Spreading Our Wings - Programme 4

Old Ways and New Ways
Scroll down for pictures.

In this, the final programme of the series, it's that period 1945 - 1962, that post-war spread of wings, which eventually saw the arrival of the passenger jet.

In the programme we'll hear about -

the brand new shiny DC3 that shouldn't have been in the middle of a Kinvara bohreen!

a plane so draughty, leaky and ugly that some passengers preferred to head off for the Mailboat!

the amazing escape of the only passenger to survive the crash of the Pan-American Constellation in April 1948 at Shannon.

why Micheál MacLiammóir burst into tears and then why Aer Lingus still wanted more money from him!

the heavy snows of early 1962 that were followed by a fall of food and water!

why the New York cabby laughed at Irish flightcrew 'innocence'

the feel-good factor that was engendered by the National airline at the time.

Bristol Freighter 170 Mk 31 E Wayfarer.

American Newspaper cutting - 1948. Marc Worst.

Irish Air Corps pilot Dessie Johnston climbs aboard the Lysander. Photo Irish Air Corps

Freddie Bond made his first parachute jump in the 1940's and was the man who brought parachuting to Ireland. In the late 1950's early 60's, together with his wife Maureen, he formed a group to take the first steps in developing an Irish air rescue service. His group also pioneered air supply by parachute to isolated communities and storm bound islands off the Irish coast. Freddie died in 1997.

Denis Slattery started training as a navigator in 1943. He joined Aer Lingus as an airline navigator in 1963. He retired in 1977 and for the next twenty years was involved with Aer Training Ltd - a ground school for pilots.

Some recently published books about Irish Aviation.

When Our Plane Hit the Mountain, Suzanne Barnes, New Island, Dublin 2005. The story of the crash, in the Wicklow Mountains of French Air Force JU 52, carrying 21 French Girl Guides in 1946.

"Emergency" Air Incidents South-East Ireland 1940-1945, Patrick J. Cummins, Aviation History Ireland Waterford 2003.

The Silver Lining, Lady Heath and Kildonan - A Golden Age of Flying, John Haughton, Finglas Environmental Heritage Project 2003.

Irish Air Corps, The Irish Air Corps Celebrates 100 years of Flight, M & J Graphics 2003.

In Galway Skies, Hayden K. Lawford, 2002.

Landfall Ireland - The story of Allied and German aircraft which came down in Eire in WW2, Donal MacCarron, Colourpoint Books, 2003

Lady Icarus The Life of Irish Aviator Lady Mary Heath, Lindie Naughton, Ashfield Press Dublin 2004.

Shannon Airport A Unique Story of Survival, Valerie Sweeney, Shannon 2004. ISBN 0-9547424-0-0

IONA Ireland's First Commercial Airline, Michael Traynor, Dublin 2004.

To order : www.ionaairways.com

Belfast International Airport - Aviation at Aldergrove since 1918. Guy Warner & Jack Woods, Colourprint Books 2001

Pioneers in Flight - Aer Lingus and the Story of Aviation in Ireland, Niall G. Weldon, Liffey Press 2002.

For a complete bibliography click here.

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