Betsy - The Story of a DC-3

Betsy - The Story of a DC-3

Author Martin J Willing. Soft cover, 72 pages.
Cathay Pacific Airways came into being on 24th September 1946 the date the airline was registered in Hong Kong by founders Sydney de Kantzow and Roy Farrell. Roy, from Texas, and Syd from his namesake city in Australia, had become friends during World War II, while flying for CNAC on the dangerous supply route into China over the Hump of the Eastern Himalayas. Towards the end of 1945, Roy formed the Roy Farrell Export-Import Company with a US Army surplus DC-3 he named Betsy, and began flying cargo runs from Australia into Shanghai. He was soon joined by Syd and they quickly expanded to a second aircraft, Nikki, as their operation cashed-in on the scarcity of both goods and transport immediately post-war sometimes grossing as much as 1000% profit on a single plane-load.
Originally planned as a civil DC3/360, Betsy was taken over by the military before construction was completed and designated a C47. It was delivered to the United States Army Air Corps on June 4 1942 and in August 1943 was deployed overseas with the U.S. military but so far no details are known as to which theatre of war it served. In the latter half of 1945, when it was returned to the USA for disposal, the aircraft was purchased by a demobilised WWII pilot Roy Farrell who wanted to return to the Orient he had grown fond of during the war. After the first flight from Georgia to the Far East via Miami, the Atlantic, the Middle East, Calcutta and China, the following months were spent flying woollen goods from Sydney to Shanghai, going back with whatever cargo or passengers that could be picked up en-route. The aircraft was formally registered as VR-HDB in Hong Kong on 24th September 1946 at the same time the name of Cathay Pacific Airways Limited was registered.