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6 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair, British Air Ferries - BAF AN1917941: Steve Fitzgerald· GFDL 1.2
- 2. British Air Ferries Carvair G-ASHZ: Eduard Marmet· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. British United Carvair: Ralf Manteufel· GFDL 1.2
- 4. Carvair at Rand Airport: Nolween· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 5. EI-AMR 2 ATL98 Carvair Aer Lingus LPL 19MAY63 (5562788490): Ken Fielding· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 6. 1977 07 21 LFMN NCE SFAIR CARVAIR F BVEF CROP: Peter Nath· CC BY 4.0
what is it?
The Aviation Traders ATL-98 Carvair is a retired air ferry conversion developed by Freddie Laker's Aviation Traders (Engineering) Limited (ATL). Based on the Douglas DC-4, it has a capacity of 22 passengers in a rear cabin, and five cars loaded in at the front. It is powered by four radial engines.
How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · low wing · retractable tricycle gear · 35.8 m wingspan
base stats
Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).
fun facts
- First flew 65 years ago, in 1961.
- Top speed is 3.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- Wingspan of 35.8 m: about 8 cars parked nose to tail.
- Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 6 African elephants (~6 t each).
piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.
spec sheet
- first flight
- 1961-06-21
- introduced
- 1962
- status
- retired
- number built
- 21
- role
- transport
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- makers
- Aviation Traders
- engines
- 4× Pratt & Whitney R-2000-7M2 Twin Wasp / R-2000 Twin Wasp
- crew
- 2
- passengers
- 85
- length
- 31.3 m
- wingspan
- 35.8 m
- height
- 9.1 m
- max take-off weight
- 33.5 t
- top speed
- 402 km/h
- cruise speed
- 333 km/h
- range
- —
- ceiling
- 5,700 m
- wings
- low wing
- landing gear
- retractable tricycle gear
Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.
family
Sources: Wikidata Q790839, Wikipedia: Aviation Traders Carvair (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.