This wonderful film from 1948 shows the “Pacific Skyway” that links Sydney, Australia with Vancouver, Canada, 8,000 miles in 48 hours. In this era only four planes per day made the grueling flight. Featured in the film is a Douglas DC-6 operated by British Commonwealth Pacific Airlines or BCPA. This was an airline registered in New South Wales, Australia in June 1946 with headquarters in Sydney. It was formed by the governments of Australia (50%), New Zealand (30%) and the United Kingdom (20%) to pursue trans-Pacific flights. BCPA was later taken over by Qantas. (Note: the narrator refers to the aircraft shown in the movie as a “Skymaster” which was generally the name used for the C-54, a cargo aircraft related to the DC-6. The plane shown is the BCPA “Discovery”, and it’s possible it was actually not a DC-6 but a DC-4. BCPA operated DC-4s prior to acquiring DC-6s.)
At 2:29, the plane lands at Fiji for refueling at the Nadi Airport. Fiji is shown including sugar cane cultivation, pineapple plantations, and more. At 3:30 stewardesses are introduced to the royal family. At 4:30 the film mentions a stop at Canton Island, but that stop is not shown. At 4:50, the aircraft arrives at Hawaii, and the Honolulu airport is shown. At 5:20 the stewardesses explore Waikiki Beach and pick up a surfboard to learn to surf. At 5:54, traditional hula dancing is shown. At 5:53, the trip resumes to Vancouver with stewardess service shown over the Pacific. At 7:20 San Francisco is seen from low altitude. San Francisco airport is shown briefly before the trip resumes over the Pacific NW. At 8:13 Vancouver is shown with its modern airport and downtown including at 8:30 streetcars and buses near the Capital Theater and Strand. The Lion’s Gate Bridge is shown at 9:00, and modern suburbs as well.
The original BCPA route is shown in the film, from Sydney – Auckland – Fiji – Canton Island – Hawaii – San Francisco – Vancouver and later included Melbourne. Initially, BCPA chartered all flights to Australian National Airways, which used its Douglas DC-4s. The inaugural flight departed from Sydney on 15 September 1946.
In late 1948, BCPA took delivery of the first of four Douglas DC-6 aircraft, outfitted as Pullman-type sleepers, bundling board options with small port holes bedside. Each aircraft was named for one of the four sailing vessels of Captain Cook, Resolution, Discovery, Adventure and Endeavour.
Initially BCPA charted all flights to the Australian National Airways, which used its Douglas DC-4s. The inaugural flight departed from Sydney on the 15th September 1946. In late 1948 BCPA took delivery of the first of four Douglas DC-6 aircraft.
After BCPA Flight 304 crashed near San Francisco on October 29, 1953, BCPA ran into financial difficulties and was liquidated in May 1954. BCPA’s remaining three DC-6 aircraft were sold to TEAL (now Air New Zealand) and its trans-Pacific route was taken over by Qantas.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
