Zambezia (1992), XIX (ii).CIVIL AVIATION IN COLONIAL ZIMBABWE,1912-1980A. S. MLAMBODepartment of Economic History, University of ZimbabweTHE DEVELOPMENT OF civil aviation in Zimbabwe has not yet received muchattention from scholars of Zimbabwean economic history, despite its pastand present importance and its influence on the economic development ofthe country.1 Apart from providing a fast and convenient form of transport,civil aviation plays a crucial role in assisting the country's lucrative touristindustry. It is also a major employer of both skilled and unskilled workersthrough its various operations and it benefits the country's economythrough its many spin-off enterprises.This article is the first of a two-part study focusing on the colonial andpost-colonial periods, respectively, seeking not only to trace the develop-ment of civil aviation in Zimbabwe but also, through the study of this keyindustry, to stimulate scholarly interest in undertaking detailed industry-specific studies in order to enhance our knowledge of the forces thathelped shaped the nation's economy.Interest in civil aviation in Zimbabwe (hereafter pre-Independenceplace names are used for the sake of convenience) is of very recent origin,dating from about the time of the First World War.2 It was not, however,until many years later that this interest resulted in any concrete action.Rhodesia in 1914 was a country with a very primitive and inefficienttransport system. The road network was poor at the best of times butunusable in the rainy season.3 According to Gale, the roads were thenmere 'tracks worn by ox-wagons, with a deep rut on either side and a razorback in the middle. When travelling the motorist carried a pick and shovelto trim down the razor back when it was too high for clearance, a couple ofsacks to cope with sand and a supply of water, food and drink.'4 Galefurther informs us that the difficulties of communication at this time can1 The only existing study on the subject is S. M. Zhande's 'Towards the History ofCommercial Civil Aviation in Zimbabwe' (Harare, Univ. of Zimbabwe, Dept. of History, BA(Hons.)Diss., 1985). Zhande's study provides a good overview of civil aviation but suffers from severalstylistic and organizational problems.2 T. Scannell, 'Aviation in Central Africa', Horizon (1960), II, 18-22; J. McAdam, 'Early birdsin Central Africa: An account of flying activities in the Rhodesias, 1920-1922', Rhodesiana(1965), XIII, 38-53.3 Scannell, 'Aviation in Central Africa', 18.4 W. D. Gale, The Years Between: 1923-1973: Haifa Century of Responsible Government inRhodesia (Salisbury, H. C. P. Andersen, 1973), 25.99100 CIVIL AVIATION IN COLONIAL ZIMBABWE, 1912-1980be gleaned from a report from a correspondent in Chipinga in 1923 statingthat 'the new Native Commissioner ... recently travelled from Umtali toTanganda by car Š about 150 miles Š in eight hours', adding that the newroad that the Commissioner had used was in excellent condition 'and inmany places a speed of 30 miles per hour could be maintained forconsiderable distances'. The country did not have any navigable waterwayswhich might have offered some relief to its transport problems, althoughthe recently-established railway network had eased the transportationproblems somewhat. It was with such problems of communication inmind that people began to investigate the possibility of developing airtransport in the country.One of the first people to promote air-mindedness in the country wasC. F. Webb, a member of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain thenliving in Salisbury.5 Having earlier canvassed a number of eminent people,including the Mayor of Salisbury, and believing that there was enoughinterest in aeronautical matters in the town, Webb decided to establish aformal organization that would spearhead the development of aviation inthe country.Consequently, on 17 February 1912 he inserted a notice in the localdaily newspaper, the Rhodesia Herald, calling a meeting for that evening atTattersall's Club to 'consider the question of forming an aeronauticalsociety for Rhodesia'. The attendance was very poor. Evidently, Webb hadbeen too optimistic about people's interest in aeronautics. The RhodesiaHerald of the next day announced that the meeting had been postponed'sine die on account of the smallness of the attendance'.6Despite this initial setback, Webb did not give up. On 8 March 1912 hecalled another meeting and this time succeeded in setting up a provisionalcommittee of the Aeronautical Society of Rhodesia with the Administratorof Southern Rhodesia, Sir William Milton, as patron. Other members of theCommittee were Col. Burns-Begg, Resident Commissioner, as President;E. W. S. Montagu, the Secretary for Mines and Works, and G. H. Eyre,Postmaster-General, as Vice-Presidents; M. E. Cleveland, Mayor of Salisbury,as Secretary; and Webb himself as Treasurer. Nothing is known of thisprovisional committee and there is no evidence that it ever met after itss J. McAdam, 'An early enthusiast for Rhodesian aviation: Mr C. F. Webb in 1912', Rhodesiana(1965), XII, 103-10.Although Webb is generally regarded as the pioneer of civil aviation in Rhodesia, itappears that air-mindedness predated Webb's efforts by 16 years. According to McAdam,Rhodesia's first experiment with flying took place during the Ndebele uprising of 1896 when aBulawayo engineer, F. G. Issels, designed and constructed a hot-air balloon hoping to put oneor two observers aloft to give advance warning to the settlers of a Ndebele attack. The projectwas abandoned because of leakage of gas from the balloon's seams. See J. McAdam, 'Thepioneer birdmen', Illustrated Life Rhodesia, 12 Feb. 1970, 20-5.e Rhodesia Herald, 17 Feb. 1912; 18 Feb. 1912.A. S. MU\MBO 101formation. By mid-1912, Webb appears to have despaired of ever succeedingin promoting air-mindedness in the country and returned to England tojoin the newly-formed Royal Flying Corps at Farnborough.7The next impetus came from outside the country eight years later.Soon after the First World War a civil air service had been created inBritain and in 1918 the British Air Ministry decided to open an air route toCape Town, South Africa.8 Two years later a converted Vickers Vimybomber, the Silver Queen, piloted by two South African RAF World War Iveterans, Lt.-Col. 'Pierre' van Ryneveld and Fit. Lt. C. J. Quinton Brand leftEngland for Cape Town. An engine failure near Wadi Haifa caused theaircraft to crash and a second Vimy had to be flown out as a replacement.The Silver Queen eventually landed in Bulawayo on 5 March 1920, thefirst aeroplane to land on Rhodesian soil.9 The whole population ofBulawayo, most of whom had never seen an aeroplane before, gathered atthe racecourse to see the Silver Queen land. The plane's pilots were fetedlike royalty and their presence in Rhodesia did more to foster interest inaviation than all Webb's efforts eight years earlier.10When the pilots and crew were ready to resume their flight to CapeTown all the townsfolk turned out once again to bid them farewell. TheSilver Queen was, however, destined to remain in Rhodesia, for it crashedimmediately after take-off. Scannell described the scene as follows:The whole town turned out again to cheer the Silver Queen off. The two menclimbed back in, waved farewell and the Silver Queen, its motors giving an occasionalsplutter, taxied down the racecourse and rose into the air Š but not for long. Inview of thousands, it lost height almost immediately and crashed in the bushbetween the town and Hillside. The Silver Queen was a complete wreck but . . .neither of the men was badly hurt."7 McAdam, 'An early enthusiast', 109.8 McAdam, 'Early birds in Central Africa', 38.9 Ibid.; Scannell, 'Aviation in Central Africa', 19; P. McNamara, 'The Administration of CivilAviation in Southern Rhodesia, 1920-1961' (Salisbury, unpubl., 1970), 1.The two airmen faced a number of problems on their flight from Britain. When landingat Kurusku (sic) about 80 miles north of Wadi Haifa, the aircraft ran into a pile of largeboulders and the fuselage was irreparably damaged but the crew miraculously escaped injury.The engine from the original Silver Queen was fitted on to another Vimy (also called SilverQueeri) supplied by the RAF in Cairo. The flight was further delayed when on 22 February atWadi Haifa the airmen had to drain the entire fuel system because of a careless mistake inwhich a fuel tank was inadvertently filled with water. See T. Oliver, The World's Great PioneerFlights (London, Bodley Head, 1975), 63-71, and McAdam, 'Early Birds in Central Africa'.10 McAdam, 'Early birds in Central Africa', 47-50.11 Scannell, 'Aviation in Central Africa', 19. According to the Rhodesia Herald of 12 Sept.1947, for many years the Silver Queen's fuselage hung in the Drill Hall at Bulawayo as areminder of that momentous event in the early history of Rhodesian aviation while some ofthe aeroplane's other parts were kept in individual homes as mementos or were re-shapedinto various domestic utensils.102 CIVIL AVIATION IN COLONIAL ZIMBABWE, 1912-1980The i,/«.r Queen at Bulawayo Racecourse 3 March 1920Source: National Archives of Zimbabwe.eVentUallv Picked «P by an Airco DH 9 lightvan Ryneveld an^SlT T "5 l° BU'aWay° fr°m S°Uth *«« so **DeZltV Q °" Brand Could contin"e their journey.dealXSnt8^1 thC Si'Ver QU•en had StimU'ated a Sreatthat a few davl after thn C°Untry- EvidenCe °f this was the factfirst locaTaSon en * departure of the Voortrekker, on 8 April 1920, theBulawayo The elho133^ ^ M°tOrS Umited' Was established inift ever tikinaTT' "° rKCOrd °f the COmpany ever owning anyquidatS; I " ^ gr°Und- Indeed' the company loonin aviatio"con^uediogro"0^:6 ^ t ^ M°tOrS Limited'interest in aviatio"the RhodesLgQueeŽZer° th"" " ""^ °f ^ anOther HSht aircraft.converted military ai'rcraf A" Sanienyear- The ^odesian Queen was aGeneral Transport Com*' »^° °4 K> °Wned by the South Afric^viding joy-rWes at ^T^^ °i Johannesburg. It toured the country, pro-Que, Gatooma Sitburv^R tO aViati°n enthusiasts *" Bulawayo, guethe country after1fou7andUSHP?fand UmtaIi- The Rh°deSia" ^en lefta tour-andahalfmoth t dviding joy-rWes at ^T i g the country,Que, Gatooma Sitburv^R tO aViati°n enthusiasts *" Bulawayo, guethe country after1fou7andUSHP?fand UmtaIi- The Rh°deSia" ^en lefta tour-and-a-half-month tour during which hundreds of" McAdam' 'Ear'y birds in Central Africa', 45.A. S. MLAMBO 103Rhodesians saw an aeroplane for the first time and enjoyed their very firstflying experience.13Another local aviation company, Rhodesia Aerial Tours Company,was born in 1922. Founded by one Major Miller, the Rhodesia Aerial ToursCompany started flying its one aircraft, an old AVRO, on 16 May 1922. Theaircraft's life was to be very short, however, for it crashed at Rusape a fewmonths later. Apparently when trying to take off it careered into the treesat the side of the runway and damaged its right wing. The plane never flewagain. After this disaster, Rhodesia Aerial Tours went into liquidation inNovember 1922 and Major Miller emigrated to South Africa where he waslater instrumental in the establishment of Union Airways, the forerunnerof South African Airways.14 After the collapse of Major Miller's venture,aviation in Rhodesia remained dormant for the next five years.The only interesting development in this period was the attempt of MrGino Sacchi of Makwiro, 50 miles south-west of Salisbury, to design andbuild a pedal-powered helicopter or 'sky-bike' in which he hoped to surveyhis farm. According to McAdam, Mr Sacchi reported that he had succeededin pedalling the machine into the air for a few moments but had thenlanded exhausted. He had then asked 'his African servant, Masumo, to try,but the servant "promptly ran it into a hedge, and that was that!"'15Interest in civil aviation was revived in 1927 with the formation of theRhodesian Aviation Syndicate in Bulawayo by a Filabusi mine-owner andrancher, Harry L. Stewart. The other board members of the company wereA. G. Hay and Captain J. D. Mail. M. A. Redrup and J. Coghlan were thecompany's legal advisers. The Syndicate's fleet consisted of one six-seaterwartime De Havilland 6B (DH6B) aircraft and a three-seater Cirrus MothMk. II.16 The Rhodesian Aviation Syndicate was later to be incorporated ina new company, the Rhodesia Aviation Company, which was establishedby local and foreign capital in 1929. Two British companies, Cobham-Blackburn Airlines Limited and Imperial Airways (Africa) Limited, had aninterest in the Rhodesia Aviation Company. Cobham-Blackburn Air LinesLimited supplied the company with an aeroplane in return for its value inshares and Imperial Airways was appointed technical adviser.'7The Company was registered with a capital of £7 500 on 17 April 1929.13 Ibid., 47-50.14 Ibid., 52-3. According to McAdam, Miller's aeroplane had had a bad time from the start.When it first arrived in the country and landed at Bulawayo it was immediately groundedbecause of punctured tyres caused by thorns on the landing ground. A total of 84 holes werediscovered in the tubes, ibid., 45.15 McAdam, 'The pioneer birdmen', 20-5.16 Zhande, 'Towards the History of Commercial Civil Aviation in Zimbabwe', 3.17 Rhodesian Aviation Company, First Ann[ual] Repfort of the Rhodesian Aviation Companyfor the Year Ended 30 April] 1930 (Bulawayo, Rhodesian Aviation Company, 1932).104 CIVIL AVIATION IN COLONIAL ZIMBABWE, 1912-1980Among its initial assets were six aeroplanes: one Blackburn Bluebird, twoAvros Mk. II, two De Havilland Moths Mk. II, and one De Havilland DH6RASI. The company's prospectus announced that it was committed to'stimulate interest in aviation in Rhodesia and generally to create a spiritof air-mindedness by establishing an organisation to provide Rhodesiawith an air travelling system',18 and in 1931 began a weekly service betweenBulawayo and Salisbury.Despite increasing interest in air travel in the country the RhodesiaAviation Company was not a commercial success. The smallness of thelocal market, coupled with the negative effects of the Great Depression,adversely affected the airline's operations. As a result the company incurreda loss of £2 217 125. 9d. in its first year of operation (1930). In spite of asubsidy from the government the company continued to suffer losses,losing S675 13s. 2d. in 1931 and £2 372 10s. 8d. in 1932.19In the meantime the government had begun to show an interest inpromoting civil aviation in the country. Until 1929 attempts to develop anaviation industry had been undertaken mainly by private individuals andcompanies. In 1929, however, the government took the first step in regu-lating and actively participating in aviation by passing the Aviation Act(No. 555 of 1929) which came into force in April 1930. The government alsocreated a Department of Civil Aviation within the Department of Defence.Col. Parsons, Commandant of the Southern Rhodesian Territorial Forces,was appointed Director of Civil Aviation.20 In the 1930 financial year, thegovernment voted £5 660 for the Department with the proviso that S3 760of this sum was to be used for the preparation of emergency landing-grounds on the Cape-to-Cairo air route, and for the salary of the supervisorof aerodrome construction in the country. The government also voted thestanding sum of £750 per year as a subsidy for the instruction of sevenpilots a year.21Civil Aviation received a further boost from a grant of £50 000 providedby the Beit Trust in 1932. In presenting the grant Sir Henry Birchenoughstated that, on the recommendation of Sir Alfred Beit, the trustees hadagreed to set aside this sum for two years commencing in 1933 with theobject of improving the ground service along the Imperial Airways route in'" Ibid.K Rhodesia Aviation Company, Second Ann. Rep. 1931 (Bulawayo, Rhodesia AviationCompany, 1931); Rhodesia Aviation Company, Third Ann. Rep. 1932 (Bulawayo, RhodesiaAviation Company, 1932).20 Director of] Civil Aviation, Rep. Ion Civil and Military Aviation for the Year] 1930(Salisbury, Govt. Printer, 1931); McNamara, 'The Administration of Civil Aviation in SouthernRhodesia', 3.21 Dir. Civil Aviation, Rep. 1930.A. S. MLAMBO 105Rhodesia.22 In January 1932 Imperial Airways (Africa) Limited inaugurateda mail service to England and two months later they had started a passengerservice.In 1931 a road transport contractor in Nyasaland, C. J. Christowitz,had set up Christowitz Air Services Limited and had started regular flightsbetween Blantyre and Beira and Blantyre and Salisbury.23 In October 1933this company was merged with the Rhodesia Aviation Company to produceRhodesia and Nyasaland Airways (RANA), the largest air-service venturein Central Africa up to that time.The Beit Trust, Rhodesia Railways and Imperial Airways were allfinancially involved in the company. The Beit Trust had a controllinginterest while Imperial Airways (Africa) Limited and Rhodesia Railwayswere both subscribers and technical advisers. Salisbury was chosen asthe airline's headquarters.24 By 1935 RANA was providing a regular mailand passenger service to Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia and Mozambique.25Three other developments promoted civil aviation during this period.The first was the introduction of flying scholarships in 1936. The twoleading newspapers in the country, the Rhodesia Herald and the BulawayoChronicle introduced three annual flying scholarships in order to fosterair-mindedness in the country. They received 211 applications fromSalisbury and 153 from Bulawayo residents Š a testimony to the wideinterest in aviation in the country. Two scholarships were awarded toapplicants from Salisbury while one went to Bulawayo.26 The secondpropitious development was the government's decision in 1937 to useRANA to operate the regular airmail services within Southern Rhodesiaand between Southern Rhodesia and neighbouring countries. Thisarrangement was to remain in force until June 1939. As part of the arrange-ment, the government undertook to subsidize RANA to the tune of £7 500per year. A further S600 was to be provided for a travelling flying schoolwhich would train pilots in various parts of the country, while anotherS500 was to be set aside for the instruction of Class A pilots.27 The thirddevelopment was the withdrawal of Imperial Airways from the mail andpassenger service to Southern Rhodesia in 1937, which resulted in RANA's22 Dir. Civil Aviation, Rep. 1932 (Salisbury, Govt. Printer, 1933), 1; Nat[iona]l Archives ofZimbabwe, Harare], S482/101/39 (Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia: Correspondence:Aviation/Air services), Rep. of the Meeting Held at the Offices of the Beit Railway Trustees,London, 3 Mar. 1932.23 McNamara, 'The Administration of Civil Aviation in Southern Rhodesia", 4-5.2< Dir. Civil Aviation, Rep. 1933 (Salisbury, Govt. Printer, 1934).25 Ibid.26 Dir. Civil Aviation, Ann. Rep., Civil Aviation, 1935 (Salisbury. Defence Headquarters,1936).27 Dir. Civil Aviation, Rep. on the Progress of Civil Aviation for the Year 1938 (Salisbury,Govt. Printer, 1939).106 CIVIL AVIATION IN COLONIAL ZIMBABWE, 1912-1980being appointed to maintain a twice-weekly mail service between Salisburyand Beira, Blantyre and Lusaka.28In the early years, while the airlines were struggling to establishthemselves, a number of companies and private individuals operatedsmall aircraft for charter flights and other business. One of the earliestprivate aircraft operators was Major Wynne-Eyton, a former Royal FlyingCorps pilot, who imported a Moth aircraft from England in March 1928 andoperated it from his farm in Ruwa. He was one of the founder members ofthe Salisbury Light Plane Club in 1929.29 A few other entrepreneurs soonfollowed suit, as can be seen in the 1930 report of the Director of Civil andMilitary Aviation which stated that the total number of aircraft in thecountry was eight, four of which were owned by the Rhodesian AviationCompany and four by private owners, one of whom lived in Salisbury.30Among the first private companies to operate private aeroplanes inthe country were the following: the De Havilland Aircraft Company; theLondon and Rhodesian Mining and Land Company Limited (Lonrho); andSpencer's Garage at Victoria Falls. The De Havilland Company was estab-lished in the country in April 1934 with a staff of two and it operated twoDH Moth Major aircraft both for charter and for its flying school. It alsorepaired and serviced all types of aircraft in the country. For its part,Lonrho provided charter services with its American WACO UIC modelaircraft, while E. H. Spencer of Spencer's Garage operated a DH Puss Mothaircraft from July 1935 providing charter flights around Victoria Falls.31There were five registered private-aircraft owners in the territory in 1937.32By 1946 the number of private companies providing charter serviceshad increased considerably. Among the companies listed in the 1946report of the Director of Civil Aviation were the following:a) Rhodesia Aircraft Maintenance and Services Limited based atBelvedere airport in Salisbury, using two Auster aircraft and threeDe Havilland Tiger Moths for both charter and instruction purposes;b) Spencer's Airways, Victoria Falls, using one Avro Anson, one DeHavilland Fox Moth, one Tiger Moth and one Fairchild UC.61A toprovide short pleasure flights over the Victoria Falls;28 Natl. Arch., S482/101/39, Agreement between Government and RANA in regard tooperations of air services, dated 23 December 1937.M McAdam, Pioneer birdmen', 28.30 Dir. Civil Aviation, Rep. 1930." Dir. Civil Aviation, Ann. Rep., Civil Aviation, 1935.12 Dir. Civil Aviation, Civil Aviation, Ann. Rep., 1937 (Salisbury, Defence Headquarters1938).A. S. MLAMBO 107c) Commercial Air Services Limited, Kumalo Airport, Bulawayo withone Fairchild UC.61K for charter flights;d) Flyers Limited, Kumalo Airport, offering charters and flyinginstructors with its 2 Piper JCC65 and 2 Tiger Moth aircraft; ande) Aero Limited, Mount Hampden, Salisbury, with one Piper JCC65which was used for instruction.The number of privately-owned aircraft steadily increased from fourin 1930 to 31 in 1946.33 The number of privately-owned aerodromes wasreported to be 25 in 1951.34From the early 1930s onwards a number of flying clubs were establishedin the country, beginning with the Bulawayo Light Plane Club in July 1936,the Umtali Gliding Club in August 1936 and the Salisbury Flying Club inJanuary 1937.35 Smaller flying clubs were also established in the varioustowns across the country.Another interesting development during the inter-War period was theBritish Airline (BOAC)'s introduction of a Flying Boat service from Englandto South Africa in June 1937. The flying boat made its maiden flight fromSouthampton to Durban in that year. Construction of a terminal building(to serve up to 70 passengers), a landing stage and a road linking theterminal building with the Victoria Falls village were completed in late1947, enabling a Sunderland aircraft, the first flying boat to use this route,to land at Victoria Falls on 11 December 1947.36During the Second World War the government of Southern Rhodesiatook over RANA in order to meet national wartime transport requirements.The Southern Rhodesian authorities had contemplated taking over RANAas early as 30 September 1939. In a letter to the Southern Rhodesian PrimeMinister the Secretary for the Department of Justice and Defence announcedthat his Department was considering 'taking over RANA for the duration ofthe war and placing it on a military basis'.37 Ten days later the PrimeMinister informed the Governor of Southern Rhodesia of the government'sintention to take over RANA as from 1 January 1940.38 On 5 January 1940the Southern Rhodesian Prime Minister announced to J. C. Smuts, South13 Dir. Civil Aviation, Rep. 1946 (Salisbury, Govt. Stationery Office, 1947).34 Dir. Civil Aviation, Rep. 1951 (Salisbury, Govt. Printer, 1953).35 Dir. Civil Aviation, Ann. Rep., Civil Aviation, 1936 (Salisbury, Defence Headquarters,1937); Dir. Civil Aviation, Civil Aviation, Ann Rep, 1937.x Dir. Civil Aviation, Civil Aviation, Ann Rep., 1937; Dir. Civil Aviation, Rep 1947 (Salisbury,Govt. Stationery Office, 1948).!T Natl. Arch., S482/451/39 (Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia: Rhodesia and NyasalandAirways: Appropriation for Duration of War), Secretary Department of Justice and Defence toPM, 20 Sept. 1939." Ibid., Herbert Stanley to the Governor 30 Sept. 1939.108 CIVIL AVIATION IN COLONIAL ZIMBABWE, 1912-1980African Minister of External Affairs, that 'Rhodesia and Nyasaland AirwaysLimited has been taken over and is being operated by this government'.39For the duration of the war RANA, now renamed Southern Rhodesia AirServices (SRAS), was run by the Southern Rhodesian Air Force as anadjunct to the country's defence system.40After the war the government relinquished control of SRAS and handedthe airline over to a new civil aviation venture known as the CentralAfrican Airways Corporation (CAAC).41 The creation of CAAC was theresult of a growing interest among the three Central African countries ŠSouthern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland Š to establish aregional airline which would be administered by one central authority andwhich would provide services to the three member states. Regional co-operation had in fact begun before the War when an agreement had beendrawn up providing for the combined control of civil aviation in the threeterritories. The Southern Rhodesian Director of Civil Aviation was entrustedwith overseeing airworthiness standards, recruitment and training ofpersonnel and aircraft licensing, among other issues.42 This arrangementformed the basis for the argument of the Southern Rhodesian Minister ofInternal Affairs for a regional aviation authority on 21 January 1946:Ever since August 1933, the air services of the three territories have been operatedby one organisation . . . demonstrating beyond any doubt the desirability ofoperating these services conjointly instead of each territory operating its ownservices .. [such an organization] will be more economical than if separate serviceswere operated.43In early 1949, therefore, each of the three territories passed legislationestablishing the Central African Airways Corporation (CAAC) to beadministered by a Central African Airways Authority (CAAA).44 CAAC wassubsequently incorporated on 1 June 1946 with a capital of £500 000. Ofthis sum, 50 per cent came from Southern Rhodesia, 35 per cent fromNorthern Rhodesia and 15 per cent from Nyasaland: S182 300 of the capitalwent towards the purchase of all the assets held by SRAS.45The Central African Airways Authority consisted of four members: achairman appointed by the three governments jointly, and one represent-39 Ibid., G. Martin, PM to J. C. Smuts, Minister of External Affairs, S. Africa, 5 Jan. 1940.40 McNamara, 'The Administration of Civil Aviation in Southern Rhodesia', 10.41 Ibid., 11. « Ibid., 7.43 [Southern Rhodesia], Debates in the Legislative Assembly. Seventh Session, Fifth Parliament17th April to 26th July, 30th October to 1st November, 1945, 15th January to 8th February 1946,XXV, 21 Jan. 1946, 3217-3226.44 McNamara, 'The Administration of Civil Aviation in Southern Rhodesia', 11.45 Natl. Arch., ME5/1/2/1 (Meredith (Chairman of CAA): CAA Correspondence and OtherPapers: General: 1947-1949), Internal memorandum, 31 May 1949.A. S. MLAMBO 109ative of each of the three governments appointed by each governmentindependently. The functions of the Authority were to review and promotethe development of air services in the three territories, to perform theduties of the licensing authority and to control and supervise the CentralAfrican Airways Corporation.46 By 1947 the CAAC was not only servicingthe regional market but had also successfully negotiated with the BritishGovernment to permit it to run a twice-monthly end-to-end passengerservice between Salisbury and London.47In its second year of operation CAAC came under severe andunfavourable scrutiny from some sections of the Southern RhodesianGovernment who accused the management of corruption, nepotism andgross mismanagement. Spearheading the attack in the Southern RhodesianParliament, Mr Keller, the MP for Raylton, accused the CAAC officials ofsquandering airline funds by going on numerous 'joy-rides', the chairmanof CAAC being singled out as one who particularly enjoyed 'this form ofrecreation'. Keller further charged the officials with denying travel facilitiesto Members of Parliament, firing airline personnel arbitrarily and unfairly,appointing personal friends regardless of qualifications and hiringpersonnel from overseas at the expense of locally available expertise. Hedemanded the setting up of a commission of inquiry to look into the'operation of Central African Airways Corporation with special referenceto its administrative and executive functions and any other mattersconcerning its activities'.48 A commission of inquiry was subsequently setup in August 1948 but found little to criticize in the management andoperations of the airline.49The findings of the 1948 Commission of Inquiry notwithstanding,criticism of CAAC continued, especially in the Southern RhodesianParliament. Criticism focused particularly on the airline's continuingfinancial losses. According to one source, CAAC had incurred the followingdeficits since its foundation in June 1946:501 June 1946 - 31 March 1947 SI 2621 April 1947 - 31 March 1948 S55 7591 April 1948 - 31 March 1949 S240 000TOTAL LOSSES S297 02146 McNamara, 'The Administration of Civil Aviation in Southern Rhodesia', 12-13.47 Dir. Civil Aviation, Rep. 1947.48 Debates in the Legislative Assembly. Second Session, Sixth Parliament, 7th and 8th April,22nd April to 9th July, 1947, 20th January to 5th February, 1948, XXVU, 25 June 1947, 2113-2123.49 Southern Rhodesia, Report of a Commission of Inquiry into the Conduct and Managementof the Central African Airways Corporation [Chairman: E. I. G. Unsworth] (Salisbury, Govt.Printer, 1948).511 Natl. Arch., ME5/1/2/1, Internal memorandum dated 9 May 1949.110 CIVIL AVIATION IN COLONIAL ZIMBABWE, 1912-1980Addressing the Northern Rhodesia Legislative Council, the Governorof Northern Rhodesia expressed his misgivings about the situation inCAAC, stating that 'losses of this scale are a matter of serious concern and. . . immediate and effective steps must be taken to see that they do notcontinue'.51 In their report of 4 February 1949 the airline's internal auditors,Deny, Ellman-Brown and Fraser, attributed the losses to: a) Over-equipmentof aircraft in relation to operating services and revenue potential; b)employment of uneconomic aircraft; c) expansion of routes and serviceswithout due regard to the financial aspect; d) faulty estimating; and e) lackof sound budgetary control.52On 9 February 1949 the authority also expressed concern over theoperating losses at CAAC and resolved to invite experts from BOAC toconduct an independent enquiry into CAAC's activities and to makerecommendations on how best to improve the performance of the airlinein the future.53 BOAC officials subsequently submitted a very critical reporton CAAC's management. This report criticized the management's poorfinancial control and stated that the technical staff lacked appreciation ofthe complexities of modern aircraft and that the Engineering Departmenthad failed to keep pace with the 'technical advances of the last few years'.The report further pointed out that the purchase of aircraft had been'unrealistic' with the fleet growing 'without due regard to the suitability ofthe type for the operating conditions or the commercial requirements'.54Such shortcomings, the report continued, were the direct result of a 'lackof foresight and forward planning'. With regard to the technical operationsof CAAC, the report recommended that the 'present Chief Engineer shouldbe sent to the United Kingdom for a period of three to six months forattachment to an operating line to learn modern technical practices'.Needless to say, the BOAC report was not well received at CAACwhere the Chairman pointed out that the BOAC officials had conducted avery superficial enquiry and had arrived at hasty and unfounded con-clusions. He complained that 'at no stage was I or any member of theBoard consulted in regard to verifying any impressions they had formed'.He was of the opinion that the BOAC officials had an ulterior motive inpainting such a negative picture of the CAAC management. Although henever said so in as many words, the evidence suggests that he thought51 Northern Rhodesia, Legislative Council Debates, First Session of the Ninth Council, 16March to 1st April, 16 Mar. 1949, 5.52 Natl. Arch., ME5/1/2/1, Report of Auditors Denny, Ellman-Brown and Fraser dated 4 Feb.1949.53 Natl. Arch., ME5/1/2/2 (Chairman's Personal Correspondence with Board Members),Memorandum dated 8 Feb. 1949.M British Overseas Airways Corporation, Central African Airways Corporation InvestigationReport (Brentford, BOAC, 1949).A. S. MLAMBO 111that BOAC wanted to discredit the CAAC in the hope that BOAC would beasked to manage the Corporation, for he stated that 'their report is an ex-parte statement drawn by people who are judges in their own cause'.55 Healso noted that the BOAC officials had spent a total of 18 days in thecountry of which only 11 were actually devoted to an examination of theinternal administration of CAAC and pointed out that this was a 'remarkablyshort time in which to have gleaned adequate information on which tobase some very sweeping statements'.56For its part, the Rhodesia Herald questioned the appointment of BOACofficials as the investigating team, as BOAC's own operations over theyears had not been very impressive either. As the editor stated:Since BOAC's accumulative loss from June 1946 to March 1949 of some S20 000 000is a higher loss than of CAA for the same period proportionately for the capitalemployed, there would appear to be more justification for the United Kingdomcalling on CAA officials than there is for the three Central African governments tocall on BOAC 'experts'.57Despite such criticism of the BOAC investigation, its report wasaccepted without reservation by the three governments and became thebasis of subsequent attacks on CAAC management by various Members ofParliament, particularly in the Southern Rhodesian Parliament. Continuedcriticism of the management eventually led to the resignation of the entiremanagement team of the CAAC in May 1949 and the appointment of a newBoard.58CAAC was also criticized for its policy regarding the transport ofAfrican and Asian passengers. The airline's original policy was that Africanand Asian passengers could be carried 'if clean and respectable andproviding that no European passengers objected'. At a meeting of theCAAA held in Salisbury on 19 and 20 December 1949 delegates fromNorthern Rhodesia and Nyasaland severely criticized this policy, makingit clear that they would not continue to support it. After much debate themeeting agreed that 'no passenger should be refused carriage on purelyracial grounds and the policy of the airline should be revised accordingly'.59An outraged member of the Southern Rhodesian Parliament denouncedthe ruling as an unwarranted attempt by the CAAA to 'dictate our native55 Nat. Arch., ME5/1/2/1, Letter dated 1 June 1949 addressed to the Rt. Hon. Sir GodfreyHuggins, PM.56 Ibid.57 Rhodesia Herald, 23 Mar. 1949.58 Dir. Civil Aviation, Rep. 1949 (Salisbury, Govt. Printer, 1951); McNamara. 'TheAdministration of Civil Aviation in Southern Rhodesia'.59 Debates of the Legislative Assembly. Second Session, Seventh Parliament, 26th April to 8thJuly, 18th October to 2nd November, 1949, XXX, 25 May 1949, 976-977.112 CIVIL AVIATION IN COLONIAL ZIMBABWE, 1912-1980policy in this country'.60 Nevertheless, henceforth the airline compliedwith the Authority's ruling.Meanwhile the Southern Rhodesian government was devoting a greatdeal of its attention to establishing a new and better situated airport forSalisbury, realizing that the existing airport at Belvedere was not onlyinconveniently sited but was also incapable of handling the increasing airtraffic. According to the 1950 report of the Director of Civil Aviation theBelvedere Airport had to be abandoned for the following reasons: a) therunway was some 45 degrees out of alignment, given that approachingaircraft had to enter through a gap in Warren Hills; b) because of theskewed alignment aircraft were forced to take off over the city centrewhich posed a real danger of accidents; c) the growing number of high-rise buildings in the city, particularly Milton Building, posed a risk toaircraft; and d) because Belvedere Airport had been built to accommodatethe RAF Elementary Flying Training School, the layout and design of thebuildings were not particularly suitable for commercial aviation.61 Forthese reasons a site had to be found for the construction of an airport thatwould be safer and more suitable for commercial activities.The Southern Rhodesia government had appointed a SouthernRhodesia Aerodrome Board as early as January 1947 whose task was toadvise the government 'on the selection, acquisition, construction andmaintenance of government aerodromes and landing grounds in SouthernRhodesia'.62 Later the same year, an Airfield Construction Unit was formedto undertake an extensive search for a suitable site for a national airport.63In 1949 the government purchased Kentucky and Adair farms east ofSalisbury (2 700 acres at a cost of £54 000) for the construction of the newairport.64 Also in 1949 the Minister of Mines and Transport set up anAirport Panel to co-ordinate the construction of the airport. The Panelcomprised representatives of the interested government departments,the Municipality of Salisbury and Rhodesia Railways.65In 1951 the government announced that the airport would be developedas a joint user aerodrome for both civil aviation and the Southern RhodesianAir Force. Construction of the airport began soon afterwards and bySeptember 1951 an 8 400-foot runway had been completed, enabling thefirst aircraft, an SRAF Anson, to land at the new airport. Originally it wasanticipated that the airport would be completed by 1954.66 It was, however,not completed until two years later because the government ran out of60 Ibid.61 Dir. Civil Aviation, Rep. 1950 (Salisbury, Govt. Printer, 1951).62 Dir. Civil Aviation, Rep. 1947. ra Ibid.M Natl. Arch., S483/4/26 (Prime Minister of Southern Rhodesia: Correspondence: Land,Acquisition of Land for Salisbury Airport, 1948-1951).65 Dir. Civil Aviation, Rep. 1950. M Ibid.A. S. MLAMBO 113funds in October 1952 and had to suspend the project temporarily. Thenew Salisbury Airport was finally commissioned on 1 July, 1956. The costof constructing the airport was S924 000. In late 1956 work began on theconstruction of a new airport at Woodvale in Bulawayo to replace theKhumaio airport which was no longer capable of handling the increasingtraffic. It was completed in 1958.67 Now fully committed to promoting civilaviation in the country, the Southern Rhodesian Government establisheda Technical School and an Air Traffic School in Salisbury in 1956 and 1958,respectively.68In the meantime CAAC was expanding its operations both domesticallyand internationally but the financial losses which had plagued the airlinesince its birth continued until 1956 when it recorded its first profit.69 Theairline introduced a number of cost-cutting measures including the leasingof some of its routes to BOAC and the reduction of employees from 1 322to 1 168. CAAC also introduced package travel tours to holiday resortssuch as Lake Nyasa, Victoria Falls and Wankie and later to Durban whichproved to be very popular and very profitable.70 In 1961 the airline recruitedits first four African air-hostesses to work on the Skybus service betweenSalisbury, Blantyre, Lilongwe, Fort Jameson, Kitwe and Kasama.71CAAC operated as a regional airline until the breakup of the CentralAfrican Federation in December 1963 when the three governments signedthe Dissolution Order-in-Council reconstituting the airline as a corporatebody jointly owned by Southern Rhodesia and the now-independentcountries of Zambia and Malawi. The reconstituted airline was to be runby a newly-created Higher Authority for Civil Air Transport, consisting of aminister from each of the three governments. The Authority's task was toexercise certain controls over the new corporation and to regulate airtransport, among other functions.72 In 1964 the three governments agreedto separate their air operations and set up three territorially-based sub-sidiaries: Air Rhodesia, Air Malawi and Zambia Airways. Three years later,the three governments agreed to dissolve the Higher Authority and todevolve the airline's functions to the individual national airlines. AfterRhodesia's declaration of UDI, Zambia withdrew from the partnership.The CAAC was dissolved and ceased operations on 31 December 1967.73In anticipation of the imminent collapse of CAAC, the Southern67 McNamara, 'The Administration of Civil Aviation in Southern Rhodesia". 23.68 Ibid., 22. « Ibid.70 Zhande, 'Towards the History of Commercial Civil Aviation in Zimbabwe', 20.71 Natl. Arch., ME/5/1/2/1, CAAC Press release on 19 Sept. 1961.72 C. N. Wetmore and A. F. Mason, 'Transport and power', in G. M. E. Leistner (ed),Rhodesia: Economic Structure and Change (Pretoria, Africa Institute, 1976), 171.73 Rhodesia, Parliamentary Debates, Fourth Session, Eleventh Parliament comprising theperiod from 13th August, 1968 to 27th September, 1968, LXX1I, 3 Sept. 1968. 985-986.114 CIVIL AVIATION IN COLONIAL ZIMBABWE, 1912-1980Rhodesian Government had created its own civil aviation company, AirRhodesia Corporation, which started operations on 1 September 1967. Itcommenced operations with a fleet of five Vickers Viscount 700D aircraftand three Douglas DC 3 aircraft. In the first ten months of its operationfrom 1 September 1967 to 30 June 1968, the new airline introduced sixreturn services between South Africa and Rhodesia, one of these being anew direct service linking Johannesburg and Victoria Falls. It also intro-duced an additional service linking Salisbury and Blantyre.74From its formation until 1980 when Zimbabwe attained independence,Air Rhodesia operated under very difficult conditions. As a result of the1965 Unilateral Declaration of Independence the international communityostracized, and imposed sanctions on, Rhodesia. Therefore, acquiringnew aircraft and spare parts became difficult. As a result the airline, likeother sections of the Rhodesian industrial economy, had to rely onsanctions-busting to keep operating.75 Furthermore, some of the moreprofitable routes were closed as part of the anti-UDI campaign. Notableamong these were the routes to East Africa, Zambia and Mauritius. AirRhodesia was restricted to domestic routes and routes to countriesremaining friendly to Rhodesia: Malawi, South Africa, Mozambique andAngola. Many airlines which had used Salisbury airport prior to UDI,among them BOAC, BEA and Alitalia, stopped their flights to Rhodesia inearly 1966 as part of the sanctions campaign. Only South African Airways(SAA) and the Portuguese airline Transportes Aereos Portuguese (TAP)continued to fly into Rhodesia.76 The airline was also adversely affected bythe shortage of aviation fuel which now also had to be obtained throughclandestine means. This shortage was worsened after 1973 when the oil-producing countries (OPEC) artificially raised the price of crude oil,increasing Rhodesia's oil import bill sharply. In 1975 Air Rhodesia lost itsroutes to Mozambique when the FRELIMO government took over after thewithdrawal of the Portuguese colonial authorities and decided to enforcesanctions against Rhodesia fully. In the 1970s, the airline was furtheradversely affected by the escalating war of liberation, particularly by theloss of two Viscount aeroplanes on 3 September 1978 and 12 February1979 to guerrilla firepower. Furthermore, the unsatisfactory securitysituation discouraged tourism which led to a decline in the volume oftourist traffic and, therefore, of airline revenue. Indeed, according toZhande, some Air Rhodesia offices in South Africa had to be closed because74 Air Rhodesia, First Ann. Rep., 1968: Rep. for the Year 1st July 1967 to 30th June 1968(Salisbury, Air Rhodesia, 1968).75 For the events surrounding UDI, the imposition of sanctions and their impact, seeMinistry of Finance, Economic Survey of Rhodesia, 1965-1979 (Salisbury, Govt. Printer, 1979)and E. Schmidt, 'Sanctions Fact Sheet: Lessons from Rhodesia' (Harare, unpubl., 1986).76 Wetmore and Mason, 'Transport and power', 173.A. S. MLAMBO 115of the lack of business and some domestic routes were closed because ofthe deteriorating security situation.77In view of the above problems it is remarkable that the airline managedto remain a profitable concern. The revenue and expenditure figures of AirRhodesia shown in Table I indicate that the airline operated profitablydespite the constrained circumstances within which it had to function.Table 1AIR RHODESIA: REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE, 1968-74Period196819691970197119721973197419751976197719781979Revenue(RS'OOO)3 9425 0796 1826 5227 1277 3759 44613 67014 30916 54817 42019 196Expenditure(R$'00O)3 6324 4994 8245 4296 0686 8699 05013 32714 11415 86516 93619 887Operational profit(R$W0)310580135810931059506396343195683484-691Source: Compiled from Air Rhodesia, Ann. Reps (Salisbury, Air Rhodesia, 1968 to 1979), and AirZimbabwe, Twelfth Ann. Rep. 1979 (Salisbury, Air Zimbabwe, [1980]).In April 1973 the airline added three large, fuel-efficient Boeing 720s toits fleet, increasing the seating capacity of its fleet by 15,6 per cent.78 In1977 Air Rhodesia recorded a profit of £194 550, a figure higher than that of1968 before the security situation and sanctions had had a significantimpact on the aviation industry.79 This remarkable performance was madepossible by aggressive advertising by the airline to drum up tourist businessin South Africa and other places, by the expansion of holiday packagetours such as the Flame Lily, Skycoast and Fiesta tours, and because of theabsence of any competition as most other airlines had ceased flying intoRhodesia soon after UDI.80During this period the government invested large amounts of moneyinto improving airport and aerodrome facilities throughout the country.77 Zhande, "Towards the History of Commercial Civil Aviation in Zimbabwe', 22.78 Wetmore and Mason, 'Transport and power', 173, and Zhande, 'Towards the History ofCommercial Civil Aviation in Zimbabwe', 20.79 Zhande, 'Towards the History of Commercial Civil Aviation in Zimbabwe', 21.m Ibid., 20.116CIVIL AVIATION IN COLONIAL ZIMBABWE, 1912-1980One of Air Rhodesia's Boeing 720sSource: Bill Sykes.New aerodromes were constructed at Buffalo Range, Victoria Falls andWankie National Park while the runway at Fort Victoria aerodrome waslengthened. The runway at Salisbury airport was extended, making it oneof the longest civil airport runways in the world. The runway at Bulawayoairport was also extended.81 To accommodate the rapidly increasing pas-senger traffic at Salisbury airport, the government constructed a separatedomestic terminal, reserving the old terminal for international passengers.The transit lounge in the international terminal was expanded, increasingthe capacity of the lounge from 250 to 500 passengers.82Despite these praiseworthy efforts, by the end of the 1970s the airlinewas suffering from the combined effects of sanctions, the liberation warand the higher fuel costs. In 1979 the airline recorded its first operationalloss since its creation in 1967.83 It is likely that the airline would have hadto face even more severe problems in the future if the Lancaster HouseAgreement had not ended the war in 1979 and prepared the way for theindependence of Zimbabwe in 1980. With the ending of sanctions and theliberation war the reconstituted airline, now renamed Air Zimbabwe,entered a new phase in its development.Wetmore and Mason, 'Transport and power', 173.1 Air Zimbabwe, Twelfth Ann. Rep. 1979, 1.82 Ibid., 176.