Superb footage of the Foynes Air Show 2015, from AFTA’s Aerobatics Instructor and ex RAF pilot, Gerry Humphreys, caputuring the essence of this small town of Foynes on the Shannon Estuary, Co. Limerick
Foynes earned it’s place in history in the late 1930s and early 1940s, when it became the home to one of the biggest civilian airports in Europe. Numerous celebrities and luminaries flew through Foynes on luxurious seaplanes, or “flying boats,” that would take passengers across the Atlantic.
Ernest Hemingway, Douglas Fairbanks, John F. Kennedy, Eleanor Roosevelt all came through Foynes. As did, Colonel Bill Donovan, special advisor to President Roosevelt, and Admiral Cunningham, head of the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet.
The cost of a return ticket from the U.S. was almost ten thousand euro in today’s money.
The Boeing 314 “Clipper” could carry 36 passengers in sleeper accommodations, and had an observation deck and a honeymoon suite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uhcoqpWwos&feature=youtu.be