Postal delays in the fall of 1919 result in steamers unable to unload due to the tardy arrival of bills of lading. Sir Samuel Instone and his brother Theodore, owners of the shipping line S. Instone & Co., Ltd. to seek a novel solution this problem.
On October 13, the company begins a private Cardiff-London (Hounslow)-Paris (LBG) DH 4A service for corporation documents and officials. Over the French capital that day, chief pilot Frank Barnard tosses out a number of greeting cards bearing the company name, the Union Jack, and the Tricolor.
Flying the firm’s de Havilland DH 4A (converted from the DH 4), chief pilot Barnard, on February 18, 1920, offers a public service on the company route from London to Paris. In April, a flight is made to Prague to investigate the possibilities of a route to Czechoslovakia via Cologne; no route will materialize due to German opposition.
Also added is a converted Vickers FB 27 bomber, the FB-2B Vimy Commercial, registered G-EASI and christened City of London. The airline’s flagship, the Vimy is painted royal blue with silver wings and cream-colored interior. It is employed to inaugurate scheduled flight to Brussels on May 9.
During the remainder of the year, additional pilots are hired at an annual salary of ?827 and the fleet is increased through the addition of a BAT FK-26, the City of Newcastle, and two leased Westland Limousine IIs.
Lack of traffic and capital caused by deep-discount subsidized foreign competition forces the company to downsize early in 1921. Indeed, it can only offer flights to Paris on a nonscheduled basis when seats are filled and service to Brussels is terminated altogether. Facing ruin, the carrier joins other British pioneer airlines in halting operations on February 28.
While the company is still grounded on March 1, the first former Aircraft Transport & Travel, Ltd. (AT & T) DH 18A is delivered; two more will be accepted, one each in April and May. Having originally opposed state aid, Secretary of State for Air Winston S. Churchill organizes a Cross-Channel Subsidies Committee under Lord Londonderry on March 2.
On March 19, the Air Ministry agrees to provide the British overseas carriers with a total subsidy of ?88,200, allowing fares to be reduced to the level of those charged by the French lines. With a ?25,000 government grant in hand, Paris services are resumed for the public on March 21. Simultaneously, the carrier receives one of only two existing Westland Limousine IIIs on loan from the Air Council.
The second DH 18A is lost is a May 15 crash. The air transport division of S. Instone & Co. is split off on May 20 as plans are laid for incorporation. The first of two DH 18Bs to be delivered before year’s end arrives in early December. Capitalized at ?50,000, The Instone Air Line, Ltd. is registered on December 12; Sir Samuel names himself chairman, with S. T. L. Greer as general manager.
Uniforms are introduced for pilots and company officials on January 1, 1922, the first to be worn on a regular basis by personnel of any world airline. The first of four DH 34s to be delivered on loan from the Air Council during the year arrives in March and is christened City of Glasgow. All future Instone aircraft will also receive names that will be painted on the sides of their royal blue fuselages.
The Air Ministry, on April 1, introduces an ongoing subsidy scheme under which TIAL’s proposed Brussels route will be covered. The City of Glasgow, piloted by Barnard and with eight journalists as passengers, makes a proving flight to Paris on April 2; on April 18, an early morning DH 4A newspaper delivery service is launched to the French capital.
On May 8, carrying five passengers, Pilot Barnard launches Brussels service with the DH 34 City of New York. On May 22, the first DH 18B is lost in the North Sea. The first of two Vickers Type 61 Vulcans to be acquired during the year is delivered in late May and is christened City of Antwerp; it begins flying to Le Bourget on June 1.
During June, the two Westland Limousine IIs leased in 1920 are purchased. Chief Pilot Barnard now wins the huge trophy given to the victor in the King’s Cup Air Race, an honor that he shares with Sir Samuel. Five years later, Barnard, by then chief pilot of Imperial Airways, Ltd., will be killed while preparing to compete in another King’s Cup Air Race. On August 15, the Brussels route is extended to Cologne. Also during the summer, IAL carries the first known racehorse to be transported by air. Jockeys now become frequent travelers on the company’s passenger services. This heritage has recently been recalled by the latter-day Australian branch of Instone Air Services, Ltd. on it website at Http://www. instone. com. au.
On October 1, the government announces a revised subsidy scheme designed to prevent cutthroat competition on the same services by assigning specific routes to the various operators; the carrier’s Brussels and Cologne route is confirmed and a new ?25,000 grant is awarded. Instone’s last Paris flight is completed on October 2. Simultaneously, service is inaugurated by the Vickers Vimy Commercial City of London, nicknamed “Old Easy” from its registration numbers G-EASI, from London-Cologne; however, poor weather forces an unscheduled night layover at the Brussels intermediate stop.
In early February 1923, the Parliament’s Civil Air Subsidies Committee, headed by Sir Hebert Hambling, makes a report favoring the merging into one state carrier of all the private British carriers. On March 14, Sir Samuel Hoare, Secretary of State for Air, indicates the
U. K. government’s acceptance of the Hambling Report and its intention to merge the private airlines when their subsidy contracts expire the following March.
Nonstop London-Cologne out and return service starts on May 14. Ordered by the company as a 23-seat transport, the world’s largest civil airliner, the Vickers Vanguard (1), makes its inaugural flight at Brook-lands. Derived from the Virginia I, the prototype G-EBCP will only be employed as a demonstrator. On August 4, chief pilot Barnard makes an experimental Vulcan flight to Prague, but continuing political difficulties prevent the start-up of regular services.
As a result of the French occupation of the Ruhr following Germany’s default on reparation payments, the Weimar government must fly currency to its unemployed workers. The only practical way is to charter a British carrier to fly the cash first to London and then back to Cologne. To accomplish this duty, the Vimy Commercial City of London launches daily freight service to Cologne, earning Instone an extra ?120 per trip.
The Report of the Civil Air Transport Subsidies Committee, released earlier, results in a December 3 Air Council agreement to merge the independent British carriers into a single state airline. During the year, a Bristol 175 is added to the fleet and a total of 3,022 passengers are carried.
IALL disappears when Imperial Airways, Ltd. is officially incorporated on March 31, 1924. During IALL’s existence, the carrier had operated without a single injury to any passenger—a most remarkable achievement in the early 1920s.
Years later, Capt. Alfred Instone recalls his pioneering efforts in Early Birds: Air Transport Memories, 1919-1924 (Cardiff, Wales: Western Mail & Echo, 1938). He will also reveal that it was this company that introduced what will later become one of the great prizes of the airline memorabilia collector, the stick-on baggage label.
INSTONE AIR LINE, LTD. (2): Charity Farm, Pullborough Road, Pullborough, West Sussex, England, RH20 4HP, United Kingdom; Phone 44 (1908) 740 101; Fax 44 (1908) 740 102; Http://www. instone. com. au; Year Founded 1976. Named for its owners, the second Instone is organized by Giles and Jeremy Instone at London in August 1979. Following the lease of a Douglas DC-8-63F and the purchase of two Bristol 170 Freighters Mk. 31—wearing red seahorse logos on their tailfins—the carrier begins international freight charters and contract service flights on August 3, 1981. The company specializes in the transport of industrial and other outsized equipment and livestock, especially racehorses. ADC-6A joins the fleet in June 1988 and, by 1992, the fleet has been revised to include the DC-6A and a chartered DC-8-73F.
In 1993, Chairman Jeremy Instone and Managing Director Giles Instone oversee a workforce of 26. Operations, including those flown under marketing alliances with Air Canada, Ltd. and Federal Express, continue in 1994-2000. During these years, the company, now with the marketing name Instone Air Services, Ltd., boosts its employee population to 28. The all-leased fleet is increased to include 6 Boeing 737-500s, 4 B-737-400s, and 2 each B-767-200ERs and B-767-300ERs.
World History
