After removing the nose the stripped fuselage is placed in stands in the RAF T-2 hangar at Southend, 11 November 1960. The next step is the alignment of the lower half of the nose section for attachment to the fuselage (courtesy Guy Craven).
outside. The fuel tanks were drained and purged then the outer wings, empennage, and engines removed. On 07 October 1960 the stripped airframe was towed to an ex–RAF T2 hangar of World War II vintage owned by ATEL where the airframe was placed in stands. On 25 October the DC-4 nose was removed forward of the wing at station X270. Then at stringer 18 it was cut horizontally to station X360 where another cut was made around the upper half of the fuselage. All other conversions had the noses remove outside and a trestling device was attached to the stubs of the horizontal stabilizer.
Early in the design phase engineers determined that the floor although reinforced was not suited for car-ferry use. The corrugated floor was removed and new supports, laminated floor and tie down stations were fabricated and installed. The fuel lines were removed and refitted in a standardized system designed for all future conversions. Electricians removed the wiring harnesses and laid them out in orderly fashion to repair, modify, and re-route. The ARB required the electrical system to be split into Main and Essential bus-bars.
Over the next five weeks while this work was in progress the upper and lower sections of the new nose section were fabricated at Southend. The lower section of the nose was grafted to the fuselage at stringer 18 and below while the upper section was suspended in position. The ribs and stringers were added between the upper and lower halves then skinned over. The DC- 4 windows, yokes, and assorted DC-4 equipment were installed after attaching of the nose.
In December 1960 after the grafting of the nose was completed, the airframe was removed from the jacks and allowed to rest on the main and re-positioned nose gear. At this point the
The lower half of the nose is aligned and grafted to the fuselage while the upper half is suspended above on 11 November 1963. The ribs and stringers are added, then the area between the two halves is skinned. All subsequent noses were completed prior to grafting to the fuselage (courtesy Guy Craven).
outer wings, engines and tail had not been installed. It was moved by hand from the T-2 hangar on 13 May 1961 without any dorsal fin or control surfaces. The vertical stabilizer and rudder were modified and by pure coincidence are the same size and profile of the DC-7 fin. Early wind tunnel test determined a change was needed in the vertical stabilizer for better lateral control. Originally a tri-tail with vertical planes planned for the ends of the horizontal stabilizer was designed. It would have required more structural changes. Further test showed the same
Top: On 13 May 1961 G-ANYB was moved from the T-2 Hangar to the flight shed, less control surfaces,
outer wings and engines, using only manpower (courtesy Guy Craven). Bottom: Masking and painting has begun on the fuselage, an engine has been mounted at Number Four position and a wiring harness hangs from the cockpit window. The nose door and attachments are not yet installed (picture supplied by Alan Bennett).
control could be achieved by increasing the height of the original DC-4 vertical fin. The increased height was to compensate for change in airflow because of the larger nose.
The outer wings were the first components to be reinstalled after the fuel tanks had been re-sealed. The spars had been x-rayed and defective areas were reinforced with stainless steel doubler plates. The new empennage was installed followed by the engines. The R-2000 engines were overhauled to -7M2 standards and tested at Bristol by the Siddeley Engine Company. Dur- ing test stand runs the Number Three engine failed and had to be replaced. The new engine was mounted at Number Four position and the Number Four engine was moved to the Number Three position. Engines one and two were re-mounted at the original positions. The final step was the painting the Channel Air Bridge titles, which was performed my master paint special- ist Reginald Taylor. The name “Golden Gate Bridge” was not applied until just before the chris- tening ceremony. The retraction checks were performed and final adjustments were made to the controls after the painting.
After eight and one half months G-ANYB was rolled out 17 June 1961. The new empty weight was recorded at 40,855 pounds. The engine run-ups were performed over the next few days. High-speed taxi test were performed at Southend on 20 June 1961. The test went so well that -ANYB inadvertently became airborne for a short distance. The next morning, despite it
Above: Final stages on 14 June
1961, only seven days before the first flight. The new empty weight was recorded at 40,855 pounds. Note the fronts of the engine cowlings are cov- ered and sealed (courtesy Guy Craven). Right: Chief test pilot Don Cartlidge, left, and cap- tain Bob Langley complete preflight checklist 21 June 1961 for the first flight. The Decca Roller Map display system is in the middle of the console (courtesy Guy Craven).
chase plane piloted by senior captain L.P. Griffith. Laker was accompanied by A.C. Leftly and J.R. Bell. The flight of two hours went without incident, landing back at Southend (courtesy Brian Kerry). Bot-
tom: Chief pilot Don Cartlidge, bottom, captain Bob Langley, middle, and flight test engineer Ken
Smith exit G-ANYB after a successful first flight. Cartlidge always wore a coat and tie, even on test flights, while the others opted for flight suits (courtesy Brian Kerry).
being extremely windy, at 07:26 A.M. the first Carvair lifted off Southend runway 06 commanded by Chief Test Pilot Captain D. B. (Don) Cartlidge. He was assisted by Channel Air Bridge Flight Manager Captain Bob Langley. Langley became operations manager for British Air Ferries remaining with them until 1971. The third member of the crew was Aviation Traders Flight Test Engineer Ken W. Smith.
The maiden flight of two hours went without incident landing back at Southend at 09:26. The upgraded DC-6 Dunlop disc brakes, although not equipped with anti-skid, stopped the aircraft well and were noted as an improvement over the original DC-4 brakes. The Carvair modification was declared sound and handled as well as the original DC-4. Captain Cartlidge flew the Carvair up to 6000 feet at speeds up to 210 mph. and as slow as 97 mph. Although the aircraft was flown at low power settings near stall speed, no stalls were attempted on this first flight. The aircraft was also fitted with a five-foot long dump tube between the main gear. This was only a short-term modification for jettison of ballast during the test program.
The chase plane was Freddie Lakers personal aircraft, a Cessna 310D G-ARAC, flown by senior pilot Captain L.P. Griffith. Also on board the chase plane was chief designer A.C. Leftly and ATL technical director J.R. Batt. After the flight the decision was made to begin produc- tion on the Channel Air Bridge order for ten Carvair conversions.
G-ANYB was designated and designed to be a car-ferry ship, it was built and tested with- out the rear cabin and before the large windows were installed in the aft section. A second two- hour flight was flown the next day and another on 23 June. It was flown to Stansted on 26 June then to Filton for flight test on the 27th returning to Southend on 30 June. The only aerody- namic adjustment made as a result of the test flights was the relocation of the port Pitot head. It was moved six inches higher to clear the wake of one of the nose door hinges.
The ARB and FAA certification program was in process when on 28 August a forklift driven by Ronald Wilson struck the aircraft while it was parked outside the hangar. Freddie Laker was livid and fired him on the spot.2The severe impact on the forward side of the left horizontal tail-plane nearly separated the rear of the aircraft. The fuselage was split around the full cir- cumference of the fuselage all the way up to the tail fin just forward of the tailskid. Testing was halted while the rear section of the mock-up fuselage, KLM DC-4 PH-DBZ, was grafted to the aircraft. Fortunately the mock-up had been built up from the fuselage of another C-54B-1-DC. Using the mock-up expedited the repairs by eliminating the need to search for another DC-4 of the same series. G-ANYB flew again for the first time with the new rear fuselage on 29 Sep- tember 1961 resuming flight trials.
To obtain type certification the Air Registration Board (ARB) required takeoff and land- ing trials at different weights and configurations. These trials were conducted at Filton since it was one of the few fields in England equipped with the necessary photographic and recording equipment. It was fitted with a five-foot long tube under the center fuselage to dump water bal- last and a long Pitot tube on the port wing tip. The C of A trials were conducted between 08 and 24 October 1961.
It was originally estimated that type certification would require 60 hours of flying at differ- ent altitudes and speeds to measure control effectiveness and response. The cruising speed penalty because of the large nose had been calculated at 10 knots. The test surprised engineers with a drag penalty of only 4 knots and a rate of climb slightly better than the original DC-4. The flight test program originally projected at 60 hours eventually, required 155.27 hours to complete.
The aircraft returned to Southend where work continued. Finally the Certificate of Air- worthiness was issued on 30 January 1962. A few weeks before it was issued the rear cabin pas- senger cabin windows were cut and installed by engineers at Southend. It is fortunate that the windows were not been fitted to the original rear fuselage prior to the forklift damage. On 12 February 1962 the name “Golden Gate Bridge” was applied to the nose prior to delivery to Channel Air Bridge.
The first Carvair was formally delivered to the Channel Air Bridge division of British United Airways on Friday 16 February 1962. The christening of the aircraft “Golden Gate Bridge” by Mme. Daeniker, wife of the Swiss ambassador to London highlighted the ceremony. Also in attendance at the naming ceremony and photo session was BUA Executive Director Freddie Laker; Mr. A. Kunz, General Manager of Swiss National Tourism; Mme. Daeniker and Dr. Daeniker, the Swiss Ambassador; and A.C. Leftly, Chief Designer. Aviation Traders director J.R. Batt officially handed over the new aircraft to Douglas A. Whybrow, Director and General Manager of Channel Air Bridge and Silver City. Mr. Whybrow complimented the Swiss ambas- sador on the co-operation of the two countries to promote motor car holidays to Basle and Geneva.
The naming of the first Carvair “Golden Gate Bridge” began a tradition that gave seven more Carvairs landmark “Air Bridge” names. After the ceremony the first overseas demonstra- tion flight was not flown to Switzerland but to Ostend Belgium. The following day the Carvair flew the first revenue charter from Southend to Malaga Spain with a consignment of cars for a motor show. Other proving flights followed to Basle on 22 February and inaugural service to Rotterdam on 01 March. The new Carvair operated a proving flight to Geneva on 11 March returning on the 12th. Inaugural Geneva service was flown on 02 April the same day Carvair two was delivered to Channel Air Bridge. This was followed up with G-ANYB operating a proving flight to Strasbourg France on 29 May and full service on the 31st. Once in service Captain Bob Langley always flew G-ANYB and it was known as his aircraft. The inaugural Channel Air Bridge service to Strasbourg was flown by G-ANYB on 01 June 1962. Freddie Laker and Douglas Whybrow accompanied the press on the flight and returned to Southend on 03 June.
After the delivery of the third Carvair to Channel Air Bridge the trio settled into regular service. Rotterdam was at that time the longest vehicle air-ferry route in the world at a length of 330 statute miles. The decision was made early in the conversion program that as soon as the third ship was delivered, Rotterdam would be flown exclusively with the Carvair. The log from 18 September 1962 for G-ANYB is a typical example of a daily flying.
Southend Flight Rotterdam Flight Southend
07:50 AB500 08:55–09:35 AB501 10:35
11:15 AB502 12:15–12:55 AB503 13:55
14:40 AB506 15:40–16:20 AB507 17:20
18:00 AB510 19:00–19:50 AB511 20:50
Carvair one departed London 19 October 1962 for a proving flight to Singapore. The actual mission for the Ministry of Aviation was not disclosed, however it was generally accepted as a provisioning and troop rotation flight to demonstrate the capabilities to the military. G-ANYB returned back to Southend on 27 October. The expansion of service continued with inaugural service to Manchester (EGCC) on 26 January.
The first ship was often used for sales and demonstration flights in order to entice new Carvair orders. Captain Don Cartlidge flew G-ANYB to Turin Italy on 20 January 1964 to try and impress Fiat officials of the possibilities of the Carvair. The aircraft diverted to Genoa on the inbound leg because of fog. After some tense waiting the flight was completed to Turin where Fiat was waiting with a full load of Starfighter sub-assemblies to be transported to the plants at Gosselles and Charleroi. Parts were being transported through the Alps in the Bristol Freighter. The higher capacity Carvair demonstrated it could more than handle the work and was a suit- able replacement. It is noteworthy that this is the same concept Airbus utilizes today with the Super Guppy and Beluga. Fiat officials were impressed when G-ANYB proved its ability to transport considerably more cargo in one flight than the Bristol but they did not commit to a freight contract or Carvair order.