Imperial Airways book recommendations, please

The Crewroom for non-FS related stuff, fun and general chat.

Moderators: Guru's, The Ministry

Post Reply
User avatar
Paul K
Red Arrows
Red Arrows
Posts: 7630
Joined: 12 Jun 2005, 16:41
Location: Norfolk UK

Imperial Airways book recommendations, please

Post by Paul K »

Hello chaps, I'm looking for a history of Imperial, but not just the aircraft; the HP.42/45s and C-class and so on. I'm just as interested in how they surveyed the routes, the facilities they built for overnight stops, the logistic effort involved, even what was on the lunch menu. Also the figures involved, from government and managers to air and ground crew. Hopefully it will include a lot of personal experiences and anecdotes too.

I already have my eye on a couple of books, but thought I would check here first for any personal recommendations. :)

User avatar
AllanL
Concorde
Concorde
Posts: 813
Joined: 06 Sep 2005, 21:01
Location: Scotland

Re: Imperial Airways book recommendations, please

Post by AllanL »

A dark and weary road could stretch ahead of you! I passed this way about 16 years ago when researching IA routes with an American friend for a VA feature.

I'm not sure that you will find what you want in any one book.

A couple of books that will give you the most information are:

British Airways Vol 1 : 1919-39 The Imperial Years by R.E.G. Davies ( a master of airline histories)

Imperial Airways: The Birth of the British Airlines Industry by Robert Bluffield

A book that details the aircraft of IA is The Imperial Airways Fleet by Stroud

You can get a reprint of the Imperial Airways Pilot's Handbook and General Instructions 1924.

A book that concentrates on the Empire Flying-boats is Adventurous Empires: Story of the Short Empire Flying-boats by Philip E Sims

There is a Haynes Manual for the Empire Flying Boat - it was recently available from The Works

A detailed book on the design and engineering of the Empire Boats is Flying Empires by Brian Cassidy. He made it available as a pdf from his website at one point but I don't know if he or the site are still on the go. Counting rivets, he'll tell you exactly the size and location.

There is a book by Alexander Frater describing his adventures following the old Imperial routes to the East. I recall a tale regarding alternative uses for ping pong balls............ Beyond the Blue Horizon.

Finally there was a paperback about the rescue of an Empire Boat from a stranding on an African river - Corsair? - but I forget the name.

Timetables are available from www.timetableimages.com - one of the go to aviation history websites.

Abebooks and ebay are your friends, just don't get drawn into paying daft prices! Sadly I have all of these and a couple of pictorial histories that are short on any detail that you may want.

Cheers,
Allan

User avatar
TobyV
Vintage Pair
Vintage Pair
Posts: 2862
Joined: 26 Jun 2004, 20:41
Location: Halfway up a hill

Re: Imperial Airways book recommendations, please

Post by TobyV »

Can't say I have personally read any of them, but having a quick look, there's no shortage of books to choose from:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=imperial+a ... _ss_i_1_16

User avatar
Paul K
Red Arrows
Red Arrows
Posts: 7630
Joined: 12 Jun 2005, 16:41
Location: Norfolk UK

Re: Imperial Airways book recommendations, please

Post by Paul K »

TobyV wrote:
30 May 2020, 22:39
Can't say I have personally read any of them, but having a quick look, there's no shortage of books to choose from:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=imperial+a ... _ss_i_1_16
Hi Toby - my search yielded pretty much the same results. Perhaps others could click on that link and see if they have a copy on their bookshelves. The ones by Robert Bluffield and Arthur Ord-Hume look to be about right, I think. :thumbsup:
AllanL wrote:
30 May 2020, 21:53
A dark and weary road could stretch ahead of you! I passed this way about 16 years ago when researching IA routes with an American friend for a VA feature.
:lol: Thanks for that cheery news Alan!

Noted the book by R.E.G. Davis, and I see you recommend Mr. Bluffields book too, so that must also go on the list. I've got Brian Cassidy's pdf on the C-class - it's called Flying Empires, and is very good.

Corsair was indeed the aircraft that came to grief on the Dungu River. It's mentioned in Lance Cole's book on the VC10, which I'm reading at the moment.

By the way, have you ever been to the museum at Croydon Airport ? It's open one Sunday a month, and is well worth the visit. I'm trying to find the photos I took in order to post them here.

User avatar
AllanL
Concorde
Concorde
Posts: 813
Joined: 06 Sep 2005, 21:01
Location: Scotland

Re: Imperial Airways book recommendations, please

Post by AllanL »

I managed to get to Croydon once when visiting my daughter down south. One thing that intrigued me was a map on the wall showing Imperial routes.

Apart from the known ones, there was the link across the Atlantic, across Canada to Vancouver and then across the Pacific to Australia.

Imperial were quite happy to include the QANTAS leg from Singapore to Oz as part of the Imperial "family", colonists and all that, so I assumed that the TCA routes to Vancouver would be happily adopted into the family tree for route advertising.

The route across the Pacific was eventually flown by BCPA after the war. I've always wondered how early planning started on the route and who would have flown the route before BCPA was formed.

Another book that I have is "Mapping the Airways". It is a compilation of old adverts and route maps from Imperial Airways to BA. I have noticed that frequently modern long range airlines continue to connect the same countries as they did 50-60 years ago. Except, until recently, Chinese routes have been added to most of them.

User avatar
Paul K
Red Arrows
Red Arrows
Posts: 7630
Joined: 12 Jun 2005, 16:41
Location: Norfolk UK

Re: Imperial Airways book recommendations, please

Post by Paul K »

A very interesting period, all the more because of my politically incorrect nostalgia for the empire; I caught the last whiff of it as a child out there, and consider myself fortunate. Allan, thanks for the info - have you ever seen the short film made by Shell, about a day in the life of Croydon airport ? I bought it at the open day, and very good it is too. Shell made a lot of films like that, and their film unit was still going when I worked for them.

I think my list of books to buy is now complete. :cheers:

Post Reply