WHBM

Well identified, especially for the Ambassador, none of which ever made it to the USA, although three secondhand ones flew all the way to Australia, didn't get used on what was intended, and shortly after were flown all the way back again. Only 20 were built, for BEA, its last piston engine fleet, they arrived together with the first Viscounts, and only lasted a few years. As was so common with UK secondhand aircraft, a good number ended up with Dan-Air, for whom they were mid-1960s holiday flight aircraft before the Comets came along. Dan-Air also had a bizarre series of scheduled flights, many operated in isolation of one another, and one of these was a weekday Liverpool to Amsterdam service, which left Liverpool in the morning, sat at Amsterdam all day, and returned in the evening.

The Ambassador, about 60 seats arranged 3+2, with a Constellation-like triple tail, had fairly chunky Bristol Centaurus sleeve-valved radial engines. A sleeve valve is a concept of not having valves on a piston engine because it's achieved by the whole cylinder liner rotating as the piston goes up and down, a concept rather difficult to understand without a working model. Bristol long stuck with the concept.

One of the engine's issues was being even less oil-tight than a US radial. Now that Ambassador used to sit at Liverpool airport all night, or all weekend, on a ramp which faces south-west, into the prevailing winter winds, so come engine startup on Monday morning there were huge clouds of smoke as the oil burned off. One of the controllers said "Airfield low visibility procedures for five minutes when an Ambassador starts up". When it then did engine run-ups the whole tailplane used to visibly vibrate with it. Then it was off to Amsterdam. They rarely got more than 50% load. This photo was in the last year of the Ambassador, they were finally withdrawn the following summer. Dan-Air didn't really have a replacement, so sent, of all things, a Comet to Liverpool to run the route, which was even emptier on the run.

At their maintenance base, which in typical Dan-Air fashion was not at any airport of consequence but an old RAF base in the middle of nowhere in Hampshire, they donated the last Ambassador to the local village Boy Scout group as a meeting place on the edge of the airfield. And there it sat for years until its historic significance was recognised and it was recovered by road to Duxford museum, where you can now see it very nicely restored. I wonder if it's the same one as in the photo.

And yes, the other aircraft is a Cambrian Vickers Viscount 800, which held down what few mainstream routes Liverpool had at the time, to London Heathrow, Belfast, Dublin, and the Isle of Man.

jlemon

Still looking for answers for these.....

jlemon

And these remain unanswered as well....

WHBM

Seems fairly fast for 1959 with 2 stops, so I'll guess an Electra. Let's say Braniff, stopping at Kansas City and Dallas.

I would choose either Pan Am or KLM, from Dutch Guyana, and with three stops I can't think where KLM would make them all, so let's go with a Pan Am 707, stopping at Georgetown, British Guyana, and Trinidad and Barbados.

jlemon

1. Close enough! This L-188 Electra service operated by BN actually flew a MDW-DAL-HOU-SAT routing.

10. You are off to an excellent start here as your routing is spot on. However, the air carrier was not Pan Am (or KLM for that matter) and the equipment wasn't a 707. Please guess again, sir!

WHBM

BWIA with a 727.

jlemon

10. British West Indian Airways ("Bee Wee") is correct! Here's the sched.....

BW 462/464: Paramaribo, Surinam (PBM) 9:55a - 10:20a Georgetown, Guyana (GRG) 10:45a - 11:25a Port of Spain, Trinidad (POS) 12:00n - 12:40p Barbados (BGI) 1:05p - 5:35p New York (JFK)
Op: Fridays and Sundays only
Equip: 727 SUNJET
Note: BW 462/464 operated as through plane service with flight number change at POS
Service classes: F/Y

A one way first class ticket from Paramaribo to New York could be purchased for $390.00 U.S. back in 1968.

BWIA was primarily operating the B727-100 on most of its flights at this time but was still operating the Vickers Viscount as well on shorter routes out of Port of Spain. All cargo service was flown with a Douglas DC-4 freighter.

MADPhil

1968 $390 = 2017 $2,808 and a ticket can be had for $2,163 a few weeks out. First class will have been a bit nicer then though.

Herb687

I'm going to guess that the SJU-MEX trip is the tag end of a long-haul Transatlantic flight.

So, just for kicks, I will guess BOAC VC-10 and (LON)-SJU-KIN-MBJ-GCM-MEX.

Seat 2A

13. If you wanted to fly on board a Lockheed L-188 Electra out of Port au Prince, Haiti in 1973, what airline would you call?

I believe the answer to this may have come up in a question earlier this summer. I'm gonna go with Flamingo Airlines which would've flown in from Inagua(?) in the Bahamas.

jlemon

7. An excellent guess and I like your style! However, this flight wasn't the end of a TATL service and it actually originated in San Juan.

And here are some other hints: this flight did not stop in either Kingston or Montego Bay and the third stop was made in Merida (MID).

I also do not believe BOAC ever served Grand Cayman with the VC10....but I could be wrong! BA currently operates B777-200 service between GCM and London via an intermediate stop at Nassau, of course.

jlemon

13. Yep, I actually provided the answer to this one awhile back in my response to your answer to a previous quiz item concerning Flamingo Air Lines. However, Inagua (INA) was not served by this flight. Here's the sched......

FQ 502: Port au Prince (PAP) 5:15p - 7:00p Nassau (NAS)
Op: Fridays and Sundays only
Equip: Electra Jet-Prop
Fare: $63.00 U.S. one way

Seat 2A

7. Once more in 1966, this airline was operating direct, no change of plane service from San Juan (SJU) to Mexico City (MEX). The actual schedule varied depending on the day of the week but twice a week three intermediate stops were made en route. Identify the air carrier, all three stops in order and the equipment operated on the service.
The airline was not BOAC and the flight did not stop at KIN or MBJ. The flight originated at SJU and the third stop was made at MID.

Originating in San Juan? I can't think of any Caribbean based airlines that served Mexico City, so I'm thinking that this could very well be Pan Am, operating a Boeing 707 most likely. As to the routing, I'm a bit lost. I should imagine Miami's in there somewhere, so there must've been a stop between San Juan and Miami. Let's try San Juan - Santo Domingo - Miami - Merida - Mexico City.

jlemon

7. You are on the right track, sir, as it was indeed Pan American World Airways operating a Boeing 707!

However, the flight did not stop in Santo Domingo. It did stop in Miami....but MIA was not the second stop.

Please guess again!

Herb687

Found it!

PA452 operating SJU-MIA-TPA-MID-MEX on Sundays and Fridays.