Flying boats : air travel in the golden age

Flying Boats: Air Travel in the Golden Age sets out to do justice to a time of glamorous, unhurried air travel, unrecognisable to most of today s air travellers, but sorely missed by some. During the 1930s, long-distance air travel was the preserve of the flying boat, which transported well-heeled passengers in ocean-liner style and comfort across the oceans. But then the Second World War came, and things changed. Suddenly, landplanes were more efficient, and in abundance: long concrete runways had been constructed during the war that could be used by a new generation of large transport aircraft; and endless developments in aircraft meant they could fly faster and for further distances. Commercial flying boat services resumed, but their days would be numbered. "From the early 1930s until the end of that decade long-distance air travel was the preserve of the flying-boat, which transported well-heeled passengers in ocean-liner style and comfort across the oceans. By the end of World War Two things had changed. The development of large landplane bombers had brought about the construction of long concrete runways which could be used after the war by a new generation of large transport aircraft. Commercial flying-boat services resumed in the post-war years but their days were numbered. This book covers the whole spectrum of passenger flying-boat services, from their golden age to their twilight years."--Provided by publisher Chronicling a glamorous era in air travel, when journeys took days and were things to be savoured