The last of three programmes
In the Second World War the flying boats of RAF Coastal Command played a crucial part in the war at sea and it was the Sunderland that played the leading role. In peacetime they became part of the BOAC fleet of aircraft on the re-opened Empire routes, but their civilian role was short-lived. Bigger airports and larger run-ways meant bigger and faster land-planes and the flying boat was redundant. The last to be built in 1952 was the Princess, the largest aircraft in the world at the time. She lived for only one year.
David Lomax concludes the story of the flying boats - a story many believe should have no ending.
Film editor PETER HUNT Producer JOHN COLEMAN