jlemon

Good Morning from south Louisiana on an absolutely beautiful day. We're off to nearby Girard Park for the annual St. Judes fundraiser which will include live bands and homemade, freshly prepared Cajun-style jambalaya. May have to imbibe a few local microbrews as well.....

Any takers concerning questions #3, 4 and 7 before I close it out?

Track

Kingston-San Juan: BWIA? (In 1978 they used DC-9s on the route, but they also had 707s.)

cs57

7) 727-combi aircraft- Trans World Airlines, using Kansas City as transfer point.

jlemon

Correct! BWIA (known as "Bee-wee") operated a B707 on a routing of MIA-KIN-SJU-BGI-POS.

jlemon

Well, I am unsure whether TWA operated this type of combi passenger/freight service.....they may well have! I would love to see the schedules and learn more about it.....

However, I do know that Braniff International operated three domestic routes featuring combi passenger/freight service with B727 Quick Change (QC) aircraft during the summer of 1968. The routes were:

DAL-MEM-BNA-IAD-EWR

DAL-PDX-SEA

DAL-DEN

These were all late night or red eye flights. The coach section was configured with 51 seats and the freight was loaded in the front section of the aircraft in large roll on/roll off pallets. A look at the July 1968 BN timetable shows ground times at the intermediate stops (such as MEM, BNA and IAD) of around 30 minutes or so which allowed enough time to load and unload the freight pallets via a cargo door located aft of the flight deck while the passengers boarded and deplaned via the rear airstairs of the B727.

BN also operated pure freighter service with the B727QC at this time as well.

jlemon

And I'll go ahead and answer question #3 above....

Borger, Texas (in the panhandle region near Amarillo) was served by Central Airlines and then by Frontier when the latter air carrier acquired the former. Aircraft used in the service included the Convair 580 and 600 turboprops. I also believe a DC-3 may have been used at one point....

Borger does not have any scheduled air service these days......

jlemon

Ft. Worth to Dallas. I have a 1966 OAG that shows Eastern running a 727 on the route. I believe Braniff or American had a jet flight on this route as well. I'll be home in a couple of days and will try to verify this.

Hey Seat 2A, hope your trip to South Africa is going well!

I did find evidence of a flight operated by Braniff International between Dallas and Ft. Worth back in the summer of 1968. Aircraft was a Lockheed L-188 "Electra II" and the routing was Dallas to Ft. Worth to Houston and return.

However, I'm not sure what airport was used for the Fort Worth stop!

cs57

Since TWA only obtained 2 727-031C aircraft, I thought they would have operated some sort of schedule like BN did. Again, thanks JLEMON for your historical facts!

miniliq

I’m three months late to this thread, and just spent a couple of hours trying to bring myself up to date – I’m hooked -- some great history and nostalgia! I don’t have anywhere near the amount of knowledge of the minutiae that have been presented, but can appreciate it nevertheless. I’m just an old-timer passenger with very sloppy records for my early years in the air.
A couple of comments to add to older posts:

I remember poring through OAGs and the companion fare guides in my early days of traveling on business, looking for ways to extend my trips at no extras cost (remember “hidden cities”?). Sadly, most of my old OAGs were casualties of frequent moves, but I have managed to acquire a few to help me recreate some of the details of early flights for flightmemory.com – but some OAGs are scarce – an International Edition for 1973 went on eBay for $600 this week!

Also known as TinkerToy Airways. In the mid-60s I flew TT from HOU to LFT (jlemon turf), POE (no scheduled passenger service there anymore) and MLU a few times – on a DC-3 or Convair 240 as I recall. I’m guessing the short hops over the East Texas forests gave rise to the TreeTops name.

Now may I take the liberty of adding a new twist to the quiz? I collect unopened miniature liquor bottles (hence my handle) from all over the world, and within a rather extensive collection I have a special subset of minis that show airline ID in some form: a decal, the airline trademark, or “specially bottled for XXX.” I have 97 different airlines so far, hopefully with many more to go (hint, hint).
Minis became very popular on domestic airlines in the mid-50s, and some airlines had special pre-mixed cocktails created for them. My quiz questions:
Which US airlines were the following cocktails prepared for:
1. Go-Getter
2. Yellowbird
3. Roadrunner
4. Something Else
5. Panambrosia (too easy -- no credit for the answer)

And a question for the experts: I have one mini with a back label that says “specially prepared for McGregor Airlines.” The tax stamp dates it to 1945 or earlier; perhaps its a “vanity” label prepared for someone’s private plane. My searches have not turned up any info. Anyone recognize the airline?

jlemon

Well, I've now figured out the name of the airport serving Fort Worth that featured mainline jet service: Greater Southwest International Airport (GSW, formerly known as Amon Carter Field).

This airport no longer exists. GSW essentially competed with nearby Dallas Love Field (DAL) for scheduled service and DAL was the preferred airport. Then along came development of DFW just to the north of GSW. All service was discontinued to Greater Southwest and the airport's fate was sealed. It was abandoned and passed into the history books.

American, Braniff, Central, Continental, Delta, Eastern and Trans-Texas Airways (TTa) all reportedly served GSW. I will do some research and report back concerning the routes and equipment operated by the various air carriers from GSW. And if anyone has information concerning Greater Southwest, please chime in!

Cattle Airlines

Central Airlines, later acquired by Frontier Airlines. Central Airlines operated in the 1950's and 60's around Oklahoma.

I just found out that Meacham Field in Fort Worth, Texas is now called Meacham International Airport. What a joke name!

New question: Name an airline that served Meacham Field. Bonus points if they used jet aircraft. More bonus points if you mention a route that they flew.

miniliq

American, Braniff, Central, Pioneer and Trans Texas all had flights at FTW, but all of them were transferred to ACF (Amon Carter Field -- aka Greater Southwest - GSW) in April 1953 -- so I sure can't come up with a jet answer.

Lots of milk runs to small cities north, northwest and south of Fort Worth -- e.g. Central routes up as far as Wichita, Pioneer west to Midland and even Albuquerque.

miniliq

Great history of GSW at http://www.airfields-freeman.com/TX/...FtWorth_NE.htm

cs57

Greetings, MINILIQ!
Yellowbird----Northeast

jlemon

Meacham Field jet service: Mesa Air, I think, with Canadair CRJs to/from Houston Hobby (HOU). I saw one of Mesa's CRJs at HOU some years ago. The service did not last very long.....