On this day in aviation history Silver City Airways, based in the United Kingdom announced that it had flown 1.000.000 cars from England to continental Europe. It did that with, amongst others, with the Bristol 170 Mark 32 Super Freighters,
A Bristol 170 Mark 32 Super Freighter
And other (versions of the Bristol) Freighters. The Bristol 170 Mark 32 Super Freighters could carry 20 passengers and 3 cars. (other aircraft typically carried around 10-12 passengers and 2 cars)
So even if they would have only used the Bristol 170 Mark 32 Super Freighters, it would still have required 333.333 flights +1 to move one million cars. A staggering amount of flights!
Some specifications on the Bristol 170 Mark 32 Super Freighters:
Crew: 3
Capacity: 22,300 cu ft (630 m3) cargo hold / 13,659 lb (6,196 kg) (3 crew, 20 pax plus cars)
Length: 73 ft 6 in (22.40 m)
Wingspan: 108 ft 0 in (32.92 m)
Height: 25 ft (7.6 m) [4]
Wing area: 1,487 sq ft (138.1 m2)
Empty weight: 29,435 lb (13,351 kg)
Gross weight: 44,000 lb (19,958 kg)
Fuel capacity: 1,170 imp gal (1,410 US gal; 5,300 l) total (2 x 350 imp gal (420 US gal; 1,600 l) + 2 x 135 imp gal (162 US gal; 610 l) + 2 x 100 imp gal (120 US gal; 450 l)
Powerplant: 2 × Bristol Hercules 734 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engines, 2,000 hp (1,500 kW) each
Propellers: 4-bladed de Havilland constant-speed fully-feathering metal propellers, 14 ft (4.3 m) diameter
Maximum speed: 225 mph (362 km/h, 196 kn) at 3,000 ft (910 m)
Cruise speed: 164 mph (264 km/h, 143 kn) recommended, at 5,000 ft (1,500 m)
Range: 820 mi (1,320 km, 710 nmi) with 12,000 lb (5,400 kg) payload
Service ceiling: 23,000 ft (7,000 m) at max. continuous power and 38,000 lb (17,000 kg)
Single-engined ceiling: 12,900 ft (3,900 m) at 38,000 lb (17,000 kg) with emergency climb power
Rate of climb: 250 ft/min (1.3 m/s) On one engine at fully loaded weight
Time to altitude: 10,000 ft (3,000 m) in 10 minutes at max. continuous power
Power/mass: 11 lb/hp (6.7 kg/kW)
Take-off distance to 50 ft (15 m): 2,500 ft (760 m) in a 5 mph (4.3 kn; 8.0 km/h) wind
Landing distance from 50 ft (15 m): 2,300 ft (700 m) in a 5 mph (4.3 kn; 8.0 km/h) wind