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Bea: The Definitive Newsreel History 1946-1974 [DVD]
 
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Bea: The Definitive Newsreel History 1946-1974 [DVD]

Rated: Exempt | Format: DVD
3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
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Bea: The Definitive Newsreel History 1946-1974 [DVD] + Boac: The Definitive Newsreel History 1939-1974 [DVD] + British Civil Aviation -Imperial Airways The Definitive Newsreel History 1924-1939 [DVD]
Price For All Three: £48.91

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Product details

  • Format: PAL
  • Region: All Regions
  • Number of discs: 1
  • Classification: Exempt
  • Studio: Sfe
  • DVD Release Date: 29 Aug 2011
  • Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • ASIN: B0057OPNOM
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 20,539 in Film & TV (See Top 100 in Film & TV)

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Reviews

Product Description

BRITISH EUROPEAN AIRWAYS - THE DEFINITIVE NEWSREEL HISTORY 1946 - 1974

BEA (British European Airways), was a division of the state owned BOAC formed in 1946 to run the passenger air services to Continental Europe and within the UK that had been operated by the RAF during the Second World War. Most of BEA's immediate post-war operations were out of Northolt using old piston engined Vickers Vikings and DC-3 Dakotas. These were followed by the first turbo-prop airliner, the Vickers Viscount then by the Vickers Vanguard, the DH Comet 4 and The Hawker Siddeley Trident series.

There's a nostalgic look at flying from Northolt in 1949 before a series of hard hitting news stories such as The Viking `Vigilant' with a huge hole in the fuselage caused by a time-bomb detonated over the Channel. In 1953, another Viking hit a mast on its approach to Belfast - there were no survivors. The worst disaster was in 1965 when a BEA Vickers Vanguard made three attempts to land in fog at London Airport - it somersaulted down the runway killing all on board. ITN's Peter Snow gives a graphic description of the crash. Ironically, BEA were the pioneers of the Automatic Landing System (Autoland) originally on the Trident Fleet and for this BEA was awarded the Queen's Award For Industry.

1955 saw severe strikes at London Airport. Gatwick was opened in 1958 becoming London's second airport and BEA soon became a leader in the package tour industry and the first airline to offer a local helicopter service.

Other aircraft featured in this definitive and exciting overview of this much missed airline include the Airspeed Ambassador, the BAC 1-11, the Boeing 707, the Hawker Siddeley Argosy, the Dragon Rapide and many, many more.

BEA was amalgamated with BOAC in 1974 to form the British Airways of today.

Total Running Time - 152 Mins Region 0 Pal

End

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
With the simultaeously released BOAC DVD by the same company, I was really looking forward to this DVD on BEA and being of 'a certain age' I have fond memories of this airline. Indeed there is much previously unseen footage by this reviewer, but also includes the BEA films 'Take it Easy', 'Flight Plan' and 'No.1 in Europe', all previously released on VHS cassettes under the British Airways Airline Classics series in the '80s. The DVD is a compilation of BEA films, manufactuer's footage and British Pathe film clips.I do wish producers wouldn't describe their products as 'defintive', as this one is not! The rear or the sleeve states that the DVD features the 'Argosy, BAC One-Eleven and Dragon Rapide'. Well if you blink you'll miss the Argosy and I never saw any footage of a BEA BAC One-Eleven or Dragon Rapide. There was nothing on BEA's Heron or Herald operations in Scotland and very little on its helicopter operations. I was very surprised at the poor coverage of the Vickers Vanguard, considering what footage is available. Go to the British Pathe website and type in 'BEA' and there are several news clips that could have been included, like colour air-to-air footage of a BEA Dragon Rapide flying from Lands End to the Scilly Islands and the first BEA Vanguard being handed over, as well as the first BEA BAC One-Eleven being handed over at Farnborough in September 1968. Several missed opportunities there, but all-in-all, a good 2 1/2 hours viewing on one DVD. If they had made it a set of two and included all the missing footage, it would have lived up to its title 'definitive'
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
I have had a lifelong interest in the history of BEA from the late 50s, until its eventual integration into British Airways. Having enjoyed a 25 year aviation career, I have been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to acquire many items connected to that part of BEAs history. So for me this DVD was a must. The details on the cover promised alot, and I have to say that overall, I was not disappointed. It's often the case that many aviation titles, be they books, DVDs or magazine articles, lay claim to being 'definative' on their chosen subject, This DVD is in no way definative, but I think that anyone with a special interest in BEA, or British airline history in general, will enjoy watching this disc. Being two and a half ours long, there is plenty to see. For me, the inclusion of a special item on the Comet 4B alone, made this DVD a worthy purchase. Sure, as another reviewer has already stated, there are glaring omissions in terms of the types that were an integral part of the operations of BEA, but despite that, this is still a fascinating look at the operations of an airline, that was very much a major part of British airline history. All in all, I found this DVD worth it's price tag, and I greatly enjoyed its contents, although I do feel that the title should perhaps read BEA, a Newsreel History.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
This is a DVD that, like the similar production on BOAC, I find difficult to review. Part of me wants to give it 4 stars for content (it isn't definitive by any means as there's lots missing, but what is there is very good and much of it is very rare). The other part of me wants to give it 2 stars as the way it's been arranged is truly diabolical. Have the production team not heard of Chapters? If this is your era then you will enjoy this and probably learn something - but you really have to watch it through in one go and make mental notes of what was where if you want to refer back at a later date. So three stars - which could have been 4 if the thing had been properly compiled.
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