How Avro's Tudor regained its reputation

The Avro Tudor is best-known for tragedies. But, on the Berlin Airlift, it demonstrated a more positive side

Having disgorged its cargo — probably after a ‘dry lift’ sortie, given its position on the airfield — BSAA-operated Tudor I G-AGRJ heads a queue of Yorks ready to leave Gatow. This machine alone notched up 117 ‘Plainfare’ missions.
Having disgorged its cargo — probably after a ‘dry lift’ sortie, given its position on the airfield — BSAA-operated Tudor I G-AGRJ heads a queue of Yorks ready to leave Gatow. This machine alone notched up 117 ‘Plainfare’ missions. KEY COLLECTION

Air Vice Marshal Donald C. T. Bennett was no stranger to adversity. As the first commander of the RAF’s Pathfinder Force, the hard-bitten Australian had fought tirelessly to improve Bomber Command’s navigational prowess, and thus its targeting accuracy. He was not the sort of man to accept second-best, and didn’t care whose noses he put out of joint along the way. Setting up his own airline, equipped with an aeroplane that had undergone a deeply troubled gestation and service entry, must have seemed a mere bagatelle.

But ‘Pathfinder Bennett’ a

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