Location of Rapide G-AFOI

Just looked through some BEA Dragon Rapide images and I absolutely concur with last two posts, it appears to be early BEA scheme. Try as I might I can't make out any airline titling in the pic, I'm wondering if the shot shows G-AFOI straight after a repaint or major service, it does look very clean and might explain the 'joinery' sign on the hangar.

My grandad worked for BEA in the Rapide era, but I've never heard him mention 'OI before, I have a book on them somewhere and will try and dig out to find any useful info.
I'm sure that he mentioned that BEA Rapides were maintained at Renfrew at one time, a picture on the net shows BEA Dakotas being serviced in what appears to be a B1 hangar at that airfield.

Edit, this site ( www.dhc-2.com/Renfrew%20Reflections.html ) shows B1s or coupled B1 hangars at Renfrew, the pic of 'OI could even show just one half of a coupled hangar.

Having found my buried copy of 'An Illustrated History of British European Airways', Phil Lo Bao, 1989, I now disagree with myself, and totally concur with other recent posts that the logo on the tail is quite certainly that of late 40s/early 50s B.E.A.

The dates in the BEA book show only a short period of service: Inherited from Scottish Airways 1.2.47, until sold to Gibraltar Airways 7.6.48. The short period of service could explain the lack of under window airline titles. In the standard reference work 'British Independent Airlines since 1946' Tony Merton Jones 1977, Gibraltar Airways is not covered, so there may have been strong links still with BEA - which brings Gibraltar into the frame as a 'wild card'!

No further on though!

Everything would seem to point to Renfrew. My guess is the B1 hangar dates from the period when wartime Renfrew became heavily involved with the assembly of American aircraft unloaded at Glasgow Docks.

MikeO;134423 wrote:

Everything would seem to point to Renfrew. My guess is the B1 hangar dates from the period when wartime Renfrew became heavily involved with the assembly of American aircraft unloaded at Glasgow Docks.

I would not quite agree that "everything" points to Renfrew. Witney aerodrome converted around 100 Dominies to Rapide standard after World War II, and indeed, two were assembled at Witney from spare parts. There are few photographs of the smaller sheds at Witney - most views show the Belfast truss-roofed hangar and the Bellman hangars; there were some quite large sheds at the rear of the site, in addition to the three Robin hangars.

Hi

I have asked a friend of mine who has seen a photo elsewhere recently of a similar image and he seems to think that it might have been at Liverpool-Speke.

DJP