Guinea Airways: the underestimate airline

[Deleted]

In the 1930s Guinea Airways became one of the largest air transport operators in the world, carrying more freight by air than the rest of the world's airlines put together. Among other cargoes, throughout the 1930s eight 3,000 ton gold dredges were flown from Lae, on the New Guinea north coast, to Bulolo / Wau in the highlands in one of the first major airlift operations. Since there were no roads, every piece of the dredge had to be designed to be air-transportable. The all-metal Junkers G31go was the mainstay of the Guinea Airways fleet of cargo-lifters from May 1931, a total of four of these aircraft being used. 


Despite of such a Junkers G31 I had to use the available and repainted W34, approaching here old Lae airfield. Remark the deleted roads.




Lae was also used by Ford Tri-Motor of Holdens Air Transport Service Ltd




These aircraft were built from the outset as freighters, with portholes instead of windows and a removable loading hatch over the forward fuselage. As said above, due to the lack of the suitable aircraft, the proportions are slightly unequal.




What looks like a joke, was in fact reality. You will find several other pictures depicting the same loading operations.



Bernard

[Tom/CalClassic]

A very long lived airline, not being sold to Ansett until 1959.

A detailed history:

www.aviationcollection.org/Guinea%20Airways/Guinea%20Airways.htm

[jwh]

If you can ever now find a book called "Wings of Gold" by James Sinclair it is well worth the money. First published in 1978 it tells the story of the development of aviation on the Morobe Goldfields and the formation of Guinea Airways. Great shots, especially of the early Junkers that they used there. They certainly were intrepid airmen up there.

John