THE AIRLINER'S YOUTH YEARS: 1945-1970

When World War Two ended in 1945, travel by air was still restricted to a tiny minority, most of whom in Britain were wealthy or servants of its dying empire. However, those six war years had accelerated the growth of aviation. The airline infant of 1939 had, by 1945, become an ambitious teenager, determined to make its mark on the world. Competition between nations was intense, but one-sided, the industrial might of the USA dominating all rivals. However, war-torn Britain was not going to allow her position as the former world number one to go lightly; she was determined to fight her corner, not least in the aviation market.

This is the story of the turbulent quarter century that saw the youth years of the airliner, a time of explosive technical advances, full of triumph and tragedy, the years before the airliner became the staid and rather boring creature it is today.