Convair flight to Fiji.

I was waiting for my flight out of Tuvalu, having a beer in the hotel bar.

I had just been talking to an engineer who was looking at resurfacing the runway. The coral underneath is collapsing under the weight of modern planes. It was only build to take lightweight US Army bombers, in 1944. A temporary wartime airfield that was still in use.

I was just digesting this slightly worrying information when my plane arrived. 

It was a late 1950s Convair.....

Had I seen it in an aircraft museum I would have admired its grace and beauty.  

Instead I was unwillingly pushed aboard by a hostess, and endured a flight back to Fiji in it.