Empire
Air Lines Boeing 247D NC41813
(c/n 1725)
There have
been several airlines carrying this name, but this was the first
one. Empire was
founded as Zimmerly Air Lines on 1 April 1944 and operated scheduled
intrastate services
from
Boise to Lewiston, Pocatello and Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. It had a modest
fleet of five
Boeing 247s. The name was changed
to Empire Air Lines on 1 March 1946, and on
28
September 1946 interstate services were
begun between Idaho Falls and Spokane, with
intermediate stops. By that
time the Boeings had been replaced with
DC-3s. The rare
image
above is from the Barney P. Buckley collection, and was probably taken
on or
around the date
that the airline name was changed judging by the collection of
triby-hatted
gentleman.
I acquired the shot below from the airline in 1952, and I've always
thought
that
the photo looked
somewhat "doctored" and correspondent Patrick Rodwell advises that
it was actually
a Zimmerly Airlines liveried photo, doctored to
show Empire. (Patrick's
grandfather worked for the airline Its
Chief A&P mechanic in the 1940s).
N41813 was formerly United's NC13313
and
was modified to have a large
square window
in the (starboard side) entrance door.
This can be seen in the photos above and below.
This particular 247D finished its days with Lineas Aereas del Pacifico
and
crashed in 1952
returning to Long Beach from San Clemente Island.
