Tonight, I received an e-mail from long-time US world-class aviation photographer William (Bill) Larkins, a good friend of SEAWINGS. It was sent to him by a real flying boat enthusiast Jim Lund. This is the chap who has just put on a display of flying boat models in San Fransisco, due to be featured on SEAWINGS shortly, but trust me when I say that this guy is one real flying boat modeler, historian and all-round superb enthusiast! The pics are stunning.............!
However, the content of the e-mail is flying boat dynamite! Read this:
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Dear Bill,
I'm thinking that since you have taken the time to introduce me to Bryan Ribbans ...Britain's number one flying boat enthusiast.
In any case, he operates an impressive web site.
For some strange reason, I feel compelled let the establishment know that all S.23 and particularly S.30's were not all done in alclad with silver painted fabric covered control surfaces. That opinion that came from the pages of Brian Cassidy's definitive book "Flying Empires".
PROFILE PUBLICATIONS "The Short Empire Boats" number 84 featured four pages of color profiles showing some with the hull below the water line in cream. All boats were shown over-all aluminum. I have seen, on the internet, color photos of dull aluminum colored Imperial Airways ships. So I conclude that some Imperial Airways boats were that color.
Now consider the Qantas and Tasman boats. Bill, ...here is the crux of the thing - Petr Buchar, the C.E.O. of CMR (Czech Master Resin) is coming out with a kit of the Short S.30 that will feature the Tasman Empire boat ‘Aotearoa’. The builders of these kits should be made aware of the actual colours.
For your information, the main difference between the S.23 and S.30 are the engines: S.23 had Bristol Pegasus X and the S.30 had smaller diameter Bristol Perseus XII, which helped increase their range.
Now, it gets complicated. Evidently WWII really screwed up the system. Britain went to war with Germany in 1939. The colony 'down under' was not as deeply embroiled. Pearl Harbor upped the ante.
The records show that the ‘Aotearoa’ started life 12th May 1939 as AWARUA ZK-AMA, then became Imperial Airways G-AFDA . It was then briefly registered as ZK-AMC before becoming ZK-AMA as the ‘Aotearoa’. Still more confusing is that I have a photo captioned as ‘Ao-tea-roa’, a Cabot class boat. used on the New Zealand - Australia run with the registration ZK-AMA,
However the photo shows G-AFCY…I discovered this is so because it was launched as ZK-AMA, then became AWARUA G-AFCY .
OK, enough jibberish! Let's cut to the chase.
Question: What was the color of the ‘Aotearoa’ ?.
I have a color photo, published on page 378 of "Pan American's Pacific Pioneers - the rest of the story by Jon Krupnick. It shows a Boeing 314 moored alongside ZK-AMA ‘Aotearoa’. The caption reads "This rare color aerial photo of Pan Am's New Zealand base at Mechanic's Bay, Auckland, taken July 18, 1940. The author, Mr Krupnick was very interested my comments and contacted his graphics man Mr.Cal Deal, of The Graphic Witness Inc. Mr. Deal sent me an email photo with this message: Here is a screen capture showing the area in question at 200%. You can clearly see that the blue water was painted around the gangway and around the tail of the Boeing. Sorry this didn't provide the evidence you're seeking! Best, Cal.
So it was a colorized photo. Not digitally on some idiot's photo shop computer. Colorized by a professional in 1940 given the right colors for the Boeing (as we have many Kodak color photos of this airplane taken in 1940). I think that it’s safe to assume that the colors on the Short are also correct. Cream overall with international orange panels on the wing outboard above the ailerons, cowl flaps aluminum, collector ring rust and steel props.
More recently, I discovered the book "...From the Dawn of Aviation - THE QANTAS STORY - 1920 -1995" by John Stackhouse. Published 1005 ISBN 1-875-359-23-0 Page 80 has a Kodachrome 35 mm photo of VH-ABA ‘Carpenteria’ taken in 1941. The colors are the same as the Krupnick photo, with the addition of red, white and blue war-time identity stripes horizontally along the lower rear of the hull and vertical in the fin. I am convinced that these boats sported the colors described in the above text.
I must give credit to R.E.G. Davies, for his publication "BRITISH AIRWAYS - an airline and its aircraft Volume 1: 1919-1939 - The Imperial Years" Mr. Davies told of the "C" class boats painted with cream colored protective sealant. Davies had conferred with John Stroud. Stroud, an airline and air transport historian, author of many books and the technical editor of Putnam books. Stroud was also an aviation artist as well. Davies took a lot of flak from the flying boat historical establishment, refusing to accept "Cream Coloured Empire boats". Well, I must say that Davies and Stroud sent me on a mission, and I believe that I have found ample proof that they got it right.
I hope that now you better understand what this color thing is all about. Also I plan to email a copy of this letter to Petr Buchar, Bryan Ribbans, and Ron Davies.
I thank you for your continuing support, Jim.
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Well, there you have it.
Why do I get the feeling that I have just opened a real 'can of worms'??
Ok, does anyone/everyone - agree/disagree - with Jim's 'findings...............It does, at face value, appear to be a 'done deal'.....or is it??
Has anyone got any further PROOF of the colours? Supposition, speculation and random thoughts could take a subject such as this well beyond the 'real world' so I would ask that we keep our responses qualified with historically accurate, proveable, replies.
What we need is a chap who stood on the quayside in WWII with a 35mm camera, a copy of FS595A, and a sketch book, a witness and a copy of the Methuen Book of Colour!!!
If anyone has access to any of the pics mentioned above, I would love to see scans to see for myself (wouldn't we all)??
Failing that, what can YOU come up with??
Bill Larkins, Jim Lund, thank you so much for sharing this with us; let's see what we can add to it - to prove or disprove; that is the question......................
I'm off to put a tin helmet on and dive into the SEAWINGS bunker!
