Post-War Meteorological Service for Aviation

When World War II ended in August 1945 the development of civil aviation was remarkably similar to that which occurred at the end of World War I. There was a rush by ex-RAAF pilots and others to establish new aviation services. The main problem was the acute shortage of aircraft suitable for civil aviation. Pre-war civil aircraft and converted military aircraft were pressed into service. Appendix 3 contains significant dates of the aviation milestones in the latter years of the war and the immediate post-war period 1946 to 1950.

Domestic services used DC2, DC3 and Lockheed all-metal aircraft of US manufacture, all originally designed for civil airline use but many used as military transport during the war. Also used were the pre-war De Havilland civil aircraft including the DH84 and DH86 wooden-framed fabric-covered biplanes. In addition Catalina and Short Empire flying-boats were pressed into civil service. Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) was created by the Commonwealth Government in September 1946 and after a high court challenge finally began competing with other airlines such as ANA in September 1946.

In November 1945 the Commonwealth Government had arranged the acquisition of a considerable number of US war-surplus C-47 (DC3) aircraft at a total cost of US$500 000. These were to be the mainstay of the Australian domestic airlines in the immediate post-war years.

All of the passenger cabins of civil airliners at this time were unpressurised so that their effective ceilings were not much higher than 10 000 feet. The four-engined DC4 aircraft, introduced in late 1946, were also unpressurised. Their operating ceiling was not much higher but they had a considerably longer range than the DC3.

Bureau of Meteorology