1- well, I’m gonna tip my hat to jlemon here because his mention of the A300 points me to Continental

the itinerary in question would have routed via Newark/EWR and Denver/DEN, with the most likely equipment sequence being D9S/AB3/733

I like it, but per the schedule I referenced for this question, no A300s were flying into ONT. I can't recall if any ever did! As to widebodied service, I seem to recall Rich International and Hawaiian Air coming in - Rich for sure with a L-1011 and Hawaiian Air maybe a 1011 or a 767...

BTW, we're not looking at Eastern.

You're pretty close. Change the aircraft order a bit and drop Newark for XXX and you're home free

the CO itinerary must have been:

• YOW-CLE D9S
• CLE-DEN 733
• DEN-SEA AB3

I was afraid you were gonna say that... but NO!! It wasn't Cleveland! But you do have the order of aircraft correct. So - you can go to bed with a smile on your face, confident in the hope that you'll pick correctly tomorrow.

That said - Please, guess again!

9. Well, I knew that Delta actually operated nonstop 767-200 service between ATL and ONT at one point; thus, my wild guess concerning Eastern with an A300.

So here's an even wilder guess: Royal West operating both flights, with a 727-100 nonstop from JFK to LAS connecting to a BAe 146-200 nonstop from LAS to ONT.

17. And speaking of Royal West, let's go with this short-lived air carrier flying nonstop service between LAX and EGE with a BAe 146-200.

1- good thing I don�t have long fingernails because I�d have probably drawn blood after scratching my head for so long

YOW-IAD CO D9S
IAD-DEN CO 733
DEN-SEA CO AB3

Good job, JL! You are CORRECT! on both counts. Royal West, like so many other airlines of its era, started with grandiose dreams that turned nightmarish as financial turbulence set in in early 1987. The airline operated from June of 1986 until late February of 1987.

The New York and Vail flights came fairly late in its existence and while the BAe-146s were operated in an all economy configuration, its sole 727-51 shows in the OAG as offering First Class.

Here's a shot of the 727 at LAX.

https://share.google/ab9xOARazihXLDP9D

This aircraft sure would have looked nice in the livery worn by the 146s...

https://www.airliners.net/photo/Roya...6-100/875586/L

Here's the itinerary...

Royal West YM 711 New York (JFK) 1030a – 1245p B Las Vegas (LAS) 727-100 X6
Royal West YM 133 Las Vegas (LAS) 230p – 305p Ontario (ONT) BAe-146 X6

As to question 17, once again Royal West flies to the rescue with its nonstop flight from LAX to EGE. Let's hope that our intrepid skier from Martinez had a flight back out of Vail as YM ceased operations during ski season in February 1987 - the same month as my OAG. Although I'm down in Colorado and don't have that OAG with me, I seem to recall that YM's flight out of Vail went nonstop to Las Vegas, where connections could be made to a variety of LA area airports

Pacific Southwest PS 1862 Concord (CCR) 1010a – 1119a Los Angeles (LAX) BAe-146 X7
Royal West YM 1692 Los Angeles (LAX) 125p – 425p Vail (EGE) BAe-146 Sa only

I'm glad you survived this question relatively unscathed, J. On a positive note, a good head scratch does promote improved circulation to the scalp, which may help stave off male pattern baldness in your advancing years.

As to question one, you are CORRECT! I agree - Newark would seem the logical choice, but for whatever reason CO identified a viable market out of IAD with three mostly daily flights. I'm surprised they didn't operate these flights out of DCA, but CO had had a presence at IAD with flights from IAH and DEN since early in deregulation. Anyway, here's the itinerary...

Continental CO 795 Ottawa (YOW) 630a-755a S Washington (IAD) DC-9-30 X7
Continental CO 585 Washington (IAD) 915a – 1100a B Denver (DEN) 737-300
Continental CO 517 Denver (DEN) 1205p – 138p L Seattle (SEA) A300B

Posted in error...

I remember seeing Royal West BAe 146-200 aircraft at Burbank as this air carrier was serving Las Vegas nonstop from BUR at the time.

It also appears that Royal West was the first airline to operate jet service into the Eagle County Regional Airport (EGE) which at the time of your quiz question had a 5,000 foot runway (which is currently 9,000 feet in length). Thus, the BAe 146-200 service into this relatively short airstrip back then.

Prior to the Royal West BAe 146-200 service into EGE, the airfield was served by Rocky Mountain Airways and Monarch Airlines, both operating the DHC-6 Twin Otter with Rocky Mountain later introducing Dash 7 service. Monarch was a Grand Junction-based commuter air carrier and was thus not related to the UK airline of the same name. Here's their 1987 route map and timetable:

https://www.timetableimages.com/ttimages/9m8701.htm

The Eagle County Regional Airport is located in a mountain valley at an elevation of around 6,540 feet and reportedly served as a very basic emergency landing strip back in the 1930's on the Los Angeles - Denver route. It was improved in 1947 as a general aviation facility. Years later it became a very busy airfield during the winter ski season, of course. Several old friends who retired as captains with American flew 757-200 service into EGE back in the day and have commented that it could be a very interesting airfield to operate into at times due to certain weather conditions.

Having grown up in Vail from 1963 through 1974 (Our family business was a ski shop and the money was in importing and selling European ski and apres ski wear), I had occasion to visit Eagle County Airport on two occasions to pick up friends who had flown in. On both occasions they flew in on Twin Otters and as a visitor, the tiny terminal building had an RMA counter at one end and otherwise served to keep you out of the elements while you awaited your flight.

I never did fly RMA's Otters into EGE, but I can certainly appreciate the benefits of flying vs. driving for many visitors in the 1960s and early 1970s. The Eisenhower Tunnel - through which I-70 passes under the Continental Divide - did not open its first bore until 1974. Prior to that, the only route was US 6 over 11,988' Loveland Pass. During the winter months, it could be quite treacherous, and we always loaded up our trusty 1967 Chrysler station wagon with plenty of blankets and food and a full tank of gas for the trip. It was not uncommon for trucks to jack knife up on either Loveland or Vail Pass, the latter of which had its own set of challenges as a 2-lane blacktop until it was re-engineered into a four lane with kinder curves in the late 1970s. We kids went to school down in Denver during the week and drove up to Vail and back for ski team every weekend during the winter. On a good day, we'd make the trip in 2 hours. On a bad day, as many as 4-6 hours.

Meanwhile, RMA's DHC-6 Twin Otters typically made the trip from Denver Stapleton up to EGE in about 45 minutes.

Flash forward to 1997, and I flew into Vail aboard a Delta 757-200 from Atlanta. Also on the ramp were 757s from AA, UA and I think NW. That was a great trip! I hitchhiked from EGE down to Zion National Park in southwest Utah, then bussed back to Gunnison where another Delta 757 took me to Atlanta, followed by my last ever L1011 flight to SLC. The next day I scored an op-upgrade on the 757 up to Anchorage.

Here's a shot of a busy day on the ramp at EGE in the late 1990s

https://share.google/images/Qm60J6QhFIeOrzbpH

And here's a video of an American A319 taking off out of EGE

https://youtu.be/-oAlPMd2EZU?si=d0MPbclNQqeFauQK

And finally, here's a view of the new terminal - a far cry from the humble little building of the 1960s

https://share.google/qHYXxMFv5myDq0YH0

It appears the A319 is the primary aircraft type flown by American into Eagle County Regional these days.

And according to FlightAware, Delta and United are still operating 757-200 service into EGE at the present time.

12. some historical research reveals that the oldest National Park is Yellowstone, which means the nearest destination airport is West Yellowstone/WYS

today’s smallest national park (Gateway Arch, in St. Louis) wasn't yet established in 1962, so the site in question was Hot Springs National Park … and conveniently the closest airport was right there in the namesake town

those two details point to the aircraft of record being a Frontier Convair 580, the connection point being Denver/DEN, and the stop on the second flight being Jackson Hole/JAC

as for seven stops between HOT and DEN:

1. Little Rock/LIT
2. Fort Smith/FSM
3. Tulsa/TUL
4. Oklahoma City/OKC
5. Wichita/ICT
6. Liberal/LBL
7. Colorado Springs/COS

16- well now! this is certainly an exercise in memory bank withdrawals!

let’s start with a Southern Airways Martin 404 that will take our long-suffering traveler to Atlanta/ATL, with stops at Albany/ABY and Columbus/CSG

for the next leg, how about a Delta DC-9-30 to Dallas/DFW … there are more than a few two-stop routings here, so I’ll start with a guess of Jackson/JAN and Shreveport/SHV

then DFW to Seattle/SEA on a Braniff 727-227, and finally a Pacific Western Convair 640 SEA-YYJ