Tuesday, September 12, 2006

New England Airways - Postscript


Photo: Passengers New England Airways Hood Collection

Since I wrote my first post on New England Australia - Aviation, I have found some rather wonderful pictures on New England Airways.

I cannot reproduce them all here. The e-blogger format will not allow me to do so in proper size, while I am also not sure of copyright issues. So what I thought I might do is insert one photo as a sample and then give you the links to them all with some comments so that you can enjoy them when you have time.

The photographs are:
  • The City of Grafton at night. The catalogue for this and the following shot refers to the City of Grafton as a WEA plane. I have done a web search check and there is a clear typo. It should be NEA. There is a gritty, almost war like, feel about this photo. Look at the uniforms.
  • Group with City of Grafton at night. Again a gritty feel. Note the different hats, caps and the young boy in the front.
  • New England Airways Lismore-Brisbane. A businessman gets off the plane. The plane's construction including the external control cables can be clearly seen. Note the Royal Mail sign. Mail contracts were a major driver in the formation of the early airlines.
  • New England Airway Passengers. My favourite photo, hence it's inclusion in the post. look at the coats worn by the women. My favourite is the fur coat on the left. Presumably coats were necessary because of the cold at altitude. Note the hair styles.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello,

I'm very interested in your information on New England Airways and the Robinson and Virtue families.

My husband's grandparents were Keith Virtue (pilot) and Nita Robinson (daughter of GA Robinson).

Can I contact you by email? My email is virtue.r@bigpond.net.au.

Liz Virtue

Jim Belshaw said...

Thanks, Liz. I will email you.

Cheers

Jim Belshaw

Jim Simon said...

In reference to this subject,there is a book called Virtue In Flying written by Joan Priest. Published about 1976. Fascinating read
Jim Simon

Jim Belshaw said...

Thanks, Jim. You reminded me that I had been meaning to read this. I checked ob line. There are two copies I could find for sale, but they are both $88US. However, there are some copies in libraries, so I might be able to borrow it.

Jim Simon said...

Jim
There is a copy of Virtue in Flying for sale on E Bay as at 26/4/09. it might still be there ,it looked in good condition.
Regards
Jim Simon

Jim Simon said...

Jim,
There is a copy of Virtue in Flying for sale on E Bay.as at 26/4/09.It looked in good condition.
Regards
Jim Simon