Silver City Airways: Pioneers of the Skies

by Keith Dagwell

Silver City Airways rose from obscure beginnings to pioneer and become world famous for its cross-Channel car ferry service. When the only alternative was a slow sea crossing, Silver City became the carrier of choice for business people and the celebrities of their day who wanted to take their vehicles across the Channel. Everyone who was anyone, from the Prime Minister to royalty, flew Silver City. Based in Kent on the Dungeness Peninsular, and eventually expanding to Southampton, in its hey-day the airline ran 240 flights a day. Silver City Airways achieved far more than the car ferry service, however, and the extraordinary airline has a fascinating history. From playing a part in the Berlin Airlift to freighting racehorses, and from running scheduled passenger flights around the country to breaking speed records across the Atlantic and flying Dakotas in the Libyan desert, this book follows its story.

160 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2010

Reviews

[Stephen Bigger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super little book with photos on the history of this little air ferry which used transporters designed for WW2 to ferry a few cars at a time to France or Belgium, about a 20 minute journey. Other routes were also developed. Cars were loaded into its nose. One concert pianist used to take his grand piano over in this way. Not a cheap way to cross the channel so became uncompetitive when larger sea ferries developed. A simple pictorial history.