Seat 2A

23. Is this your lucky trip or what? A quick review of the schedules between St. Thomas and Washington Dulles has revealed a convenient afternoon 1-stop direct flight that ticks all the boxes: It’s more affordable than the traditional airlines flying the route, it offers First Class service and a dinner is served enroute. What airline and aircraft will you be flying upon and where will you stop along the way?
The aircraft was not a 727 and the enroute stop was in the Leeward Islands

Let's clear this one off and make way for a new set from Quizmeister Lemon! The airline was Presidential Airways. Anybody here ever experience their First Class? Here's the schedule:

Presidential Airways XV 209 St. Thomas (STT) 400p-450p Antigua (ANU) 530p-1000p Washington (IAD) 737-200

jlemon

Many thanks, Seat 2A! I do have a new set of quiz items just about ready to go with the time line for all of them being the 1960's.

But before I submit them, let's give someone a chance to pose some new questions of their own. Have a quiz item or two of your own that you'd like post here on the OTAQ&D? Now's your chance! And I also see that WHBM did just that recently....but no one responded. So you might want to take a look at his post # 15000 and give it a go.

And now back to the outdoor barbecue pit on an unsettled Saturday evening weather-wise as the latest cold front works its way toward us......

jrl767

Toshbaf

Question

It is the spring of 1968. What airlines and aircraft fly nonstop between ORD and LAX?

Answer

I don't know the answer but I see some photos in a family album. While others may comment "look at Grandma's dress", my thoughts are "what airline was flown, what aircraft was used". BHAHAHA!

My guess would be United and American, maybe a mix of DC-8's, 707's, 727's.

Guesses are welcome but make a note that it's a guess.

jrl767

Seat 2A

jrl767 has pitched in with TWA operating 707s and perhaps an 880 or two. I would also add Continental to the mix operating 720Bs and perhaps a 707 or two.

Speaking of 720s, United was a major operator of the type and I should imagine the ORD-LAX route saw a few of them as well. American also might have operated a 720B on the route. I doubt many 727s were flown on this route in 1968.

WHBM

As well as the big three transcontinentals, American, TWA and United, a fourth nonstop operator was Continental, who had been given authority for the route when their 707 jets first came along. THe CAB typically licensed up to three operators on the main trunk routes, I can't think of another where they allowed a fourth.

Continental only had a handful of 707s when these flights started, which also included Chicago to Denver and Denver to LAX, and they operated them in a novel, highly intensive manner, where periodic maintenance checks, which traditionally required the aircraft being put in the hangar for a day or so every week, were broken down into a series of smaller tasks which were worked on in turn each night. It allowed them to schedule all their fleet every day. By 1968 though their fleet had rolled over, the original turbojet 707s had gone, and their jet flights were mainly run with 720Bs. They had also built up a substantial fleet of 707-320Cs as well, but these were principally used on military charters to Vietnam, Continental, along with Braniff and Pan Am, having been early operators of these.

You could get a Boeing on all four of the operators at the time, United had some 720s, although their DC8s shared the operation. American had both 707 and 720, but in their timetables always showed both as 707. The American Convair 990s had pretty much gone by this time, while the TWA Convair 880s were still around, but both these had tended to be used on shorter and less-significant operations.

It's a curious fact that although I've done LAX to Chicago several times eastbound over the years, I've never done so westbound. Yet.

jlemon

And here we go one more time! As always, please limit your guesses to two and no more than three quiz items per day so that all may participate. Thanks!

Let's return to the days of aviation yore and the 1960's........

1. It's 1961 and you are in Port au Prince, Haiti in the Caribbean. You need to travel to Cayenne, French Guiana in South America. You're pleased to find there is one direct flight a week from Port au Prince to Cayenne which coincides with your schedule. You'll depart PAP at 9:10 am and then arrive into CAY at 9:20 pm with five stops being made en route, Identify the airline, the equipment and all five stops in the order in which they will be made. ANSWERED

2. It's still 1961 and you are now in New York City. You've just finished up work on a project as a consultant and have been invited to visit with friends at their new beach home in Makaha on the western shore of Oahu in Hawaii. This means a flight to Honolulu is in order. You've found a very convenient departure leaving in the late morning which will arrive into HNL before 8:00 pm. This flight operates six days a week and makes three stops en route. Name the air carrier, the three stops in order and the aircraft type.

3. Now it's 1962 and you are in Chicago. A trip to Montreal is on tap for a business meeting. There's a flight offering first class which departs O'Hare in the late afternoon and arrives into Dorval by 9:00 pm. Two stops will be made and you'll be served dinner en route. Identify the airline, the two stops and the equipment.

4. You're in Mexico City and it's 1964. You need to travel to Los Angeles with a late morning arrival into LAX before noon being the best fit for your schedule. Ah, here's a flight departing MEX at 8:00 am which operates three days a week. Unfortunately, first class is not offered on this flight but what the heck...you book a seat in coach.
One stop will be made en route and you'll be served a full hot breakfast. Name the air carrier, the stop and the aircraft.

5. It's still 1964 and you are preparing to fly from Los Angeles nonstop to Chicago O'Hare on Continental. Alas, first class is sold out on the flight that fits your schedule....but the reservation agent then tells you the Boeing 707 you'll be flying on board offers three classes of service, so you won't have to travel in Economy class. What is the name of the class of service you will be in on this CO flight, what is the seating configuration in terms of the number of seats across in each row, and how many seats are there in this cabin? Seat config was 2-3 across and the name of service was Club Coach. Still looking for the total number of seats in the Club Coach cabin which was less than 40.

6. What was the name of coach class on American Airlines Astrojet aircraft in 1965?

7. A very special, high level VIP flight was operated into Page, Arizona in 1965 with a Hawker Siddeley HS-748 turboprop aircraft. Who was on board and who was the operator of the flight? Hint: this flight was not operated by an airline.

8. It's 1966 and you are in Lima, Peru. It's time to get back to business and that means a flight to New York City. You've found a flight that operates three days a week departing at 6:15 am which will get you into New York by 7:00 pm. Three stops will be made en route. You book a seat in first class. Identify the airline, the three stops in order and the equipment.

9. You've just arrived in Acapulco following a lovely sail trip up the Pacific coast from Costa Rica. An evening flight to Los Angeles has been booked and you are in first class. This service operates four days a week and two stops will be made en route. Identify the air carrier, both stops and the aircraft type.

10. In 1967, Pacific Air Lines was serving eight destinations besides Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO) with its Boeing 727-100 equipment. Name all eight destinations. ANSWERED

11. It's the summer of 1967 and you are back in Chicago. Your old sailing buddy has asked you to check out a catamaran for sale that is moored near Mobile, Alabama down on the Gulf Coast. An evening flight from O'Hare to Mobile would best fit your schedule and you find there is a daily direct dinner flight which makes two stops en route. You book a seat. Identify the airline, both stops and the equipment.

12. It's the winter of 1967 and you are once again in cold and gray New York City. Time to go see family and friends for Christmas in northern California! Now you could catch a nonstop flight from JFK to SFO....however, you're in no rush and have instead found an interesting multi-stop flight departing just after 2:00 pm which will arrive into San Francisco just after 10:00 pm. Five stops will be made en route and first class is available. Name the airport you will depart from in the NYC area, the airline, all five stops in order and the aircraft type. American with a 707 departing from JFK. This flight stopped in DAL, PHX and OAK but did not stop at DTW, ORD, STL, TUL or OKC.

13. In 1967, Channel Airways in the UK was operating new jet equipment. The air carrier also had a name for this jet which appeared on the tail of the aircraft. Identify the jet type as well as the name on the tail. ANSWERED

14. You are in Memphis in 1967 for a meeting and will need to return to the office in New York City when you complete your business. You ascertain there is a daily flight departing MEM in the morning which will get you into LaGuardia by the mid afternoon. Three stops will be made en route. You book a seat in first class. Name the air carrier, all three stops in order and the aircraft type. ANSWERED

15. Blast! Your client in Memphis has requested an additional meeting in the morning concerning the language in your new contract. So you are now re-booked on an afternoon flight from MEM to Newark Airport. This flight makes two stops en route. Identify the airline, both stops and the equipment. ANSWERED

16. In 1968, this U.S. based local service air carrier used the following marketing slogan: "The Airline with a Heart". Name this air carrier. ANSWERED

17. It's the summer of 1968 and you are in Madrid. You have been requested to attend a meeting in Santiago, Chile on fairly short notice. You are in luck as there is a flight which only operates once a week that fits your schedule. You will depart Madrid at 11:45 pm and arrive into Santiago at 1:50 pm the next day. Five stops will be made en route but you'll be in first class, of course. Identify the airline, all five stops in order and the aircraft type.

18. In 1968, a UK based air carrier included this marketing message in its timetable:

"___ (airline)___ takes three steps BAC-wards! - and that's a great step forward with three new BAC One-Eleven jets"

Name this airline. ANSWERED

19. Also in 1967, National Airlines entered into a joint use agreement involving two Boeing 727-100QC aircraft owned by an air cargo airline. National operated these 727s in full passenger configuration in the daytime with the air cargo carrier then using the aircraft on weeknights for all cargo flights. The names of both air carriers appeared on these aircraft. Name the air cargo airline. ANSWERED

20. Back to 1968, an aerospace firm by the name of Unexcelled, the parent company of Aero Spacelines (the maker of the Boeing 377-based Guppy and Super Guppy outsized cargo aircraft), proposed to build a Concorde training aircraft which included the cockpit section of the Concorde with the moveable "droop" nose of the SST being mounted ahead of the flight deck on the nose of the training aircraft airframe. However, the project never came to fruition. What aircraft type was proposed as the airframe for this Concorde trainer?

The last seven quiz items all have a time line of 1969.....

21. It's time for a good, old fashioned milk run on the west coast of the U.S.! You are in Portland, Oregon, your destination is Los Angeles and your daily flight will make five stops en route from PDX to LAX. Identify the air carrier, all five stops in order and the equipment.

22. There was direct, same plane service from Paris Orly Airport to New Orleans in the spring of 1969 with this flight operating four days a week. Two stops were made en route. Who operated this service? Also identify both stops and the aircraft type. ANSWERED

23. There was also direct, same plane service from London Heathrow to Minneapolis/St. Paul at this time. One stop was made en route and the flight operated daily. Who operated this service? Also name the stop and the equipment. ANSWERED

24. It's springtime in New Orleans and you've just wound up a project assignment as a consultant. Your good friends in Makaha on the island of Oahu in Hawaii have once again invited you out for a visit with them at their lovely beach house. So you're off to Honolulu. Surprisingly, there's a direct, same plane flight from MSY to HNL which only operates once a week on Tuesdays that perfectly fits your schedule. The service makes two stops en route and a first class seat is available. Identify the air carrier, both stops and the aircraft.

25. Now it's summertime in New England and you are in Hyannis where you've been sailing with friends. You need to briefly visit the office in New York City before you return to Hyannis for more sailing. You've found a morning flight from Hyannis down to NYC which operates daily and makes one stop en route. What airline will you be flying with, where will you stop, what airport will you arrive into in New York and what kind of aircraft will you be traveling on? ANSWERED

26. You're back in Memphis for a meeting and need to travel to Knoxville for a follow up dinner meeting. There's a daily afternoon flight from MEM that will get you into TYS just after 5:30 pm which makes one stop en route. Perfect! Name the airline, the stop and the equipment.

27. What happened on March 2, 1969? ANSWERED

KT550

Before we all get stuck in to jlemon's new set of questions, thanks for all your short jet flight reminiscences.
I think it's true to say they are not as common as they once were. The Alaska Airlines milk run stands out as being one that continues.


I was surprised to see that Vancouver to Victoria still has jet service (again) - Air North flying a 737 (in addition to other airlines flying DHC-8-400 and Beech 1900).
Sunwing also fly the route with a 737-800 on the way to Mexico, though their website wouldn't sell me a ticket, so perhaps local traffic is not permitted.

jrl767

16- Lake Central Airlines ... I have an old black-and-white pic of one of their Convair 580s at DCA, featuring what was a red tail with a big white heart on it

found this color pic of a LC Nord 262 in "heart" livery on The Soaring Eagles of USAir

jrl767

I couldn't figure out where Braniff would have made a third stop, so I'll say this was American ... operating a Lockheed Electra that stopped in Louisville (SDF), Cincinnati (CVG), and Pittsburgh (PIT)
the two-stopper was most likely Braniff, operating a 727 via Nashville (BNA) and Washington National (DCA)

jlemon

16. Correct!

jlemon

14. Yep, it was indeed American operating an L-188 Electra. However, this flight did not stop in Louisville or Pittsburgh, although it did stop in Cincinnati - but CVG wasn't the second stop.

15. Nope, it wasn't Braniff International and the aircraft wasn't a B727-100. On the plus side of the column, the first stop was Nashville. However, the second stop wasn't made at Washington National.

teddybear99

No it was not a chartered flight, the reason I said either SAN or DEN was because they were the only trips I would do to either go skiing with the family or visit my family in La Jolla, CA. I could have flown to another city and connected, but I have only the memories of being in an upstairs lounge seeing Pong for the first time. My parents bought the home version after we moved here to South Florida.

Toshbaf

Interesting questions that I will have to watch from the sidelines for most due to no clue of what to answer. #5 will be watched with interest because that is similar to a question I just asked before starting this round!

13. BAC One Eleven with the tail livery of "Continental Golden Jet". It was a weird and intentional copy of Continental Airlines! Somewhat similar to United Airlines copying Continental but, in that case, was due to a takeover of the company.

27. First flight of the Concorde. I wouldn't have known this until I saw some stories of the Concorde being 50 years old this month. Unfortunately, unlike the 747's 50th anniversary, the 50 year anniversary is not as happy as the plane is no longer flying.