Redcoat Air Cargo
| |||||||
| Founded | 1976 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Commenced operations | 27 May 1977 | ||||||
Ceased operations | 19 May 1982 | ||||||
| Hubs | Luton Airport | ||||||
| Headquarters | Horley | ||||||
Redcoat Air Cargo Ltd. was a British cargo airline between 1976 and 1982 with headquarters at Horley in Sussex and an operating base at Luton Airport.
History
[edit]
Established in 1976, the company started operations on 27 May 1977 using a Bristol Britannia leased from Geminair. It used the aircraft to operate cargo flights from the United Kingdom to West Africa. It later bought its own Britannias, some being ex Royal Air Force Transport Command aircraft (including at least one previously operated by Air Faisal),[1] and by 1979 was also operating freight charters for the Ministry of Defence.
The crash of a Britannia in February 1980 led to the purchase of a Canadair CL-44 from British Cargo Airlines. Delay in acquiring the aircraft from the receiver and subsequent engine problems led to cash flow issues and in spring 1982 the company entered voluntary liquidation.[2]
Fleet
[edit]Media
[edit]In 1980 one of the company's Britannia aircraft (G-AOVS) was used in a BBC television drama series Buccaneer about a fictitious cargo airline.[5]
Accidents and incidents
[edit]
On 16 February 1980 a Bristol Britannia C Mk.1 crashed after departure from Boston-Logan due to ice and snow on the aircraft; seven of the eight occupants died, including the spouse of a serving airman at RAF Belize.[6]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- Notes
- ↑ Roach, 1998, p. 128-129
- ↑ "Redcoat stops trading". Flight International. 122 (3814): 1594. 19 June 1982.
- ↑ UK CAA Registration Document for G-AOVS
- ↑ UK CAA Registration Document for G-BRED
- ↑ IMDB Buccaneer (1980)
- ↑ National Transport Safety Board Report NTSB-AAR81-03
- Bibliography
- Roach, John (1998). Turbo Prop Airliner Production List. The Aviation Hobby Shop. ISBN 0-907178-69-3.
Further reading
[edit]- bish, peter J. (August 1980). "The Redcoat story". Air Pictorial. Sandown: 312–316.
- Wickstead, M.J. (2014). Airlines of the British Isles since 1919. Staplefield (West Sussex - U.K.): Air Britain (Historians) Ltd. pp. 360–361. ISBN 978-0-85130-456-4.
External links
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