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1961 Derby Aviation Crash
The 1961 Derby Aviation crash refers to the fatal crash of a Douglas C-47 Skytrain, Douglas Dakota IV, registration G-AMSW, operated by Derby Aviation, the forerunner of BMI (airline), British Midland Airways, on the mountain of Canigó, France, on 7 October 1961. All 34 on board (31 passengers, pilot, co-pilot and stewardess) were killed. History of the flight The flight left London Gatwick Airport, London Gatwick at 20:43 UTC on 6 October 1961 destined for Perpignan–Rivesaltes Airport, Perpignan in the south of France, just north of the Pyrenees. At 00:30 UTC, it reported overhead Toulouse at flight level 75 and estimated arrival at Perpignan at 01:12 UTC. In an area of intermittent rain and winds of variable force, it struck the side of the Canigó at an altitude of 7500 ft (2200 m). A rescue team from the chalet at Courtalets arrived at the scene while pieces of the wreckage were still burning. An eyewitness described the scene as "apocalyptic; burned bodies lay on th ...
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Canigó
The Canigó ( , ; ; ) is a mountain located in the Pyrenees of southern France. The Canigó is located less than from the sea and has an elevation of . Due to its sharp flanks and its dramatic location near the coast, until the 18th century the Canigó was believed to be the highest mountain in the Pyrenees. Being between south and Northern Catalonia, the mountain has a historical symbolical significance for Catalan people. In good weather, it is visible from Marseille on 8 February and 31 October, due to atmospheric optical effects. Geography The Canigó is located in Pyrénées-Orientales, south of Prades, Pyrénées-Orientales, Prades and north of Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste. Its summit lies on the border between two communes: Vernet-les-Bains and Taurinya (although the territories of two other communes - Casteil and Valmanya - approach quite closely to the summit). Its location makes it visible from the plains of Roussillon and from Conflent in France, and as well from Em ...
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Carcassonne
Carcassonne is a French defensive wall, fortified city in the Departments of France, department of Aude, Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It is the prefectures in France, prefecture of the department. Inhabited since the Neolithic Period, Carcassonne is located in the plain of the Aude (river), Aude between historic trade routes, linking the Atlantic to the Mediterranean Sea and the Massif Central to the Pyrénées. Its strategic importance was quickly recognised by the Ancient Rome, Romans, who occupied its hilltop until the demise of the Western Roman Empire. In the fifth century, the region of Septimania was taken over by the Visigoths, who founded the city of Carcassonne in the newly established Visigothic Kingdom. Its citadel, known as the Cité de Carcassonne, is a medieval fortress dating back to the Roman Gaul, Gallo-Roman period and restored by the theorist and architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc between 1853 and 1879. It was adde ...
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Douglas C-47
The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troop transport, cargo, paratrooper, for towing gliders and military cargo parachute drops. The C-47 remained in front-line service with various military operators for many years.Parker 2013, pp. 13, 35, 37, 39, 45–47. It was produced in approximately triple the numbers as the larger, much heavier payload Curtiss C-46 Commando, which filled a similar role for the U.S. military. Approximately 100 countries' armed forces have operated the C-47 with over 60 variants of the aircraft produced. As with the civilian DC-3, the C-47 remains in service, over 80 years after the type's introduction. Design and development The C-47 differed from the civilian DC-3 by way of numerous modifications, including being fitted with a cargo door, hoist attach ...
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Nord Noratlas
The Nord Noratlas is a dedicated military transport aircraft, developed and manufactured by French aircraft manufacturer Nord Aviation. Development commenced during the late 1940s with the aim of producing a suitable aircraft to replace the numerous older types that were in service with the Armée de l'Air (French Air Force) which dated back to the Second World War. In response to a competition organised by the '' Direction Technique Industrielle'' (DTI), Nord produced their ''Nord 2500'' proposal, which was selected as the most promising. Experiences with the first prototype, powered by Gnome-Rhône 14R engines, did not impress, thus the design was revised as the ''Nord 2501'', powered by the SNECMA-built Bristol Hercules 738/9 engines instead, which was found acceptable. Accordingly, the Noratlas was introduced to service by the Armée de l'Air on 6 December 1953. Following its adoption by the Armée de l'Air, a number of other operators in both Europe and Africa chose to p ...
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Douglas DC-3
The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version of the Douglas DC-2. It is a low-wing metal monoplane with conventional landing gear, powered by two radial piston engines of . Although the DC-3s originally built for civil service had the Wright R-1820 Cyclone, later civilian DC-3s used the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engine. The DC-3 has a cruising speed of , a capacity of 21 to 32 passengers or 6,000 lbs (2,700 kg) of cargo, and a range of , and can operate from short runways. The DC-3 had many exceptional qualities compared to previous aircraft. It was fast, had a good range, was more reliable, and carried passengers in greater comfort. Before World War II, it pioneered many air travel routes. It was able to cross the continental United States from Ne ...
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Air Maroc
Royal Air Maroc (RAM, ; ; ) is the Moroccan national carrier, as well as the country largest airline, ranking among the largest in Africa. RAM is wholly owned by the Moroccan Government, and has its headquarters on the grounds of Casablanca-Anfa Airport. It joined the Oneworld alliance in 2020. From its base at Mohammed V International Airport, the carrier operates a domestic network in Morocco, scheduled international flights to Africa, Asia, Europe, and North and South America, and occasional charter flights that include Hajj services. As of November 2023, the airline serves 45 countries and 134 routes. History Formation ''Royal Air MarocCompagnie Nationale de Transports Aériens'' was formed in July 1953 as a result of the merger of ''Compagnie Chérifienne de'l Air ( Air Atlas)'' — set up in 1946 with Junkers Ju 52s — and ''Compagnie Chérifienne de Transports Aériens Air Maroc'', that was founded in 1947 and commenced scheduled operations in 1949. The fl ...
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Stockport Air Disaster
On 4 June 1967, a Canadair C-4 Argonaut passenger aircraft owned by British Midland Airways operating as British Midland Flight 542 crashed near the centre of Stockport, Cheshire, England. Of the 84 people on board, 72 were killed. It is the fourth-worst accident in British aviation history, and happened just a day after the 1967 Air Ferry DC-4 accident Accident The aircraft, registered had been chartered by Arrowsmith Holidays Ltd and had left Palma de Mallorca at 5:00 am, carrying holidaymakers back from the Balearic Islands to Manchester Airport. The approach controller vectored the aircraft towards the ILS as soon as it reached the Congleton NDB, but the pilots were apparently unable to put the aircraft on the extended runway centreline and called an overshoot. As the aircraft was making a second approach to the airport, the No. 3 and 4 engines suddenly cut out over Stockport. The No. 4 propeller was feathered, but No. 3 kept windmilling. The aircraft became un ...
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President Of The Board Of Trade
The president of the Board of Trade is head of the Board of Trade. A committee of the His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, it was first established as a temporary committee of inquiry in the 17th century that evolved gradually into a government department with diverse functions. The current holder of the post is Jonathan Reynolds, who is concurrently the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, secretary of state for business and trade. History The idea of a Board of Trade was first translated into action by Oliver Cromwell in 1655 when he appointed his son Richard Cromwell to head a body of Lords of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, Privy Council, judges and merchants to consider measures to promote trade. Charles II of England, Charles II established a Council of Trade on 7 November 1660, followed by a Council of Foreign Plantations on 1 December that year. The two were united on 16 September 1672 as the Board of Trade and ...
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Douglas Jay
Douglas Patrick Thomas Jay, Baron Jay, PC (23 March 1907 – 6 March 1996) was a British Labour Party politician. Early life and education Educated at Winchester College and New College, Oxford, Jay won the Chancellor's English Essay in 1927 and gained a First in Literae Humaniores ('Greats') in 1929. He was a Fellow of All Souls from 1930 to 1937. His early career was as an economics journalist, working for ''The Times'' (1929–33), ''The Economist'' (1933–37) and the '' Daily Herald'' (1937–41), then as a civil servant in the Ministry of Supply and the Board of Trade. From 1943 he was a personal assistant to Hugh Dalton. Political career Jay was a convinced democratic socialist from a young age, but only joined the Labour Party in the winter of 1933–34, whereupon he became a member of Paddington constituency party. In his capacity as a journalist he was a senior figure in the XYZ Club, a clandestine organisation in the City of London dedicated to supplying Labo ...
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Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. It is the main settlement of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Stockport. At the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census, the built up area as defined by the Office for National Statistics had a population of 117,935, and the metropolitan borough had a population of 294,773. Most of the town is within the boundaries of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Cheshire, with the area north of the Mersey in the historic county of Lancashire. Stockport in the 16th century was a small town entirely on the south bank of the Mersey, known for the cultivation of hemp and manufacture of rope. In the 18th century, it had one of the first mechanised silk factories in the British Isles. Stockport's predominant industries of t ...
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Canadair DC-4M Argonaut
The Canadair North Star is a 1940s Canadian development, for Trans-Canada Air Lines (TCA), of the Douglas DC-4. Instead of radial piston engines used by the Douglas design, Canadair used Rolls-Royce Merlin V12 engines to achieve a higher cruising speed of compared with the of the standard DC-4. Requested by TCA in 1944, the prototype flew on 15 July 1946. The type was used by various airlines and by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). It proved to be reliable but noisy when in service through the 1950s and into the 1960s. Some examples continued to fly into the 1970s, converted to cargo aircraft. Design and development Canadair Aircraft Ltd. took over the Canadian Vickers Ltd. operations on 11 November 1944. Besides the existing Consolidated PBY Canso flying patrol boats in production, a development contract to produce a new variant of the Douglas DC-4 transport was still in effect. The new Canadair DC-4M powered by Rolls-Royce Merlin engines mounted in Rolls-Royce Universa ...
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C-54 Skymaster
The Douglas C-54 Skymaster is a four-engined transport aircraft used by the United States Army Air Forces in World War II and the Korean War. Like the Douglas C-47 Skytrain derived from the DC-3, the C-54 Skymaster was derived from a civilian airliner, the Douglas DC-4. Besides transport of cargo, the C-54 also carried presidents, prime ministers, and military staff. Dozens of variants of the C-54 were employed in a wide variety of non-combat roles such as air-sea rescue, scientific and military research, and missile tracking and recovery. During the Berlin Airlift it hauled coal and food supplies to West Berlin. After the Korean War it continued to be used for military and civilian uses by more than 30 countries. It was one of the first aircraft to carry the President of the United States, the first being President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II. Design and development With the looming entry of the United States into World War II, in June 1941 the War Departme ...
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