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The  following photos are part of Ed Coates Collection, used with permission.

You can view his massive collection here. 
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                                       Transocean Air Lines was founded in Oakland California in 1946 and was the most innovative
                                        and opportunist, if not the largest, of all the non-scheduled airlines.  Headed by the inspirational
                                        Orvis Nelson, its business empire extended far beyond providing transportation within the United
                                        States.  The above ex C-54B-1-DC, for instance, was leased to Iranian Airways as EP-ADZ
                                        along with operational expertise (and probably flight deck crew) from Transocean.   The company 
                                        also provided technical expertise to Philippine Air Lines, Japan Air Lines, Air Jordan and Saudia.
                                        Most Transocean aircraft had the diminutive 'TALOA' which stood for 'Transocean Air Lines Oak-
                                        land' on the tail.    The airline owned, operated or leased the largest fleet of DC-4s of any line, some
                                        75 of them having been registered under their name at one time or another between 1946 and 1960. 
                                        Many came from United Air Lines and this is evident in the overall look of their livery.  Colors were
                                        different, though, as seen in image of the nose of the DC-4 below. This one, N4665V was operated 
                                        on the pseudo-scheduled 'Royal Hawaiian' flights from Oakland to Honolulu.    Transocean's equip-
                                         ment and facilities were used in the making of a number of movies, most notable of these being 
                                         "The High and the Mighty".    Having been refused time and again to obtain scheduled certification
                                         by a seemingly indifferent, if not outright antagonistic bureaucracy in the form of the CAB, and
                                         thwarted in its attempt to enter the jet age with Boeing 707s, (by a major airline who shall remain 
                                         nameless, but promised to pull its orders from Boeing should they sell to Taloa) the company, in
                                        1960 found itself in need operating capital.       It would appear that the California banks were
                                         unwilling to go on a limb to extend financing to the company (even though Japan Air Lines, who
                                         by that time were more than solvent in their own right and willing to back Transocean), and thus
                                         the airline which had been so instrumental in shaping the future of so many companies was forced 
                                         into filing for bankruptcy.   Incidentally, these same cautious banks were, four decades later, as we
                                         know, to throw common sense out the window and offer housing loans which could not possibly be
                                         paid.     Transocean's ROI on the other hand would have been substantial.  
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                                        This late model C-54G-1-DO had been leased to Pan American World Airways as 'Clipper
                                        Red Rover' in 1947 and had been converted to a civilian airliner by Douglas, it being the 81st
                                        such conversion of C-54s to DC-4 status.   Delivered to the USAAF in June 1945, it probably
                                        went more of less straight to the civilian conversion shop.  When Pan Am's lease expired it was
                                        picked up by Transocean and, oddly, given an "F" suffix registration.  The 'F' suffix in those days
                                        was normally given to those American aircraft based at 'Foreign' locations.    As far as I know  
                                        N9937F was based at Oakland, where this shot was taken, with the remnants of the Pan Am
                                        livery still very much in evidence.  It was returned to the USAF as 45-0480 in November 1954 
                                        where it was converted to a VC-54G.   It was relegated to the Davis Monthan bone yard in
                                       1972 but became N9937F again when acquired by Dross Metals Inc in 1975.   This elegant old 
                                        lady was broken up in 1976. 
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                                       At the time this Bill Larkins shot was taken at Oakland in July 1954 this C-46 was registered under
                                       the Experimental category.       By this time all regos were purely 'N', but the word 'Experimental'
                                       appears in minuscule print on the fin.   It had been modified to use two Turbomeca Palas turbojet
                                       engines under the fuselage, although they are not mounted in this shot, and the machine was at the
                                       end of its lease and about to be returned to the USAF.  .    The elaborate protrusion on the star-
                                       board wing is a yaw meter.    Transocean were not a huge user of the C-46 by nonsked standards,
                                       only operating some 16 of them over the years.    N68967 was used in Taloa's Alaskan Division
                                       and, as such, it was felt that the small jet engines might be of advantage in short field performance.
                                       In the event the idea was not pursued.   This C-46 later went to CPAL as CF-CZL, following
                                       which it had several other Canadian owners until withdrawn from use in Montreal in 1970. 
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                                      Transocean used this Lodestar as a sort of 'company hack' (well, executive transport, then) back
                                       the early 1950s.    It was based at Oakland where this super photo by Bill Larkins was taken.  A
                                       former U.S. Coast Guard R50-1, it was serialed V-188.     After the war it went to South Africa 
                                       as ZS-BAJ.      It returned to the U.S. in the 1950s and went directly to Taloa.      It was sold to
                                       Douglas Dully, a private owner later in the 1950s. 
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                                    Transocean operated two Lockheed L-1049Hs in the late 1950s and both are shown here at
                                     Oakland, circa 1957.  They were used briefly on Taloa's 'Royal Hawaiian" flights from Oakland
                                     to Honolulu.    N1927H was leased from 1957 to 1959 after which the lessor, Air Finance Corp 
                                     sold it to The Babb Company, aircraft brokers.    From there it went to non-sked Capitol Air-
                                     ways and finally to Canairelief as CF-AEN.   N1880 (below, with enlarged rego for identiy
                                     purposes) was originally owned by the 1880 Corporation, a subsidiary of  Dollar Associates .
                                     Transocean leased it in July 1957 and then, in 1959 sub-leased it to Lufthansa as a freighter
                                     (it operated as N1880).   This Super Conniet had a long and colorful career finally winding up
                                     as a fire and rescue hulk for the Dade County Aviation Departmernt in Miiami. 
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                                       In 1958 Transocean acquired 14 ex-BOAC Stratocruisers.   Only 8 were ever put into operation. 
                                       The rare shot above, from the J.M.G. Gradidge collection shows the first of these as N85Q before
                                       it was re-registered N403Q.  It was formerly BOAC's G-ALSD 'RMA Cassiopeia'  The Boeing
                                       377 was an extremely expensive aircraft to run.   The few carriers who had them hard a hard time
                                       making a profit with their fleets of these double-bubble liners.   In BOAC's case, of course, it was
                                       the tax-payer who was putting up the tab, but for the American airlines (PAA and Northwest) they 
                                       were a drag on the bottom line  .  Just what made Transocean's Orvis Nelson think that he could 
                                       turn a profit with them is a matter of conjecture.  In the event, the carrier, which had begun in 1946 
                                       and had, in fact, become a vast conglomerate, was forced to file for bankruptcy in 1960.    It was 
                                       never able to obtain the certification, financial backing, or aircraft necessary to expand into the jet
                                       age.  The supplementals never did get the full blessing of the CAB and without this support found
                                       it very difficult to secure financing.    N403Q was later acquired by Aero Spacelines, but I don't
                                       think it was ever turned into a Guppy. 
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                                          California Eastern was founded by Jorge Carnicero in 1946, based primarily in Burbank, although
                                           the above shot was taken at Oakland in 1956.  It originally began operations as a scheduled cargo
                                           carrier.    Two years after being organized, California Eastern Airways, although being the second
                                           largest independent air carrier, filed for bankruptcy in May 1948, and its assets were acquired by 
                                           Slick Airways.  The remnants of the line were then purchased by Land-Air, Inc. (which was later
                                           renamed DynCorp) who reformed it as California Eastern Aviation, but flew under the old California
                                           Eastern Airways title   It later gained military cargo and passenger contracts from California (mainly
                                           Oakland) to the Far East, and at one stage Convair CV-880s were envisaged..  Some notes I have 
                                           indicate it flew supply runs during the Korean War.  Anyway, by 1962 the CEA identity had been
                                           dropped and the company was known as the Dynalectron Corporation.    As such it is still extant
                                           although no longer runs air services, being a conglomerate of companies employed in a wide variety
                                           of sciences.
                                           N1437V was an ex C-54A-15-DC built for the USAAF in 1944 as 44-72298.   Civilianized in 
                                           1947 it went to Pan American as their N88914  'Clipper Golden Eagle", then in 1950 to Alitalia
                                           as I-DALZ, then to REAL as PP-XEF before being acquired by CEA in 1954.  It later passed to
                                           sister company California Hawaiian  before going to Liberia as EL-ADS.     To pursue its career
                                           further for the context of this entry would be academic, but suffice it to say that the poor old thing
                                           met its end when it crashed into a mountain near Saravena, Arauca, Colombia on 30 August 1975. 
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                                     California Hawaiian Airlines was a sister carrier of California Central Airlines, and, as such, had
                                      much the same brilliant red, white and blue livery.  The latter airline is covered in my 'Airline' section 
                                      since it was a scheduled intra-state carrier.  California Hawaiian, on the other hand, only operated 
                                      charter services between the US west coast and Hawaii and therefore was considered a nonsked
                                      airline.  Both were conceived around 1947 by Col. Charles Sherman, along with his wife Edna K.
                                      Sherman and C. Mayers, Jr., Thomas McCarty and Lura Otto initially as Airline Transport Carriers,
                                      Inc.  When Western and United filed complaints against this outfit, ATC entered both CCA and 
                                      CHA into bankruptcy although resurrected them in 1955 under the same ownership, ostensibly 
                                      're-organized'.    The Lockheed L-049 seen above at Oakland by Bill Larkins in February 1953
                                      was, at that time, the airline's only aircraft. The enlargement below shows the tiny rego on the fin.
                                      Formerly BOAC's G-AHEN it was leased from Los Angeles Air Service.  The aircraft had overshot
                                      the runway at Bristol, Filton in 1951 and had been repaired and sold to LAAS.  It later went to El Al
                                      as 4X-AKD, before returning to the UK as G-AHEN.  It was broken up at Luton in 1965. 
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                                      In 1955 California Hawaiian re-emerged after its bankruptcy of the year before as a somewhat
                                      larger company initially operating three DC-4s.  These were augmented in 1960 with four L-749A
                                      Constellations leased from California Airmotive and three L-1049 Super Constellations from TWA,
                                      one of which is I saw above on WAL's ramp at LAX in 1961  . Although the airline did gain some 
                                      MATS charter work, by 1962 it had folded again......this time for good.   That N6901C had been 
                                      leased from TWA is obvious from its livery which merely had California Hawaiian superimposed
                                      over its standard TWA markings.   In 1966 this aircraft was sold to Lineas Aereas Patagonicas 
                                      Argentinas but, sadly crashed into the sea south-west of Callao, Peru on its delivery flight on 6
                                      March of that year. 

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                                       I know virtually nothing about this company, except that it flew low fare irregular scheduled passenger
                                        flights from Burbank to Oakland in the early 1950s. .  In fact, N5616V may have been their only air-
                                        craft.    I suspect it was probably based at the northern airport, where this shot, by Douglas D. Olson
                                        was taken.  Now, I have known Doug for well over fifty years and he has always been a stickler for
                                        accuracy.   Having said that, the negative is dated 9 January 1954, whereas my data on the C-46
                                        c/n 22369 indicates that it was built as a C-46F-1-CU (44-78546) and delivered to the USAF on
                                        7 July 1945.  It was transferred to the Foreign Liquidation Commission in June 1948 and civilianized
                                        for Trans Continental Airlines shortly afterward.     My records indicate that it then went to Curry Air 
                                        Transport followed by a short period with Great Lakes Airlines, circa early 1948.   It was bought by
                                        'The Californian' in 1949.      In 1950 it was purchased by Trans Air Hawaii and then by Skycoach
                                        Express in 1952.    At the time of Doug's photo my records indicate that N5616V went to Aerovias
                                        Sud Americana.  So, did it go briefly back to The Californian at around that time?  ***     As I say, 
                                        photographers of Olson's caliber were not often wrong, but perhaps the dating has become convoluted
                                        over the last sixty years?   From ASA N5616V went to Canada in March 1956 as CF-IGX for World 
                                        Wide Airways and then was brokered back in the states by Fred B. Ayer and Associates as N6600D.  
                                        Resold in Canada it became CF-MKV for Montreal Air Services in 1960.     Then back stateside as
                                        N323V for Vicair Inc.     Atlantic Aircraft Corporation bought it in 1965 and sold it to Ex-Im Export
                                        Corp a year later.    It was withdrawn from service in 1971 and presumably broken up.

                                        ***  Remember the old country song  ".....and as a Silver Dollar goes from hand to hand........." well,
                                         in the 1950s one could have added "so a C-46 goes from non-sked to non-sked".       Such was the 
                                         turn over of  these old ex-military machines that, in many cases, even the log books did not reflect all
                                         the changes of ownership!  
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                                       California Central Airlines commenced operations as an intra-state airline in 1949.  It advertised
                                        a $9.99 (plus tax) fare from Burbank to Oakland (and $5.55 from Burbank to San Diego).  These
                                        were bargain prices, even in 1949 money.   N71K was originally built for the FAA as NC1 and
                                        also served as NS17.   The shot above was taken at Oakland, and aircraft was named " Little Nik"
                                        at the time.  Note Martin 2-0-2 (unpainted) in the background.  So far as is known it was the only
                                        one of its type operated by CCA and was quickly replaced by a DC-3.    It later went, briefly, to
                                        Southwest Airways.   N71K is currently at Disneyworld in Orlando, where it is masquerading as 
                                        the "Lockheed from the Movie Casablanca".    (In actual fact, that machine was almost certainly
                                        NC17376   -   c/n 1220).
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                                        California Central Airlines was one of the airlines owned and operated by Col. Charles Sherman.  
                                         His holding company was Airline Transport Carriers (who also owned California Hawaiian Airlines), 
                                         and ATC flew as a non-scheduled airline in its own right from 1947 to 1949.  Upon receiving its
                                         intra-state certificate it was renamed California Central.   The above shot was taken by Bill Larkins 
                                         at Oakland in 1953.   N12935 was built in 1942 to an Eastern Air Lines order (was to have been
                                         NC30033) but the intervention of WW II had it diverted to the USAAF as a C-49K-DO (43-2010). 
                                         It also served with Ozark Airlines as N148D. 
                                        
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                                        CCA leased this C-46A-55-CK (ex 43-47076) in 1958 from Trans Global Airlines.   C-46s on the
                                        whole did not find favor with either the airlines (or the FAA) for scheduled passenger operations, but,
                                        although this aircraft had been operated by AAXICO as a freighter (as N7764B) I suspect that CCA 
                                        did operate it on passenger services.  Bill Larkins saw it at Long Beach (below) in August 1957 with
                                        "Super C" on the forward fuselage, sans tail titling.   Striking paint job, yes?  
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                                    In 1951 California Central Airlines acquired five Martin 2-0-2s from Northwest.  N93052 seen
                                    above in this image from the William T. Larkins collection, was named "City of San Francisco".
                                    The shot below illustrates clearly the integral rear staircase of the Martin 2-0-2.  This entry way
                                    cut down on the number of ground crew required to service the aircraft at quick stops.  By this
                                    time California Central were billing themselves as the "Air Lounge" line.  Unfortunately they couldn't
                                    remain profitable with their $9.99 one way Oakland to Burbank fare, and went bankrupt in 1954. 
                                    The airline did, nevertheless prove that the public were ready for such no frills service and were,
                                    in fact, a forerunner of the likes of today's Southwest and Jet Blue.  Three of Martin fleet went to
                                    Allegheny Airlines.  At the foot of the page is a Bill Larkins color shot, showing the very attractive 
                                    livery worn by these Martins. 
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                                       Pacific Southwest Airlines was born on 6 May 1949 when Kenneth G. Friedkin commenced services
                                        from San Diego to San Francisco using a single DC-3.   By 1952 the fleet had grown to four DC-3s 
                                        and they are seen in the image below (courtesy PSA).  The photograph above was taken by William 
                                        T. Larkins at Oakland in the mid 1950s after the airline had begun serving that city from Los Angeles. 
                                        In all, a total of  ten DC-3s were to be operated by the airline from 1949 until they were phased out
                                        in 1960.
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                                            By the mid 1950s, PSA's cheap fares had attracted load factors greater than the DC-3s could
                                            handle and four DC-4s were acquired from Capital Airlines.  William T. Larkins caught this one
                                            on a rain swept Oakland ramp in the late 1950s.  PSA was one of the DC-4 operators who took
                                            to painting square surrounds framing the portholes of their aircraft to give the impression, to the
                                            uninitiated, that the machine in which they were about to embark was a  DC-6!    Several airlines
                                            succumbed to this ploy.   Anyway, this ex C-54-DO was sold off in 1960 and went to Starways
                                            in the U.K. as G-ARIY.   Its ultimate fate was as a fire fighting training hulk at Liverpool's Speke
                                            Airport in the mid 1960s.
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                                    By the late 1950s most of United's passenger carrying DC-3s had been replaced by Convairs,
                                     and hence many of them were converted to Cargoliners.  This nice shot of "Cargoliner Chicago"
                                     by Bill Larkins was taken at Oakland when minuscule registration numbers painted on the fin were
                                     in vogue.  It illustrates the white-topped livery then in use by the airline.  This aircraft was originally
                                     built to a Northwest Airlines order, but WW II intervened and it was diverted on the production 
                                     line to become a C-53C-DO (43-2023) for the USAAF.  United acquired it in 1949 as a freighter.
                                     It went to the Chrysler Corporation in 1954 (as N81R) and was used to haul automobile parts
                                     around the country.
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