View source for Aviation Traders Carvair

{{Short description|Transport aircraft}}
<!-- This article is a part of [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft]]. Please see [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content]] for recommended layout. -->
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2017}}
{{Infobox aircraft
| name = ATL-98 Carvair
| image = British Air Ferries Carvair G-ASHZ.jpg
| caption =  Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair, British Air Ferries, 1975
| type = Transport
| manufacturer = [[Aviation Traders]]
| designer = 
| first_flight = 21 June 1961
| introduction = 16 February 1962 with [[Channel Air Bridge]]
| retired = 
| produced = 
| number_built = 21 conversions
| status = Retired from service
| unit cost = 
| primary_user = 
| more_users = 
| developed_from = [[Douglas DC-4]]
| variants = 
}}

The '''Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair''' is a retired  [[air ferry]] conversion developed by [[Freddie Laker]]'s [[Aviation Traders|Aviation Traders (Engineering) Limited]] (ATL). Based on the [[Douglas DC-4]], it has a capacity of 22 passengers in a rear cabin, and five cars loaded in at the front. It is powered by four [[radial engine]]s.

==Design and development==
Freddie Laker's idea to convert surplus examples of the Douglas DC-4 and its military counterpart the [[Douglas C-54 Skymaster|C-54 Skymaster]] to carry cars was a relatively inexpensive solution to develop a successor to the rapidly aging and increasingly inadequate [[Bristol Freighter|Bristol 170 Freighter]], the car ferry airlines' mainstay since the late 1940s.<ref name="Carvair_beginning">{{harvnb|Eglin|Ritchie|1980|pp=76–77}}</ref>

The Bristol Freighter's main drawback was its limited car [[payload]]: even the "long-nosed" Mark 32 was able to accommodate only three cars, in addition to 20 passengers. This made carrying cars by air a very risky business: if a booked car did not arrive for the flight, the one-third cut in payload made the flight unprofitable. This was made worse by the increasing average length of British cars during the 1950s: the average UK car in 1959 was {{convert|25|cm|in}} longer than in 1950. The extreme seasonality of the car ferry business furthermore resulted in poor aircraft utilization outside peak periods. Moreover, repeated takeoffs and landings on short cross-[[English Channel|Channel]] flights, in turbulent air at lower altitudes with tight turnarounds of as little as 20 minutes, made the aircraft prone to structural [[Fatigue (material)|fatigue]] problems, necessitating rigorous and costly modification programmes, further increasing the type's [[operating cost]]s on low-[[Yield (finance)|yield]] routes.<ref name="Carvair_beginning"/>

When the major airlines replaced their obsolete piston [[airliner]]s with new [[Boeing 707]] and [[Douglas DC-8]] [[jet aircraft|jets]] on their prestige long-haul routes, the unit price of second-hand DC-4s dropped to as little as [[pound sterling|£]]50,000 (equivalent to £{{inflation|UK|.050000|1959|r=1|fmt=c}} million today). The conversion of each of these [[airframe]]s into car-passenger carriers cost about £80,000 (£{{inflation|UK|.080000|1959|r=1|fmt=c}} million today). This was easily affordable by smaller airlines, such as the car ferry companies. Freddie Laker's cardboard model of a converted DC-4 featuring a door in the nose and a flight deck raised ''above'' the [[fuselage]] had shown that its payload was superior to the Bristol Freighter/Superfreighter. The aircraft conversion was designed to accommodate five average-sized British cars plus 25 passengers in the DC-4's longer and wider fuselage. British Air Ferries (BAF), for example, operated its Carvairs in a flexible configuration, either accommodating five cars and 22 passengers or two-three cars and 55 passengers, changeable from one configuration to the other in about 40 minutes.<ref>{{Harvnb|''Flight International'' 15 August 1968|p=249}}</ref> In addition, the DC-4's lack of [[Cabin pressurization|pressurisation]] was suitable for low-altitude cross-Channel flights, making the proposed structural conversion straightforward. The result was a new aircraft christened ''Carvair'' (derived from ''car-via-air'').<ref>{{Harvnb|Eglin|Ritchie|1980|pp=77–78}}</ref>

[[File:Nieuwe auto-vliegdienst Rotterdam naar Manchester, Bestanddeelnr 919-0220.jpg|thumb|A publicity photo of a vintage 1897 Daimler car being loaded via scissor-lift onto a Carvair, 1966]]

Initially, it was thought that second-hand, pressurised [[Douglas DC-6]] and [[Douglas DC-7]] airframes could be converted into larger, "second generation" Carvairs within 15 years of the original DC-4-based Carvair's entry into service.<ref>{{Harvnb|Whybrow|1959|p=710}}</ref>

The conversion of the original DC-4 entailed replacing the forward fuselage with one {{convert|8|ft|8|in|m|2|}} longer, with a [[Cockpit|flight deck]] raised into a bulbous "hump" like the later [[Boeing 747]] jet, to allow a sideways-hinged nose door. It also required more powerful wheel brakes and an enlarged [[Empennage|tail]], often thought to be a Douglas DC-7 unit, but actually a completely new design.{{Citation needed|date=August 2013}} The engines, four [[Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp]]s, were unchanged.

The [[prototype]] conversion first flew on 21 June 1961. Twenty-one Carvairs were produced in the UK, with production of aircraft 1, 11 and 21 at [[London Southend Airport|Southend Airport]] and the others at [[London Stansted Airport|Stansted Airport]]. The final three aircraft were delivered to Australia's [[Ansett Australia|Ansett-ANA]], which supplied its own DC-4s to ATL for conversion, unlike the previous 18 aircraft that were purchased by ATL and either sold on or transferred to associate company [[British United Air Ferries]] (BUAF). One of the two aircraft still flying in June 2007 was an ex-Ansett airframe. A second Ansett aircraft was abandoned at [[Phnom Penh]] in 1975. The first flight of the last conversion, number 21, for Ansett, was on 12 July 1968.

Basic price for a Carvair newly converted from a C-54 airframe (two of the three Ansett airframes supplied were of the DC-4 variant) in 1960 was £150,000, equivalent to £{{inflation|UK|.15|1960|r=1|fmt=c}} million today.<ref>{{Harvnb|''Flight'' 18 November 1960|p=783}}</ref>

==Operational history==
[[File:British United Carvair.jpg|thumb|Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair, British United (BUA), 1967]]

The Carvair was used by [[Aer Lingus]], BUA/BUAF and BAF among others, and was used in [[Democratic Republic of the Congo|Congo-Kinshasa]] during 1962–1963, under contract to the [[United Nations]]. Aircraft for Aer Lingus were quickly convertible between 55 seats, and 22 seats with five cars. Some aircraft were pure freighters with only nine seats. One aircraft had 55 high-density seats and room for three cars. BAF was the last operator in Europe of the aircraft, keeping them flying into the 1970s.

[[File:Carvair in Christchurch (New Zealand) 1977.jpg|thumb|right|[[Aviation Traders]] ATL-98 Carvair of [[Nationwide Air]] at [[Christchurch|Christchurch, New Zealand]] in 1977]]

==Former operators==
[[File:EI-AMR 2 ATL98 Carvair Aer Lingus LPL 19MAY63 (5562788490).jpg|thumb|A Rolls-Royce being loaded onto an Aer Lingus Carvair, at Liverpool 19 May 1963]]

[[File:Vintage Aircraft 58-021.jpg|thumb|ATL-8 Carvair transport , Dallas, Texas, 1979]]

;{{AUS}}
*[[Ansett Australia]]<ref name="aero1118p90"/>
;{{CAN}}
*[[Eastern Provincial Airways]]<ref name="aero1118p97"/>
;{{COG}}
*[[Aero Service]]
;{{DOM}}
*[[Dominicana de Aviación]]<ref name="aero1118p90"/>
;{{FRA}}
* {{Interlanguage link|Compagnie Air Transport|de}}<ref name="aero1118p97">{{Harvnb|Vandervord|2018|p=97}}</ref>
* SF Air<ref name="aero1118p97"/> 
* SOACO<ref name="aero1118p97"/>
* [[Transport Aériens Réunis]]<ref name="aero1118p97"/>
;{{GAB}}
*[[Ste Anonyme de Construction]]
;{{IRL}}
*[[Aer Lingus]]<ref name="aero1118p90"/>
;{{ITA}}
*[[Alisud]]<ref name="aero1118p96">{{Harvnb|Vandervord|2018|p=96}}</ref>
;{{LUX}}
*[[Interocean Airways]]<ref name="aero1118p90"/>
;{{NZL}}
*Nationwide Air<ref name="aero1118p97"/>
;{{ZAF}}
*[[Phoebus Apollo Aviation]]
;{{ESP}}
*[[Aviaco]]<ref name="aero1118p90"/>
;{{CHE}}
*[[International Committee of the Red Cross]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aviationtraderscarvair.com/car-lnnaa-ema.htm|title=Croix Rouge - Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair - LN-NAA msn 14/10458|website=aviationtraderscarvair.com|access-date=29 March 2021|archive-date=6 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211206111407/http://aviationtraderscarvair.com/car-lnnaa-ema.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
;{{TUN}}
*[[Tunisair|Tunis Air]]<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Observers Basic Book of Aircraft - Civil|last=Green|first=William|publisher=Fredrick Warbe & Co. Inc.|year=1967|location=London|pages=66}}</ref>
;{{GBR}}
*[[British United Air Ferries]] and successor [[British Air Ferries]] (BAF)<ref name="aero1118p945">{{Harvnb|Vandervord|2018|pp=94–95}}</ref>
*[[Channel Air Bridge]]<ref name="aero1118p90">{{Harvnb|Vandervord|2018|p=90}}</ref>
;{{USA}}
*[[Falcon Airways]]<ref name="aero1118p97"/>
;{{ZAI}}
*[[ECL Air]]
*[[Transair Cargo]]

==Accidents and incidents==

Of the 21 airframes, eight were destroyed in crashes:
* [[Rotterdam]], Netherlands 1962<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aviationtraderscarvair.com/crash.htm|last=Brouwer|first=Maarten|work=Aviation Traders Carvair|title=Rotterdam Airport Crash|access-date=14 March 2019|archive-date=30 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330192147/http://www.aviationtraderscarvair.com/crash.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Karachi]], Pakistan 1967<ref>{{cite web|work=Aviation Safety Network|title=1967 Database|url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19670308-0&lang=fr}}</ref>
* [[Twin Falls (Newfoundland and Labrador)|Twin Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador]], Canada 1968<ref>{{cite web|work=Aviation Safety Network|title=1968 Database|url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19680928-0}}</ref>
* [[Dominicana de Aviación Flight 401|Miami, Florida, United States 1969]]<ref>{{cite web|work=Aviation Safety Network|title=1969 Database|url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19690623-0}}</ref>
* [[Le Touquet]], France 1971<ref>{{cite web|work=Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archive|url=https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-aviation-traders-atl-98-carvair-le-touquet|title=CRASH OF A AVIATION TRADERS ATL-98 CARVAIR IN LE TOUQUET}}</ref>
* [[Venetie, Alaska]], United States 1997<ref name="NTSB-ANC97LA093">{{cite web|url= https://asn.flightsafety.org/reports/1997/19970628_CARV_N103.pdf |title=National Transportation Safety Board Aviation Accident Final Report Accident Number: ANC97LA093|work=[[National Transportation Safety Board]]|date=10 November 1998|access-date=25 October 2025|quote=Accident occurred Saturday, June 28, 1997&nbsp;... The crew made a successful landing and ran away from the airplane. The airplane continued to burn and was destroyed by fire.}}</ref>
* [[Griffin–Spalding County Airport|Griffin, Georgia]], United States 1997<ref>{{cite web|work=Aviation Safety Network|url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19970404-0|title=1997 Database}}</ref>
* [[McGrath, Alaska]], United States 2007<ref>{{cite web|work=Old Wings|title=30 May 2007: Carvair N898AT Wrecked|url=http://www.oldwings.nl/content/n898at/n898at.htm}}</ref>

==Surviving aircraft==
[[File:Carvair at Rand Airport.jpg|thumb|right|9J-PAA seen at [[Rand Airport]], [[South Africa]] on 18 August 2011]]

* 9J-PAA (the 21st and final Carvair built) is in South Africa with [[Phoebus Apollo Aviation]]. Formerly registered in [[Zambia]], the aircraft is currently on display at [[Rand Airport]], where it sits near other uncommon aircraft such as the [[Boeing 747SP]]. Although removed from the Zambian register, the owner planned to return it to the skies for air shows.{{citation needed|date=December 2017}}
* N89FA "Miss 1944" (the 9th Carvair) is based in [[Gainesville, Texas]] at KGLE Gainesville Municipal Airport. The aircraft is still complete as of April 2024, and has been seen receiving periodic maintenance, but there is no specific evidence that she has flown in recent years. In 2005 this aircraft appeared at the World Free Fall Convention, Rantoul, Illinois, where it took over 100 skydivers into the air in one flight.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Peters |first1=Luke |title=The Aviation Traders Carvair: History’s curious-looking airborne car ferry (April 20, 2024) |url=https://www.aerotime.aero/articles/aviation-traders-carvair-history |website=Aerotime |date=20 April 2024 |access-date=25 October 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=2005 List of jump aircraft |url=https://www.freefall.com/aircraft.php |website=World Free Fall Convention (freefall.com) |access-date=30 September 2024}}</ref>

==Specifications==
{{Aircraft specs
|ref=Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1965–66<ref name="Janes 65 p129">{{Harvnb|Taylor|1965|p=129}}</ref>
|prime units?=imp
<!--
        General characteristics
-->
|genhide=

|crew=2 or 3
|capacity=<br/>
**Maximum seating 85 passengers ''or''
**five cars and 22 passengers ''or''
**{{convert|19335|lb|kg|abbr=on}} cargo
|length m=
|length ft=102
|length in=7
|span m=
|span ft=117
|span in=6
|height m=
|height ft=29
|height in=10
|wing area sqm=
|wing area sqft=1462
|aspect ratio=9.45:1
|airfoil=NACA 23016 at root, NACA 23012 at tip
|empty weight kg=
|empty weight lb=41365
|gross weight kg=
|gross weight lb=
|max takeoff weight lb=73800
|fuel capacity={{convert|2993|impgal|USgal L|abbr=on}}
<!--
        Powerplant
-->
|eng1 number=4
|eng1 name=[[Pratt & Whitney R-2000 Twin Wasp|Pratt & Whitney R-2000]]-7M2 Twin Wasp
|eng1 type=14-cylinder [[radial engine]]s
|eng1 kW=<!-- prop engines -->
|eng1 hp=1450<!-- prop engines -->

|prop blade number=3<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop name=Hamilton-Standard Hydromatic
|prop dia m=<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia ft=13<!-- propeller aircraft -->
|prop dia in=1<!-- propeller aircraft -->

<!--
        Performance
-->
|perfhide=

|max speed kmh=
|max speed mph=250
|max speed kts=
|max speed mach=<!-- supersonic aircraft -->
|cruise speed kmh=<!-- if max speed unknown -->
|cruise speed mph=207<!-- if max speed unknown -->
|cruise speed note=at {{convert|10000|ft|m|abbr=on}} (econ. cruise)
|stall speed mph=119
|stall speed note=(wheels and flaps up)
|never exceed speed mph=275
|range km=
|range miles=2300
|range note=at {{convert|10000|ft|m|abbr=on}} with maximum payload, {{convert|3455|mi|nmi km|abbr=on}} with {{convert|10000|lb|kg|abbr=on}} payload and max fuel
|ceiling m=
|ceiling ft=18700
|climb rate ms=
|climb rate ftmin=650
|more performance=*'''Takeoff distance to 50 ft (15 m):''' {{convert|4200|ft|m|abbr=on}}
*'''Landing distance from 50 ft (15 m):''' {{convert|3120|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|avionics=
}}

==Notable appearances in media==
<!-- All content about the aircraft in fictional and gaming use has been moved to [[Aircraft in fiction, please see [[WP:AIRPOP]] -->
{{Main|Aircraft in fiction#Aviation Traders Carvair}}

British United Carvairs made an appearance in the 1964 [[James Bond (literary character)|James Bond]] movie ''[[Goldfinger (film)|Goldfinger]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/planes/q0061b.shtml|title=Carvair in Goldfinger|work=aerospaceweb.org|last=Scott|first=Jeff|date=13 January 2002|access-date=25 August 2017}}</ref> as [[Auric Goldfinger]] and bodyguard [[Oddjob]] boarded [[c:Category:G-ASDC_(aircraft)|G-ASDC]] bound for Switzerland while Goldfinger's [[Rolls-Royce Phantom III|Rolls-Royce Phantom]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013-10-09 |title=Rolls-Royce Phantom III |url=https://www.jamesbondlifestyle.com/product/rolls-royce-phantom-iii |access-date=2024-05-22 |website=Bond Lifestyle |language=en}}</ref> was being loaded through the Carvair's nose. In the 1967 TV series ''[[The Prisoner]]'' in the episode "[[The Chimes of Big Ben]]", the plane is seen being loaded through the nose, then taking off and landing again. A Carvair serves as Charlie Marshall's plane in the [[John le Carré|John Le Carre]] novel ''[[The Honourable Schoolboy]]''.

==See also==
{{Aircontent
<!-- include as many lines are appropriate. additional lines/entries with carriage return. -->
|related=
* {{anl|Canadair North Star}}
* {{anl|Douglas C-54 Skymaster}}
* {{anl|Douglas DC-4}}
|similar aircraft=
* {{anl|Armstrong Whitworth AW.660 Argosy}}
* {{anl|Bristol Freighter}}
|lists=
|see also=
}}

==Notes==
<!--See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes for an explanation of how to generate footnotes using the <ref> and </ref> tags and the tag below -->
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite magazine |title=Air Transport: British Air Ferries Look Ahead |magazine=[[Flight International]] |date=15 August 1968 |volume=94 |issue=3102 |pages=248–249 |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1968/1968%20-%201560.html |access-date=15 March 2019 |ref={{harvid|''Flight International'' 15 August 1968}} }}
* {{cite magazine |title=Commercial Aircraft of the World |magazine=[[Flight International|Flight]] |date=18 November 1960 |volume=78 |issue=2697 |pages=781–827 |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1960/1960%20-%202659.html |access-date=15 March 2019 |ref={{Harvid|''Flight'' 18 November 1960}} }}
* {{cite book|last1=Eglin|first1=Roger |last2=Ritchie|first2=Berry  |name-list-style=amp| title=Fly me, I'm Freddie | publisher=Weidenfeld and Nicolson | place=London, UK | year=1980 | isbn=0-297-77746-7 }}
* {{cite book|last1=Dean |first1= W. P. |last2=O'Callaghan|first2= M.  |name-list-style=amp| title=The ATL-98 Carvair: A Comprehensive History of the Aircraft and All 21 Airframes | publisher= McFarland & Co. | place=Jefferson, N.C., USA | year=2008 | isbn=978-0-7864-3670-5 }} (2nd printing)
* {{cite book |last=Doyle|first=Paul A. |title='Air Bridge 2' (the design, development and service use of the ATL98 Carvair conversions and their effect on the civilian vehicle air ferry era) |year=2000 |location=Hertfordshire, UK |publisher= Forward Airfield Research Publishing |isbn=09525-624-72 }}
* {{cite book| title=Airliner World – Britain's Carferry Airlines, January 2004 | publisher=Key Publishing | place=Avenel, New Jersey, USA}} ([http://www.airlinerworld.com ''Airliner World'' online])
* {{cite book|last=Taylor |first=John W. R. |author-link=John W. R. Taylor  |title=Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1965–66 |year=1965 |publisher=Sampson Low, Marston & Company |location=London }}
* {{cite magazine |last=Vandervord |first=Richard |title=Database: Aviation Traders Carvair |magazine=[[Aeroplane Monthly|Aeroplane]] |date=November 2018 |volume=46 |issue=11 |pages=87–100 |issn=0143-7240 }}
* {{cite magazine |last=Whybrow |first=D. A. |title=Bridging That Gap: What Prospects for the Vehicle Air Ferry? |magazine=[[Flight International|Flight]] |date=11 December 1959 |volume=76 |issue=2648 |pages=709–711  |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1959/1959%20-%203332.html |access-date=15 March 2019 }}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair}}
*[https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1964/1964%20-%202920.PDF Operators’ reference drawing] 
*[https://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1964/1964%20-%202919.PDF Commercial Aircraft of the World Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair] 
*[http://www.atl.aero Aviation Traders Ltd.] 
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061209073336/http://www1.airliners.net/info/stats.main?id=49 The Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair] 
*[http://www.aviationtraderscarvair.com/ Aviation Traders Carvair] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216201606/http://www.aviationtraderscarvair.com/ |date=16 December 2014 }} 
*[http://www.ruudleeuw.com/n898at-history.htm DC-4 to Carvair, c/n 42994 history by Gil White] 
*[http://www.ruudleeuw.com/temp-carvair-stu.htm ATL.98 Carvair N898AT in final stages of restoration] 
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110723131205/http://www.flyinghigher.net/douglas/N898AT.html Douglas DC-4-1009, Carvair ATL-98 Registration: N898AT] 
*[http://www.oldwings.nl/content/n898at/n898at.htm 30 May 2007: Carvair N898AT Wrecked]
*[https://asn.flightsafety.org/database/type/CARV ASN Aviation Safety Database Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair] 
*[http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/planes/q0061b.shtml Carvair in Goldfinger]

{{Douglas DC-4 family}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Aviation Traders aircraft]]
[[Category:1960s British cargo aircraft]]
[[Category:Four-engined tractor aircraft]]
[[Category:Low-wing aircraft]]
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[[Category:Aircraft first flown in 1961]]
[[Category:1960s British airliners]]
[[Category:Four-engined piston aircraft]]
[[Category:Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear]]