jlemon

I flew on a B787-8 about a week after the first aircraft was introduced into the United fleet. In fact, I was on board the first UA 787. Routing was IAH to LAX and I was able to get upgraded to a BusinessFirst seat. The actual airplane I flew on had been ordered by Continental prior to the merger. It was the Captain's first revenue flight in command of a 787 and he made a very nice speech over the PA concerning his long career with CO going back to his days as a very young flight engineer on the B720B when he first started out in the business. And there were apparently no battery issues on that flight......

Seat 2A

On September 8th, 1982, I flew aboard the inaugural flight of the Boeing 767-200 - a -222 model (N606UA) flown by United between Chicago and Denver. United President Dick Ferris came out and spoke a few words and then Mayor Jane Byrne tossed a bowl of Champagne on the nose of the aircraft. I made the evening news after being interviewed by a Denver TV reporter onboard the flight.

Two nights ago, I made my 17th flight aboard Alaska's 737-890 N549AS between Ft. Lauderdale and Seattle. Total mileage accrued aboard that aircraft stands at a mere 26,590 miles - the first flight having occurred eleven years ago in 2005.

Next week I'll be logging my 500,000th mile aboard an Alaska 737-800. Feel free to hoist a beverage to my redoubtable honor for this achievement if you please...

jrl767

somehow I knew ...

a month earlier (11 Aug 82) I was Test Director for the final First-of-a-Model 767-222 FAA certification flight tests on that jet ... we departed Paine Field in Everett WA (PAE) around 1730, made a few approaches and touch-and-go landings at Sacramento (SMF), spent an hour or so doing some system reconfiguration checks on the ground at Moses Lake WA (MWH), and then a couple of times around the pattern at Spokane (GEG) (also including touch-and-go landings) before returning to PAE around 2330

549 operated the SEA<-->IAD inaugural in Mar 2015; my wife and I were in 3C and 3D on the westbound trip

jlemon

And on the first Monday of fall (with the first cool front of the season now on the way to southern Louisiana), here are several "milk run" quiz items. Please limit your answer to one quiz item at a time:

1. It's the fall of 1952 and you are in Seattle. You need to travel to New York City and have discovered a daily flight that makes four stops en route. You'll depart the west coast at 9:00 am and arrive on the east coast at 11:52 pm. Identify the airline you'll be flying on, the equipment and all four stops in the order in which they will be made. Also name the New York airport where you will arrive. ANSWERED

2. It's high summer in 1970 and you are in Park City in the Wasatch Range of Utah. The phone rings in your lady friend's mountain chalet and your presence is requested for a business dinner the next evening at Commander's Palace in New Orleans. You quickly discover there is a direct flight departing SLC at the civilized time of 11:15 am that will get you into MSY at 6:22 pm - plenty of time for your 8:00 pm dinner reservation. This flight makes four stops en route. Name the air carrier, the equipment and all four intermediate stops in order.

3. Now it's early winter of 1972 and you are in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. You have business in Providence, Rhode Island and have ascertained that one airline has daily direct service to PVD with this flight making three stops. What is the closest airport to White Bear Lake that you will be departing from, what airline and aircraft type will you be flying on, and what is the location of each of the three stops in the order in which they will be made? ANSWERED

jlemon

Plus one more.....

4. What was the westernmost destination served by Delta with the DC-9-30 in 1974? ANSWERED

jrl767

somehow Dallas or Kansas City would just be too easy to pick off ... but there was a big gap in the DL route map across the desert southwest, which leads me to think we're looking for Phoenix as the answer here

jlemon

4. Correct! Delta was operating a pair of DC-9-30 flights into Phoenix in the fall of 1974. Here are the westbound scheds....

DL 689: Baltimore (BAL) 3:35a - 5:16a Atlanta (ATL) 6:20a - 6:00a Birmingham (BHM) 6:20a - 7:12a Monroe (MLU) 7:32a - 8:27a Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) 9:05a - 10:20a Phoenix (PHX)
Op: Daily
Equip: D9S
Seat Config: 20 F, 70 Y

DL 527: Atlanta (ATL) 6:05p - 6:25p Monroe (MLU) 6:45p - 7:13p Shreveport (SHV) 7:33p - 8:18p Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) 9:00p - 10:15p Phoenix (PHX)
Op: Daily
Equip: D9S
Seat Config: 20 F, 70 Y

BTW, Delta was also operating a third daily flight into Phoenix at this time. DL 923 flew a westbound routing of FLL-ATL-DFW-PHX. Equipment was a Super DC-8-61. It appears this was the one and only DC-8 flight serving Phoenix back then.

jlemon

And a bonus quiz item......

5. It's the fall of 1979 and you are on a road trip on your way to Yellowstone National Park. A hint of frost is in the air and the high peaks of the local Owl Creek Mountains are already dusted with snow. You've stopped for the night in Thermopolis, Wyoming which is home of what is billed as the world's largest mineral hot springs. You are looking forward to a good soak in a hot tub after dinner. And then you are handed a message upon arrival at a quaint old western inn. Can you be present for an urgent business meeting in Aurora, Colorado before lunch tomorrow? A quick bit of research reveals the location of the nearest airport with jet service. You'll depart at 6:55 am and arrive in Denver at 8:24 am. One intermediate stop will be made en route. Identify the airport you will be departing from, the airline you'll be flying on, the jet aircraft type and the intermediate stop. ANSWERED

jlemon

Here's a link to a website with historic airliner photos taken at a number of airports in northern and southern California including LAX, SFO, BUR, SNA, SAN, SBA, SMF, MRY and TVL......

http://www.departedwings.com

Select "The Airports" to view. "The Airlines" section is great as well specifically with regard to a number of California-based commuter air carriers.

And, my goodness, is that a Caravelle parked at LAX in late 1978?

jrl767

I am about 22 hours from departing Seattle on an eastbound journey that will involve a pair of 737-800s on either side of a 747-400 (SEA-LAX-AMS-BCN), so I'm going to speculate that this eastbound trip also involved a Boeing plane with passenger seats on two levels ... the iconic Model 377 Stratocruiser ... operated by Northwest, on a routing of SEA-Spokane (GEG)-Minneapolis (MSP)-Milwaukee (MKE)-Cleveland (CLE)-Newark (EWR)

jlemon

1. Yes indeed, it was Northwest operating a Boeing 377 Stratocruiser. This particular flight even had a name: the "Metropolitan Express". You also correctly guessed all but two of the airports served by this flight. Here's the sched (and, yes, the departure time from SEA was actually 9:00 am and the arrival time in NYC was 11:52 pm and thus not 8:00 am and 11:47 pm as I previously stated - my apologies)......

NW 2: Seattle (SEA) 9:00a - 10:12a Spokane (GEG) 10:35a - 4:53p Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) 5:30p - 6:50p Milwaukee (MKE) 7:15p - 9:22p Detroit (DTW) 9:45p - 11:52p New York Idlewild (IDL)

The Stratocruiser was prominently displayed on the cover of the Northwest Sept. 28, 1952 system timetable with the message "Only Northwest flies Stratocruisers Coast to Coast". The airline went on to extol the virtues of the B377, stating, "Luxury is the word for travel on the Exclusive Northwest Airlines Orient Express. Double-deck luxury Stratocruisers coast to coast and from Seattle-Tacoma to Tokyo....the world's finest airliners."

Seat 2A

This has me wondering - does American still brand its larger jets as "Luxuryliners"?

Last year I flew economy class aboard AA's 787-8 between ORD and DFW. The interior of the airplane looked as if it had been designed by a depressed mortician. Everything was grey. Business Class was grey seats set in grey molded plastic modules amidst grey sidewalls and bulkheads. It was more like a "Utilitarianliner" I couldn't help but wonder how much nicer this airplane might have looked inside had it been introduced in 1972.

jlemon

I believe the last new airplane type to be introduced into the AA fleet that had "LuxuryLiner" on the side of the aircraft up near the nose was the MD-11. I also flew on a three class DC-10 LAX-JFK round trip that was a "LuxuryLiner" (and these flights were fine examples of AA first class service back in the day). I also seem to recall the term "LuxuryLiner" was phased out by American as the 1990's progressed. BTW, my first flight on board a 747 was on an AA B747-123 "LuxuryLiner" from SFO to ORD and the coach lounge in the back was nice.

I do not believe any AA wide body aircraft has worn the "LuxuryLiner" title for a number of years now.

jrl767

my wife and I just walked through the tunnel between T5 and T4 at LAX ... both walls contain various headlines and photos of commercial aviation milestones; while most are reasonably accurate and non-controversial, this pair caught my eye (I don't think my iPhone will let me upload two photos in the same post, so check below for the second)

jrl767

what's the inconsistency?