1914 seasonal flights in aircraft were being undertaken in the United States and Russia. With the

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1