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Imperial Airdays are here again

So we touch down at the final destination, Delhi.

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There were DC-3s taxying about here.

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I was lucky with a sudden break in the weather just at the right moment.

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The other half of this route (which Alexander Frater did in his real-life reconstruction) would go all the way to Brisbane via Burma, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Darwin, another 20 stops or so. I will one day take some KLM aircraft on the Amsterdam - Batavia route.

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Researching this flight it's been interesting to learn what a small operator Imperial was in the 1920s/30s. The British were quite happy with the sea which they had used so successfully for so long. If anyone was going to emigrate and actually settle in the overseas Empire, they would go by ship. Passengers on aircraft tended to be working for the Government, or maybe Oil companies - mail was the most important cargo. Even today most air passengers are only going away for a short holiday - goods travel much more economically by sea, including oil.

Encountered these Dutch aircraft on the way:

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That may whet your appetite for the future Indonesia flight. Didn't show them at the time because they were in Basra, and of course KLM flew Baghdad - Bushire - Jask, but I'll get that right when we do go down to Batavia.


Hope you've enjoyed this one; thanks for all the comments and corrections, Gentlemen, they're always welcome: it's nice to know someone's reading it!

Here's a final shot of Willy's AI HP-42, it's only fair to let that particular aeroplane have the last word back in those Imperial days:


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