Tradewinds Airways Ltd was a British all-cargo airline. Its head office was located in Timberham House, on the property of London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, England. History Tradewinds was founded in November 1968 after the collapse of Transglobe Airways under the name BOBWOOD and flew charter flights from its base at London Gatwick (LGW) airport, using Canadair CL-44-D4 aircraft previously operated by Transglobe. In January 1969 the name was changed to Tradewinds Airways but since Seaboard World Airlines (a USA based company) had a large interest in Tradewinds, the British Government would not issue a license. By April 1969 the majority of the stock was passed on to British nationals and the company was able to start operations later in 1969. Tradewinds flew a lot of relief flights to Nigeria during the civil war with Biafra and that allowed the company to expand in Africa, the Middle East and the Far East. Tradewinds also flew numerous flights for the UK Ministry of Defence. These military flights included the transport of missiles to the NATO arctic test ranges. Tradewinds also held the exclusive contract for the movement of Formula One racing cars. As part of this operation, charter services would be arranged for two of the CL-44's in South America and flight and ground crews were stationed in Brasil for two weeks each year whilst the Grand Prix were taking place. Tradewinds was also a specialist carrier of bloodstock, pioneering the use of special stalls that allowed horse to travel safely and without stress. Many champion race horses were transported in this way. Other livestock transport was also undertaken including sheep, goats and pigs. Tradewinds ran its own warehouse at London Gatwick Airport, a privilege accorded only to British Caledonian and British Airways. All other airlines had to use either Gatwick Handling services or one of these other carriers for handling. Later history and closure The company was taken over in 1977 by the Lonrho Group and began to replace the CL44's with used Boeing 707-320C freighters. With those aircraft, flights to Chicago and Toronto were begun. A December 1983 Tradewinds timetable lists scheduled weekly nonstop flights between London Gatwick Airport and Chicago O'Hare Airport and also between London Stansted Airport and Khartoum as well as "split charter services" flights between London Gatwick and Accra (operated on behalf of Gemini Airlines) and also between London Stansted and Kano, Lagos, Mogadishu, Nairobi