HISTORY

Their lack of enthusiasm added to concern about what they perceived as excessive mechanical problems. It is now known that Aer Lingus did not encounter any more mechanical problems than other Carvair operators. The excessive engine failures they experienced were later determined to be from an outside source. It was originally believed that the flight crews had problems adapting to the characteristics of the R-2000 radial engines, which was a factor in ordering a third aircraft after the first season of operation. Officials at Aer Lingus were intent on exploiting the horse charter market and felt the third aircraft was needed to serve as backup to maintain a high usage schedule. Car-ferry operations were cancelled during the 1963–64 winter due to seasonal traffic. The opportunity was used to return EI-AMR to ATEL at Southend for maintenance in December 1963. 

It was ferried to Stansted in February 1964 for installation of the “Rolamat” floor and raised ceiling modification of the cargo bay. Because of the lack of hangar space the work was performed outside in cold and snowy conditions. To utilize unused space of the hump in the cargo compartment behind the cockpit the ceiling was raised by re-routing the control cables. This gave the forward section of the cargo bay a cathedral appearance. The real reason to raise the ceiling was to transport horses and expand into bloodstock market, which was dominated by BKS Air Transport. Since the Carvair was reluctantly accepted under the direction of the Irish government, increase utilization was exploited wherever possible. The “Rolamat” floor system developed by ATEL made Aer Lingus a pioneer in “Quick Change” aircraft for changing cargo roles. This feature became quite popular on cargoliners and combi aircraft, which are identified as “QC” or “Quick Change” aircraft. 

After modifications were completed at Stansted, EI-AMR returned to service for the 1964 summer car-ferry season. By April the third Carvair was on line and Aer Lingus planned phasing out the DC-3 fleet. The larger capacity Carvair was operated on overnight mail flights as well as car-ferry schedules. In June 1964 only five days after the third Carvair, EI-ANJ, was delivered and one week after the Carvair fleet took over the mail service EI-AMR was damaged on the night mail flight from Manchester. 

The nose wheel collapsed on landing at Dublin crushing the gear doors. There was no structural failure and damage was considered minor. The aircraft was returned to service after repairs. Returning to Dublin with Captain Dible in command on 27 June 1966 EI-AMR experienced wild fluctuations in RPM on Number Two engine. The crew feathered the prop and landed on three engines without further incident. On 08 August 1966 again commanded by Captain Dible EI-AMR departed Dublin at 03:15. Shortly after takeoff the Number Four engine went into an over speed condition and could not be brought under control. 

The prop was feathered and it promptly un-feathered with a loud noise. Captain Dible instructed the F/O to hold his finger on the feather button while he made an immediate turn and descent back to the field. Captain Dible told the Dublin tower, “We need terra firma pronto!” The prop ran away on touch down as all the oil had been pumped out. As the speed decayed the engine seized and was destroyed. The crew stated they considered themselves quite lucky they were able to keep the aircraft under control and Captain Dible was able to land with the damage confined to the engine.2 After and engine change and repairs EI-AMR returned to service. Under the command of Captain Jon Hutchinson it was the first Aer Lingus aircraft to land on the new Runway 09/27 at Liverpool on the evening of the official opening by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh. The longer runway allowed the evening freight flights from Dublin to roll to the end with minimum use of brakes. The extra length avoided the possibility of blowing tires when inbound at maximum landing weight.

The Carvair never really met Aer Lingus expectations and business began to deteriorate after 1964 with the improvement of drive on ferries across the Irish Sea. Aer Lingus purchased nine Viscounts from KLM in 1965 and cargo Viscounts were scheduled to be on line a year later allowing the Carvairs to continue into 1966 with reduced schedules. EI-AMR soldiered on but Aer Lingus Carvairs seem to have more than a fare share of problems. On 05 October 1966, again commanded by Captain Dible, EI-AMR experienced a complete hydraulic failure at Liverpool. A maintenance team was dispatched from Dublin for repairs, which resulted in a 21- hour delay. Captain Dible flew EI-AMR only once more on 28 October 1966. Three days later it was withdrawn from service.3 It was removed from service and officially stored at Dublin in October 1966 but remained in semi-active status while Aer Lingus attempted to find buyers. Aerovias Nacionales Transcontinental Ecuador (ANTENA) made serious inquires into the purchase of one or more Aer Lingus Carvairs. 

The carrier was negotiating rights to operate all cargo service between Ecuador and the United States (Miami). A very optimistic rumor circulated at Aer Lingus in the summer of 1967 that a buyer had been found in Ecuador. Carvair eight, EI-AMR, was removed from storage in September and returned to airworthy status. Retraction checks and test flights were made only to find the prospective sale collapsed. The aircraft was kept active in an effort to resurrect the sale. In a rather bazaar twist EI-AMR was called back into service on 07 October 1967 to recover an Aer Lingus Viscount, EI-AKK that crashed at Bristol. The Viscounts had replaced the Carvair and was a contributing factor to them being removed from service. EI-AMR was dispatched to Bristol and transported the remains of the Viscount back to Dublin. It made the flight without incident and returned the next evening. It was again withdrawn from service and stored at Dublin with the other two Carvairs.

Eastern Provincial 

After three more months in storage EI-AMR was purchased by Eastern Provincial Airways of Gander. The purchase was officially completed on 10 January 1968 in the amount of C$167,000 Canadian dollars for each of the Aer Lingus Carvairs. The price included spares and support equipment. Eastern Provincial needed high volume aircraft to support the Churchill Falls and smaller Twin Falls Hydroelectric projects in remote northeastern Canada. Since EI-AMR had only been in storage for three months, it became the first of the three Aer Lingus aircraft to ferry to Southend arriving on 16 February 1968. It was scheduled for repainting and the installation of high capacity heaters along with nose door insulation for cold weather Canadian operations. Dual high capacity heaters were installed and the nose door intake was sealed and skinned over along with removal of the inside duct to cockpit. Dual air intakes were relocated about two-thirds back on the sides of the hump behind the cockpit. 

A hatch was installed in the cargo hold floor through the nose wheel bay for mail drops. A small ladder could be placed in the nose wheel well for crew access. In the event serviceable airfields had nothing to board the flight could make a pass NSI (No Stop Inbound) and drop small parcels or mail sacks. The overhauled and modified Carvair was rolled out on 20 May 1968 without titles and the anti-glare paint below the windscreens. It flew for the first time with Canadian registration CF-EPV on 21 May. The UK C of A was issued on 22 May and the Canadian C of A was issued on 28 June 1968. The Irish registration EI-AMR was cancelled on 29 May. All the cold weather modifications were completed and the anti-glare paint applied to the nose by 23 May before departure the next day. It was painted with a red stripe separating the white top from gray bottom and is the only Eastern Provincial Carvair with EPA titles over the stripe on each side of the nose. 

The Eastern Provincial Airways titles were not added above the windows before delivery but were eventually applied by Eastern Provincial in Canada. The next EPA Carvair CFEPW was painted slightly different. Eastern Provincial officials made the decision that any livery changes could be made after delivery to Canada. It arrived Gander with 58,310:46 TT airframe hours. Eastern Provincial operated the Carvair in eastern Canada in a combi-cargo role between Moncton, New Brunswick, Goose Bay Labrador, Twin Falls, Churchill Falls and Wabush until September 1973. Because of a drop in traffic and little need for heavy lift to the remote Hydroelectric and mining projects during the winter of 1969 it was withdrawn from service in October. It was also in need of maintenance because of operating more than a year into unimproved gravel fields. 

It remained parked at Gander through the summer until September 1970. The airline did not report any serious or higher than normal engine problems during the five years in use. This seems to reinforce the theory that Air Lingus crews were unable to adapt to the temperament of the R-2000 radial engine. However, EPA used a different vendor for engines, which also validates reports by Aer Lingus crews that engine failures were reduced when overhauls were contracted to Air France.4 CF-EPV suffered serious damage in an incident at Gander on 03 May 1972. The nose gear collapsed on landing at 19:28Z when Captain Mitton applied the brakes causing the lower fuselage to contact the runway. The aircraft had slowed considerably before the gear collapsed but damage was severe. The nosegear doors, surrounding skin, stringers and ribs were crushed resulting in structural damage. Engines two and three also suffered damaged when the props struck the ground. The aircraft previously experienced a nose wheel collapse while serving with Aer Lingus. 

This time the damage was more severe requiring major repairs to the skin and stringers. 

Fortunately at least one of the two spare nose sections that were unused at Aviation Traders was still intact in England. When the two unused noses were returned to Southend they were stored in the Military Freight Organization (MFO) hangar. This was the black T-2 hangar where Carvair one, G-ANYB was originally converted. In mid April 1971 they were moved to the scrapping area outside. At least one nose had not been reduced to scrap allowing EPA engineers to acquire the lower nose section. The common DC-4 parts needed were available in Canada to complete the engine rebuilds. After the repairs it was returned to Eastern Provincial Service. As the Churchill Falls development project was maturing the aging Carvair was no longer needed and no longer cost effective. It was sold to R.C.S Graham on 23 July 1973 for $62,000. Robert Graham was a broker and shipping agent from Prince Rupert British Columbia. 

The Carvair only transited Graham pending sale to Norwegian Overseas Airline and a pending monthly lease by BAF from 21 September 1973 to March 1974, which was not taken up. It was ferried back to Southend from Gander for servicing at ATEL prior to potential sale to Norwegian Overseas. The hours were recorded as 61,861:52. The Carvair generated considerable revenue for EPA having the highest charter rate of any aircraft in its fleet of two dollars per mile. 

Operating into remote northern Canada gravel airfields with oversize and sometimes overweight cargo put CF-EPV to the limits. The crews accepted the Carvair but were not overly fond of it. It was often called names like “Humpty Back Camel,” “International Ballistic Blob,” “Lumbering Lizzie,” and most often “The Blob.” In spite of the names it was the right aircraft at the right time for EPA.5 British Air Ferries/Norwegian Overseas/J. Jorgensen Upon arrival at Southend in 1973, Carvair eight was scheduled to be overhauled and prepared for lease to Norwegian Overseas Airways. All work except painting in Norwegian livery was stated as completed but the mounting of new engines has never been verified. Norwegian Overseas specified the removal of the Pratt & Whitney R-2000 engines and re-fitting with Wright R-2600 engines. The fitting of Wright R-2600 engines to the DC-4 was developed by Charlotte Aircraft Corporation of Miami in the late 1950s and proved quite satisfactory giving considerably more power. 

The R-2600 engine is limited to a maximum 2,400 rpm versus 2,700 rpm maximum takeoff power and 2,550 maximum continuous power of the R-2000. This is because of the use of the same prop, the 13-foot Hamilton Standard, on both type engines. However, the R-2600 can produce 1,500 hp with maximum continuous power or 1,300 hp to 8000 feet, which is significantly better than the R-2000. The few aircraft that were fitted with the R-2600 were designated as the Super Skymasters DC-4ME2. 

Only one other Carvair (airframe 14) was considered for Wright R-2600 conversions, also for a Norwegian operator. Payment of £16,075 ($45,026) was never received for services and ATEL filed suit against the owner for monies owed. The court ordered the aircraft impounded for non-payment. British Air Ferries acquired the aircraft from the courts and removed the R-2000 engines for spares with the airframe placed in storage for parts salvage at Southend. It was not immediately stripped for spares and it remained in limbo for nearly five years. Since it was complete without engines, several Norwegian individuals and companies attempted to resurrect a purchase and return it to service. Norwegian Overseas Airways negotiated a second tentative purchase of Carvair eight and was assigned Norwegian registration LN-NAB on 12 June 1974. 

The registration was originally reserved for Carvair 14 and not taken up. The airline was attempting to acquire an aircraft for contract relief work in Asia but it remained at Southend in EPA colors through the summer. A second Norwegian registration of LN-MDA was issued on 09 September 1974, when the Canadian registration of CF-EPV was cancelled. 

A letter of intent to purchase was signed the following day by J. Jorgensen of Oslo Norway. It was then leased to Norwegian Overseas Airways by Jorgensen on 17 October 1974 but remained at Southend. It never flew again and remained stored without engines at Southend. In 1974 it was clearly in poor condition with the engines and gear doors removed. 

The EPA lettering was painted out but the Canadian registration CF-EPV remained on the decaying aircraft until it was broken up for parts on 13 September 1978. 

Many parts including the nose door were used on Carvair 12, G-AOFW. The cockpit was purchased by John Flanagan and displayed at Fritton until loaned to the USAAF 100th Bomb Group museum at Thorpe Abbots, Norfolk in 1982. The cockpit was moved several more times and came back to Suffolk in July 1997. It is currently at the 8th Air Force museum at Holton/Halesworth Suffolk England. 

In 2023 John Flanagan who had owned the cockpit for over 44 years decided to part with her. Aviation enthusiast & Private Pilot Marc Wilmott from Southend on sea set up a GoFundMe donations page online, to raise funds to return Carvair No8 to its birthplace in Essex, UK.

Funds were received very quickly, and the cockpit transported to its temporary home in Hadleigh, near Southend on sea.