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I must admit I'm always a bit sceptical of the "WW2 runways" claim, it always sounds a little glib to me. A lot of former airfields shut and never re-opened and many continued in military use until the 60-70s - airports like Heathrow were more or less purpose built and of course most early 50s propliners needed long runways and needed to be in municipal areas (most new WW2 airfields were not located in or near cities).Internationally hubs were created during the war across global but how many of these were actually new construction to civil standards and how many were actually built/upgraded from existing pre-war facilities (e.g. air routes from Europe to India).Saying that, it was clear that flying boats were often a prisoner of geographic location. Transatlantic service terminals in Foynes was hardly conducive to easy flying for passengers from South East England or Scotland for example. Southampton was a busy port and congested. Liverpool would likewise not be a good choice yet there were few West Coast locations with good connections. Proposals to build new facilities with geo-engineered lagoons etc. foundered on cost or being out of the way places reliant on rail links. Early transatlantic airliners often had to stop at Gander or Prestwick but at least you could fly from London on the same aircraft rather than catching a train to Scotland or Ireland first. On transcontinental routes often flying boats only made one or more leg of longer journeys involving switches to wheeled aircraft etc., it being more economical and timely to fly overland rather than around the coastlines.But for regional and smaller routes with cargo it is surprising that flying boats died out so quickly. There doesn't seem to have been a Catalina boom akin to surplus Daks or a 'Catalina Replacement' like the 'Dakota Replacement' which gripping the manufacturers post-war.
I must admit I'm always a bit sceptical of the "WW2 runways" claim, it always sounds a little glib to me. A lot of former airfields shut and never re-opened and many continued in military use until the 60-70s - airports like Heathrow were more or less purpose built and of course most early 50s propliners needed long runways and needed to be in municipal areas (most new WW2 airfields were not located in or near cities).
Internationally hubs were created during the war across global but how many of these were actually new construction to civil standards and how many were actually built/upgraded from existing pre-war facilities (e.g. air routes from Europe to India).
Saying that, it was clear that flying boats were often a prisoner of geographic location. Transatlantic service terminals in Foynes was hardly conducive to easy flying for passengers from South East England or Scotland for example. Southampton was a busy port and congested. Liverpool would likewise not be a good choice yet there were few West Coast locations with good connections. Proposals to build new facilities with geo-engineered lagoons etc. foundered on cost or being out of the way places reliant on rail links. Early transatlantic airliners often had to stop at Gander or Prestwick but at least you could fly from London on the same aircraft rather than catching a train to Scotland or Ireland first. On transcontinental routes often flying boats only made one or more leg of longer journeys involving switches to wheeled aircraft etc., it being more economical and timely to fly overland rather than around the coastlines.
But for regional and smaller routes with cargo it is surprising that flying boats died out so quickly. There doesn't seem to have been a Catalina boom akin to surplus Daks or a 'Catalina Replacement' like the 'Dakota Replacement' which gripping the manufacturers post-war.
