(thx to Deepak Punjabi)
The *British Overseas Airways Corporation* (*BOAC*) was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_%28law%29>started life with a merger between Imperial Airways <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Airways> Ltd. and British Airways Ltd. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Ltd.> Following a 1971 Act of Parliament <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_Parliament>, BOAC was merged in 1974 with British European Airways<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_European_Airways>Corporation (BEA) to form British Airways <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways>. Some Ad Posters: [image: http://www.oldgloryprints.com/BOAC_and_Quantas.jpg] [image: http://theinvisibleagent.files.wordpress.com/2008/12/airaviation_boac_sticker_xl.jpg?w=460&h=380] [image: http://www.majorlycool.com/media/1/20080212-hayes-1930s-travel-poster.jpg] [image: http://www.britishairways.com/cms/global/assets/images/history_and_heritage/Posters_fullsize_60s/Poster_1960_1969_01.jpg] [image: http://www.britishairways.com/cms/global/assets/images/history_and_heritage/Posters_fullsize_60s/Poster_1960_1969_04.jpg] [image: http://www.britishairways.com/cms/global/assets/images/history_and_heritage/Posters_fullsize_60s/Poster_1960_1969_02.jpg] [image: http://www.joseflebovicgallery.com/Catalogue/Archive/Cat-124-2007/Large/0111.jpg] BOAC Stratocruiser Speedbird [image: Club on Wings] A spiral staircase connects the Passenger compartments with a cosy lower deck lounge. A full service of meals and snacks when required — complimentary, of course. [image: Staircase] [image: Meal] Relax or have a snack in the comfortable atmosphere of the lower deck lounge. Wake refreshed after a good rest in a roomy, comfortable sleeper of a B.O.A.C. Stratocruiser [image: Lower Deck Lounge] [image: Sleeper] <http://b377.ovi.ch/cutaway/boac.html> [image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/Short_Solent_at_Poole.jpg] BOAC Short Solent 3 G-AHIN *Southampton* served the airline's route from the UK down the Nile to Johannesburg between 1948 and 1950 [image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e2/Avro_685_York_G-AGSP_BOAC_LAP_02.06.53_edited-1.jpg/800px-Avro_685_York_G-AGSP_BOAC_LAP_02.06.53_edited-1.jpg] BOAC Avro York freighter operating a scheduled service at Heathrow in 1953 [image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/BOAC_Stratocruiser_at_Manchester_1954.jpg] BOAC Boeing Stratocruiser G-AKGJ "RMA Cambria" at Manchester in June 1954 en route to New York [image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Boac_707_at_london_airport_in_1964_arp.jpg/800px-Boac_707_at_london_airport_in_1964_arp.jpg] BOAC introduced their Rolls-Royce Conway<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_Conway>-powered Boeing 707s <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_707> in 1960 [image: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e3/London_heathrow_airport_in_1965_arp.jpg/800px-London_heathrow_airport_in_1965_arp.jpg] London Heathrow Airport<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Heathrow_Airport>in 1965. Nearest the camera are two BOAC aircraft - a Vickers VC10 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vickers_VC10> (with the high tail) and a Boeing 707 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_707>. * * -- [ ]'s Claudiß
