Airline service from London to Paris in 1923.
The airplane was probably a Handley Page Type O, which was a converted WW1 bomber. They flew for Handley Page Transport, which later became part of Imperial Airways.`
2.5 hours of flying time; the airplane probably cruised at 90 mph. But as there was no security and a rudimentary customs inspection, it probably doesn't take any less time to travel from downtown London to downtown Paris by air now than it did 95 years ago.
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6 comments:
"The Channel trip has been robbed of its terror..."
"Approaching London through the ever-present fog..."
I love it.
I had a great experience on the Eurostar, London to Paris and return, via Business Premium. I can see why it has captured two thirds of that market. Better scenery, but don't blink.
Brave people! Apparently 19,000+ of them took that flight.
Actually, 19k+ was 1922 only. Reading the little clipping, between the last 4 months of 1919 and the end of 1922:
12,859 flights
49,024 passengers
1,695,704 lbs freight
8,771 lbs of mail (1920-21 only)
As for the planes, G-EATG was a Handley Page O/10 and G-EASY was a Handley Page O/11. The 10 was a converted 0/400 that could carry 12 passengers and the 11 was an O/400 converted to an O/7 version (fuel tanks behind the engines) then converted to an O/11 that carried 2 passengers up front, cargo in the middle, and 3 passengers in the rear. I was surprised that the British historical aircraft registration data was so easy to search up, but as of 1921, it’s all there.
To think that less than 20 years after the Wright Brothers first flew, they were running airline service between London and Paris like that is pretty amazing.
If they'd upgrade the NE Corridor rail lines to permit true high-speed trains, from the time you left mid-town Manhattan, you'd be in DC before clearing security at LaGarbage.
Except that they’d add security as the trains became a more interesting target...
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