We all know the pre-deregulation route systems of the local service airlines very well, but the local service airlines added routes just as aggressively as the trunks did post-deregulation. With that in mind, here's a quiz based on the Jure 8, 1979 North Central timetable.
As a resident of the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills, North Central Airlines is as much a part of your community as Vernor's Ginger Ale, Stroh's Beer, terrific college football games in Ann Arbor and horrible pro football games at the Pontiac Silverdome are. In June, 1979, North Central was just days away from merging with Southern to form Republic Airlines. School is out for the summer, and you're already irritating your wealthy parents by cranking up WRIF 101 and your favorite Kiss and J Geils Band tapes, and your exasperated parents tell you they will gladly pay for you to take a trip somewhere....anywhere.....so they won't have to listen to "Detroit Breakdown" or "Detroit Rock City" for a few days. You decide to take a farewell tour on "the route of the Northliners" using daddy's credit card.
1. The easternmost city on North Central's route system is served with three nonstops from Detroit, and one one stop. What's the easternmost city, and where does the one stop stop?
2. Once you get to the easternmost city on NC's system, you see that you can take a five stop to Marquette, Michigan. Where are the stops?
3. You can also take a three stop from the easternmost city to Chicago. Where would you stop enroute?
4. After some thought, you decide not to go to Marquette or Chicago, and instead, you fly to the southernmost city on NC's system. There aren't any direct flights between the easternmost and southernmost cities on NC's system, but you can get there by changing planes. Your first flight is a one stop, and your second flight is a nonstop.
5. It's possible to fly from the southernmost city on NC's system to the westernmost city in one very long day of travel. You'll take three flights. The first and second flights are nonstops, and the third flight makes one stop. What's your route of travel.
6. North Central served many of their new post-deregulation routes with just 1 flight a day, and many of these new flights operated at unusual times. The westernmost city on NC's system is no exception. Once you get there, you turn around, and head to MSP for some rest. The next morning, you're disappointed to discover that NC no longer offers any three stops between MSP and Grand Forks. If you'd been able to take one of NC's three stops between MSP and GFK, where would you have stopped?
7. You take a nonstop to GFK, then a six stop Convair 580 to Omaha. Where are the stops?
8. While you're spending the night in Omaha, you decide that since you've been to the easternmost, southernmost, and westernmost cities served by NC, you may as well fly to the northernmost city. From Omaha, you take a two stop to Sioux Falls, a three stop to Minneapolis, and a one stop to the northernmost city. What's the northernmost city, and how will you be getting there?
9. After spending the night in the northernmost city, you retrace your route to MSP, then take a nonstop to MSP to ORD. By now, you're ready to go home. You think briefly about taking the traditional NC route from ORD to DTW via JXN, but then you see you can take a more northerly route, on one of NC's new DC-9-50s. Your flight makes three stops; what are they?
When you arrive home at your parents' house, you can hear Detroit Rock City blasting from the backyard, and when you get out of your car, you can smell marijuana smoke. You immediately think "it's nice that my friends have organized a welcome home party for me", but then, to your shock, when you go into your backyard, you see that your parents are listening to Kiss while smoking your weed stash. When your mom sees you, she smiles and says "Honey, you were right....Kiss makes great music. The next time you and your friends go to a Kiss concert at Cobo Hall, dad and I will be coming along with you". Initially, you think it was a mistake to leave mom and dad unattended for a few days, but then you realize that you're lucky to have parents that are so cool.