Aviation Traders
Bournemouth International Airport, Christchurch,
Dorset. BH23 6NW
Telephone:+44 (0)1202 581 900
Formerly Britavia, Aviation Traders Ltd
is a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Ministry of Defence (MoD) Approved
Design Consultancy, and offers a broad range of design, development and
modification services to civil and military operators and aircraft
manufacturers.
history
Aviation Traders was established by Freddie Laker at
Rochford Aerodrome near Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England in 1949 and was
one of many seeking to develop a successor to the Douglas DC-3 aircraft
that had been so prominent during and after the Second World War. The
outcome of their work was the ATL90 Accountant that first flew on 9th July
1957. This was designed for 28 passengers and, like the more successful
Avro 748, Handley Page Dart Herald and Fokker Friendship, was powered by
two Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop engines. Unfortunately the market was
saturated and the Accountant attracted no orders.
![](images/carvair.jpg)
Conversion work proved more successful. Surplus military trainer aircraft
such as the Percival Prentice were converted for civilian customers. Some
Avro Tudor airliners were adapted to carry freight. Twenty-one Douglas
DC-4 airliners were converted to car ferries, a task that included raising
their cockpits high above the original fuselage and hinging a bulbous nose
built beneath through which up to six cars could be loaded by means of a
ground-based ramp. Twenty-two passengers could be accommodated in the
remaining rear fuselage whose cross-section remained as-built. The fin and
wings were enlarged to offset the added bulk and weight. Many of these
piston-engined ATL98 Carvair aircraft were operated from Southend Airport
on short routes across the English Channel or North Sea. The provision of
such fast ferry services by large hovercraft (the SRN-4) and subsequently
by Shuttle trains using the Channel Tunnel means that the age of the car
carrying airliner commenced with the Bristol Freighter and concluded with
the unforgettable Carvair. Commercial considerations mean that such an era
is unlikely to recur.