"Croydon Departure - The Golden Years"

by Gerald Coulson


Image Size: 12 x 16 in (30 x 41 cm)


Limited Editiion of 850 artist-signed copies

During the early 1930s, Imperial Airways of London introduced to its European and Eastern routes the HP42, an enormous four-engined Handley Page biplane carrying up to 38 passengers at a sedate 100mph. For the first time air travellers could enjoy Pullman comfort, the wicker-work chairs finally being dispensed with. Eight of these outstanding aircraft were built and operated from 1931 to the start of the Second World War. The European services were flown by the four known as the Heracles class with fleet names Horatius, Hengist and Helena. The Hannibal class with Horsa, Hanno and Hadrian serviced the Empire routes. They accumulated over 10 million miles of peacetime operations wthout harm to a single passenger or crew member. Safety became their byword. Depicted here is Horatius, bound for Paris from Croydon. What a sight to behold, truly a galleon of the clouds.