Originally Posted by
jrl767
1- indeed, DC3 is CORRECT
I believe so
of course, Republic was the amalgamation of North Central (Series 10/30/50), Southern (Series 10), and AirWest / Hughes Air West (Series 10, originally from Bonanza and West Coast, and Series 30); I think RC acquired MD-80s on their own
NW also had a handful of Series 40 jets whose pedigree escapes me
In posing the question I had somehow thought that the merger was a bit earlier than the first NW 757s came along, but in fact it was after. I went with Republic in 1980, which I think was my one and only ever flight with one of the old-style "local service carriers" (although it was a merger of several of them) in a DC9 from Toronto to Detroit. The merger was actually 1986.
Northwest's first DC9s were indeed from Republic, but afterwards they topped up with a range of other secondhand aircraft as well, many from European carriers changing over to early A320s. The series 40s came from SAS, who were the originator of the variant, its principal and for a long time only customer. Republic also brought along a handful of MD-80s, which probably seemed an additional type too many, within a year one of them was destroyed in a serious takeoff accident at Detroit when the slats had not been deployed, not the only such MD-80 accident, and they were disposed before any of the DC9 types.
Here's Northwest DC9-40 N751NW which I'm about to board at Albany NY on a notably wet afternoon in 2008, me heading back to the UK via Detroit. Albany is a particularly difficult place to get to from the UK due to long connection times at the various points, my favoured way is to go to JFK, get a cab to Penn Station, and whatever is the next train from there. It's the same trip where, outward, I did St Petersburg Russia to London Gatwick on my last Tu154, goodbye to Mrs WHBM
who was now going home, wrote my presentation for the next day in the Gatwick departures cafe (no status on NW), thence Gatwick to Detroit on a Northwest A330 and then drove a rental car to Cleveland. Quite a day.
N751NW was new to SAS in early 1968, when I was quite well down still in school. Sold to Northwest in 1991 after a good 23 years service, it lasted right through to the Delta merger, whose colours it took, until the start of 2011, when it was scrapped at Sanford. 43 years was a pretty good innings. Can you imagine a 1945-built DC4 still being in front line service in 1988 ?
