European Aviation History

  No discussion of the aircraft of the Berlin Airlift would be complete without the Sunderland Flying Boats. The Sunderland's overall contribution to the Airlift was modest. They were introduced on 5 July and withdrawn on 15 December 1948. Yet they made a unique contribution and the won the hearts of the Berliners.   The Sunderland was developed in response to a 1933 British Air Ministry specification for a long-range reconnaissance and patrol seaplane. The aircraft manufacturer Short Brothers was working at the same time on a civilian long-range flying boat to serve transoceanic passenger traffic. It came up with two similar but not identical designs. The civilian aircraft became known as the Empire and the military version was the Sunderland. The Empire was successfully tested in June 1936 and a year later the prototype of the Sunderland was ready for trials. By March 1938, the design with modest modifications had proved itself to be extraordinarily successful. It was remark...

  Aircraft maintenance is the forgotten step-child of all great aviation achievements. The huge amount of labour, time and dedication that goes into keeping aircraft serviceable so that they can fullfill whatever role is assigned to them is largely forgotten, overlooked or ignored in most accounts of great aviation deeds. The Berlin Airlift is no exception and far too little attention has been paid to the astonishing achievements of ground crews in the most important airlift in aviation history.   RAF groundcrew servicing an aircraft. Note the mechanic on the right is a woman. At the start of the Berlin Airlift, in an incomprehensible example of neglect and under-appreciation, the USAF made no provision for ground crews when it deployed squadrons from around the world. The ground crews were expected to “follow” – by sea. This meant that at the start of the Airlift, the USAF’s cargo fleet had to be serviced by the mechanics already in Europe and they had been trained on c...