We love old photos of airplanes flying over Charm City. Take a look at this one from November 17th, 1937 showing Imperial Airways‘ flying boat over the city.
Imperial Airways was a British long-range airline, operating in the 1920s and 1930s. The routes were largely in Europe with longer-range destinations in the British Empire, including South Africa, India, and Hong Kong.
The airline merged into the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) just prior to World War II. Ultimately this was absorbed into British European Airways, which led to the formation of British Airways in 1974.
A similar plane en route from New York City to Bermuda in 1939 lost power and had to ditch in heavy seas about 300 miles from the City. The plane subsequently sank, taking three lives with it. Ten hours later, ten survivors were picked up.
Here’s another great image from the same time frame in 1937. You can see the Imperial Airways plane in the background as a crew is anchoring a Pan Am Sikorsky Clipper.
