There were only eight built, four for service from England to Europe, and four to serve India and Africa. None of the aircraft survive today, although there is a propeller at one location and a propeller hub with Team Merlin. The group is establishing a museum for artifacts. While all the 28,000-pound aircraft were eventually destroyed either in windstorms while parked, hangar fires, or damaged beyond repair during hard landings, no civilian passengers were injured or killed. Eight lives were lost on a military flight after the aircraft were conscripted for war and have never been found.

This Concorde of the 1930s traveled at 100 mph and could reach a top speed of only 120 mph. It carried 24 passengers in a cabin based on a luxury Pullman railroad car that had been styled to resemble the Pullman cars used on the famous Orient Express train. No seatbelts were installed until a seaplane accident by another company operating a different model in the mid-1930s that resulted in all aircraft, including the HP42 fleet, belting its passengers.

If you don’t get to see it in person (the builders are looking for a sponsor to bring it to the United States), you’ll see it at the movies. Team Merlin official Neil Farley said two movie producers are writing the aircraft into scripts. (The sound of the Vimy appeared in Star Wars: Episode II.) The schedule for when it might fly depends on funding, but several sponsors have been found. More are needed to become a reality. A website is already in place.

The HP42 was the darling of royalty, celebrities, the well-to-do, and companies that wanted to use it to promote their products. The fashion industry posed models around it and passengers who had never flown had afternoon tea during a scenic flight around London before it had seatbelts. It was the flagship of Imperial Airways and spanned the mighty British empire from Africa to India. The modern HP42 is expected also to attract company sponsorship including the fashion industry.