jlemon

As it now appears very likely that we will have to deal with a tropical weather system here in southern Louisiana within a few days and need time to prepare, I'm going to go ahead and issue a last call for these two. Should there be no takers, I'll provide the answers tomorrow afternoon.

BTW, the main threat posed by what may become Tropical Storm Barry will be extremely heavy rainfall, possibly up to two feet in some locations. This situation may directly translate into very severe flooding somewhere in our region with one respected weatherman commenting this evening that such flooding may reach historic dimensions. At the present time, computer models indicate the heaviest tropical rainfall will be east of us.....but these models continue to change and we simply will not know the actual storm track until this weather system becomes better organized with the USAF Reserve then initiating weather recon missions with their WC-130J "Hurricane Hunter" aircraft in order to provide the best forecast data possible. As some of you know, our home flooded back in August 2016.....and this developing tropical threat may result in even heavier rainfall than what we experienced back then. So please wish us good luck!

Toshbaf

23. In 1977, this U.S. based air carrier announced its intention to acquire four new McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft which would have been a new type in their fleet. However, these MD-80s were never delivered to the airline in question. Identify this air carrier.

I still have Hughes Airwest on the brain, having answered LAX-SDF-BNA by Hughes Airwest and also answered the Super Banana. Since Hughes Airwest wasn't the answer, I'll go with their brother, Southern Airways, who merged with North Central around 1980 and, soon afterwards, acquired Hughes Airwest.

The DC-9-80 wasn't delivered to Southern because the airline already merged by the time the plane was ready and also because of a labor dispute with pilots. Not sure of all the details. The DC-9-80 order is foggy in my mind so it's possible that the letter of intent for 4 DC-9-80's was another carrier, like North Central but my answer is....

Southern Airways

jlemon

23. Yep, it was Southern which announced in 1977 they would acquire four new MD-80 aircraft and would also acquire two additional MD-80s scheduled to come off leases in 1979. Of course, SO never operated the MD-80 and subsequently merged with NC to form RC.

jlemon

Time to close this one out. It was Republic's "Celebrity Service". Here's the RC print ad.....

RCwevepulledoutallthestops

BTW, it now appears that Hurricane Barry will make landfall in south central Louisiana this Saturday and then pass just west of Lafayette. If this indeed happens, it means we will be on the "dirty" side of the storm with rainfall of possibly 10 to 15 inches with a severe flood threat. Or it could roll right over the top of us or perhaps just east of us. We shall see.

And now back to storm preparations in earnest here.

WHBM

Can this be correct ? The first MD-80 prototype did not fly until mid 1979, and the first delivery, to Swissair, was in September 1980.

jlemon

Well, according to the 1977 Southern Airways annual report, it is. However, the same section of the report subsequently mentions they would also be acquiring additional used DC-9 equipment. So it appears they should have said DC-9 rather than referring to the MD-80 concerning the aircraft coming off leases in 1979.

Wouldn't be the first time somebody screwed up an annual report......

jrl767

WHBM

There's a "BEA" A319 as well


The "BOAC" 747 was on stand at Heathrow as we taxied past a couple of months ago. Notable how many (older) passengers at the windows on that side noticed it and commented on it.

OskiBear

Rounding this out, here's the BA 744 (G-BNLY) in Landor livery. Spotted this last month upon arrival at LHR (6/15/2019)

Seat 2A

Thanks for the photos, boys! The BOAC Speedbird livery is my personal favorite. I first saw that plane parked at SFO back in early March.

Alright then - ready for a new batch of questions? I've got a few here that will hopefully pique your memory banks. Before I post them however, I'd like to take a moment to wish jlemon, his friends and family a safe passage through the potential ravages of Tropical Storm Barry. Here's hoping Sunday morning dawns bright and beautiful with the water no higher than the fence line out at the edge of Bella's World. Stay well, safe and dry JL ^

As for the questions, the usual participatory parameters still apply. Please, answer no more than two at a time and no more than three per day in the hopes that all who so desire might have a reasonable chance to participate. I'll be available to respond to your answers in the mornings and then the late evenings after I get home from work, dinner and the occasional socializing. By the way, my earlier offer to any female participants of dinner and a stirring evening discussing past airline schedules remains on the table, though as yet no one has accepted it. Could it be we have no female participants? Or might they prefer to discuss airline service standards or fleet maintenance protocols? In any event, I'll close by wishing you men good luck. Let the next round of questions begin!

1. (1983) Heat and humidity notwithstanding, you’ve had a great week visiting your in-laws in New Orleans. Even so, you’re looking forward to returning to the comparatively more comfortable climate back home in Edmonton, Alberta. However, you’re definitely not looking forward to the two connections and the delayed flight you endured on the flights down to MSY. Imagine then your surprise and delight to discover that there’s a direct flight from New Orleans all the way up to Edmonton. It makes four stops, but so what? At least you won’t have to worry about those darned connections. Please identify the usual triumvirate intrinsic to a correct answer here: Airline * Enroute Stops* Aircraft

2. (1982) Life in Helena, Montana is pretty nice but when it comes to flying out of town, the options are severely limited. And expensive. As fate would have it, your wife needs to help care for her mother who’s recently broken her hip in a fall. Mother B. lives in Fargo, North Dakota. A call to your travel agent reveals that there are a variety of connections available – some with long layovers – or there’s a four-stop direct flight – on a jet no less – that will get into Fargo in the mid-afternoon. After a missed connection last year that robbed the family of a day in the Caribbean, your wife opts for the four stopper. Identify the airline, aircraft and the four stops in order that she’ll be flying.

3. (1987) Passengers flying between Cork, Ireland and London, England have a choice of three BAC-111 operators, each operating the little British twinjet into a different London area airport (LHR, LGW or LTN). Can you identify each of the three airlines and match it up with the corresponding airport?
A N S W E R E D

4. (1983) Your job as an airport police officer at Evansville, Indiana has you more familiar than most with the airlines and aircraft types that serve EVV. Lately, the only jets you ever see at EVV are DC-9s from Eastern and US Air. Eastern used to fly 727s into EVV but it’s been a while since any of those were scheduled through here. Imagine then your surprise to see a new jet aircraft type (Not a McDonnell-Douglas) operating with a different airline than EA or AL. The airplane overnights in Evansville before returning to the airport from whence it originated the next morning. Identify the airline, the aircraft and the city it flies into EVV from.

5. (1958) It’s autumn of 1958 and you’re excited to be making your first trans-continental trip. Your flight will depart from Hartford’s Bradley International Airport and make three stops enroute to your destination at Oakland International Airport, conveniently located just four miles from your uncle’s house in San Leandro. Identify the airline, the aircraft and the three enroute stops you’ll make.

6. (1988) You and your wife have just settled into the plush First Class seats of a big, beautiful Lockheed L-1011 and are savoring the first sips of your pre-flight Bloody Marys. Looking out your window, you can’t help but admire the impressive lineup of 747 freighters parked at Anchorage International Airport. Still, in your eyes, Lockheed’s big bird – the only one flying out of Anchorage – is the most beautiful airplane on the tarmac. Can you identify the airline you’re flying on and the destination of your flight?

7. (1982) Three airlines operate a single daily nonstop flight between Kansas City and Las Vegas. Each airline operates a different aircraft type – one with 2 engines, one with 3 engines and one with 4 engines. Identify each airline and the aircraft it operates on this route.

8. (1982) The Canadian rock band Rush is playing next weekend in Calgary and you’re excited to have scored two fourth row tickets to the concert. Although there are no nonstop flights between your home airport in Portland, Oregon and Calgary, you figure you’ll fly up to Vancouver and connect to Calgary from there. Alas, you can’t find anything but First Class seats between YVR and YYC. No way, man… that’s too much money. Hmm… what’s this? Well how ‘bout that?! There’s a daily three stop direct flight between Portland and Calgary that has two seats available at a fairly reasonable fare. Identify the airline, aircraft and the three enroute stops.

9. (1983) Per the 1983 OAG I referenced for these questions, what is Aspen Airways’ longest flight? Identify the city pair and the aircraft type operated, please.

10. (1987) You’ve got business in Dallas, Texas and because you successfully negotiated a multi-million dollar contract for the company last month, the boss has opted to reward you with – amongst other things – a First Class ticket from London to Dallas and back. The offer is somewhat bittersweet in that you’ve always wanted to fly in First Class aboard a 747 and since Braniff no longer operates its bright orange 747s on this route, you’re stuck with a DC-10 via the other airline(s) that fly LGW to DFW. Not so fast says the company travel agent. There is one airline that operates a single once weekly 747 between LGW and DFW. First Class is available. Book it, Danno! Identify the airline you’ll be flying, please.

11. (1988) You’ve just received an invitation from an old business partner to join him and a couple of associates for a weekend of golf and networking at Las Vegas’ Showboat Country Club. Well… why the heck not?! Especially since a hurricane is bearing down on the Florida Keys and the weather in Miami projects to be less than desirable over the next few days. A quick check of the schedules indicates that the MIA-LAS market is served via a single direct one stop flight that’ll get you into Las Vegas in the early afternoon, just in time for a nine hole warm up round followed by a round of cocktails and dinner. You quickly book a First Class seat and call your partner back to relay your arrival time. Please identify the airline, aircraft and the enroute stop.

12. (1961) You’ve been wanting to take your wife on vacation to Portugal for years. Now that a new two-stop direct jet flight has become available between Miami and Lisbon, what’s stopping you? Why, nothing, Senhor! Please identify the airline, the two enroute stops and of course the aircraft type to be flown.

13. (1982) Back in 1982, passengers desiring nonstop jet flights between Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport and San Antonio had a choice of three airlines. One of them was of course Southwest. Please identify the other two airlines and the aircraft type each operated on this route.

14. (1983) You’ve just received a call from an old college buddy to see if you and your better half would care to join him and his girlfriend on a short three-night pleasure cruise to Miami departing Montego Bay, Jamaica this coming Saturday night. Well, sure! Let’s check the schedules. Hmm… There are no nonstops from Logan down to Montego Bay, but one airline offers a single daily direct flight that makes two enroute stops. Identify all the usual qualifiers, please.

15. (1987) You’ve just received a call from your uncle who lives in the southwest London district of Battersea. He’s managed to get ahold of tickets for this week’s semifinals at Wimbledon and was curious if you’d care to join him and your aunt to watch the matches. Would you ever! The closest airport to your home in Potomac Falls, Virginia is Dulles International. Unfortunately, the only seats to be had from IAD to any London airport are only available in either First or Business Class – too steep for your budget right now. What about Baltimore? You are surprised to find that only one airline serves London from Baltimore with a single daily departure. Thankfully, it has economy class seats available into Gatwick. Identify the airline and the aircraft you’ll be flying.
A N S W E R E D

16. (1988) It’s not often that business calls for you to travel from your home office outside Atlanta, Georgia to the far-flung regional office in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. When it did recently, you were pleased to discover a two-stop direct flight from Atlanta that would put you into Sioux Falls early in the afternoon. You quickly book it and make a note to pack a sandwich since no meals will be offered enroute. Name the airline, the two intermediate stops and the aircraft type you’ll be flying.

17. (1983) You’ve got a breakfast meeting with a new client scheduled for Wednesday morning up in Austin. It’s a bit far to drive from your office in McAllen, Texas but thankfully there’s a direct morning flight that’ll get you into Austin at 8:25am. Two stops are made enroute but at least the flight is operated with a spacious jet rather than a small prop. Identify the airline, the stops and the aircraft type.

18. (1982) Identify the only two U.S. airlines that in 1982 operated scheduled flights aboard their wide-bodied jets in an all-economy class configuration. Additionally, identify the type of wide-body each airline flew.

19. (1987) You need to fly from Brussels, Belgium into London’s Luton Airport. Not surprisingly, only one airline offers flights on the BRU-LTN route with two mostly daily flights (X67) and a single Friday night only departure. You quickly book a seat aboard the Friday night departure. Identify the airline and jet aircraft type you’ll be flying upon.

20. (1983) You need to fly from Baton Rouge, Louisiana up to Virginia next week. Since your appointment is out near Dulles, IAD will be your airport of choice. Surely this is gonna involve a connection somewhere along the way. What’s that old saying… “When I die and go to heaven, I’ll probably have to connect in Atlanta”. Dulles is hardly heavenly, but you look skyward and say a small prayer upon discovering that there’s a three stop direct flight that departs Baton Rouge every morning at 7:43am. Identify the airline, the three enroute stops and the aircraft type.

21. (1988) You need to fly from Seattle to New York, but since your brother lives in Flushing Meadows, the best airport for you to fly into is New York’s LaGuardia. Unfortunately there are no nonstops between Seattle and LGA. In fact, all of the airlines – with one exception – serve either JFK or EWR with either nonstop or direct flights. The one exception that serves LGA makes two stops enroute. Hmm… Well, at least you won’t be faced with any long layovers or potentially missed flights. Plus, the flight offers a couple of snacks enroute. Book it, Danno! Airline, stops and aircraft please!

22. (1982) In 1982, only one airline operated a turboprop nonstop from the U.S. mainland to the far reaches (over 1000 miles from the U.S. mainland) of the West Indies. The flight operated twice weekly and continued on to another island where it overnighted before returning to the U.S. the next day. Identify the airline, the U.S. gateway airport, the two destination airports s and the aircraft type.

23. (1983) Jets are wonderful inventions, but you’ve fond memories of your many flights aboard propeller driven aircraft such as the DC-6, Lockheed Electra and Vickers Viscount. You especially miss the large windows on airplanes like the Viscount, Convair 580 and Electra. Imagine then your surprise and delight to discover that in 1983 it’s still possible to fly all the way from Philadelphia to Chicago aboard a turboprop from the 1950s. The flight doesn’t operate nonstop of course – two enroute stops are made – but hey, so much the better as you’ll have that much more time to enjoy the experience enroute. Identify the airline, the aircraft and the two enroute stops.

24. (1987) After forgetting your 43rd wedding anniversary last week, you’ve decided to make it up to your beloved by taking her on a surprise weekend trip to Innsbruck. You call British Airways to book reservations. Whaaat? BA doesn’t fly to Innsbruck?! The BA agent helpfully suggests you call a different airline which offers the only nonstop service between London and Innsbruck via a single twice-weekly flight. Identify the airline and the aircraft type operated on this route.

25. (1988) What’s this? You’re driving to work through the Toronto suburbs when you spy a billboard touting Toronto’s only direct (one-stop) service to the Virgin Islands – specifically St. Thomas. Hmm... You quickly call your wife. What do you think, honey? Wanna go to the Virgin Islands next month? Right on! You quickly book a pair of seats while your wife works on the hotels. Please identify the airline, aircraft and the enroute stop, eh!

26. (1982) During the summer months nonstop service between Vancouver and Honolulu is limited to just two flights a week – one on Wednesday and one on Friday. Alas, you’re unable to fly until the weekend. Thankfully, the only other service between Vancouver and Honolulu is a 1-stop direct flight that departs Vancouver each Saturday. You quickly book a pair of First Class seats for yourself and your girlfriend. Name the airline and aircraft you’ll be flying upon as well as the enroute stop.

27. (1961) You need to fly from New Orleans to New York next week. For a variety of reasons, you’ve never much cared for Douglas airliners, so you decide to book a flight on the only airline offering service with a Boeing built jetliner. The flight makes one stop enroute. Identify the airline, the aircraft and the single enroute stop.

28. (1983) In the old days, if you wanted to fly from most anywhere in Canada to most anywhere in Texas, you had to make a connection in Chicago, Denver or New York. Since deregulation however, both nonstop and direct service is available from a variety of Canadian cities to either Dallas or Houston. Winnipeg is also a beneficiary of these new services, albeit via a daily two-stop direct flight to Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport. At least dinner and a snack are offered along the way. Identify the airline, aircraft and the two enroute stops.

29. (1987) You’ll be flying from Dubai to London next month to commence studies at the University of Greenwich at Kent. You love to fly and the Dubai to London route is served by eight international airlines operating just about every wide bodied airliner imaginable. You’ve been looking forward to a flight aboard Airbus’ 5 year old A310 and thankfully there’s a single airline that operates the only nonstop A310 service between Dubai and London’s Gatwick Airport. Identify the airline.
A N S W E R E D

30. (1988) You need to fly from Nassau in the Bahamas up to Hartford, Connecticut. To your surprise, the market is served by a single once daily direct flight that makes just one stop along the way. You quickly book yourself a First Class seat. Which airline will you be flying with? And while we’re at it, what’s the enroute stop and what type of aircraft will you be flying upon?

KT550

Emirates Airline. LGW was their first U.K. destination.

strickerj

WHBM

Here's my hunch. Heathrow would be served on one of Aer Lingus' stalwart One-Eleven 200s, more than 20 years with the airline and still going strong. They used to run from Dublin to mainland Europe, but by this time had come down to the lesser schedules.

Gatwick I think would be Dan-Air, picking up whatever odd routes they could. They had all sorts of miscellania from Gatwick, and this might be one of them.

Luton I am thinking would be an early incarnation of Ryanair, who didn't have their own jets at the time but hired them in. A number were from Tarom of Romania, operated by Romanian pilots but with Irish cabin crew. They also had a (in fact the only) One-Eleven from London European, an odd operator who came and went quite quickly. But these would be badged as Ryanair.

Alas, I must report that the U of Greenwich https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Greenwich did not exist until 1992, and furthermore is not in Kent, but in Inner London. How do I know this ? Written as one of its former alumni (1989-92) where I got my MBA. Indeed we started when it was Thames Polytechnic, but ended up rebadged as a university. Their business school was then in Wapping, near Tower Bridge, an old converted dockside industrial building. It's been converted again now, and is a block of expensive apartments. Meanwhile, if you ever visit Greenwich the splendid old Naval college alongside the Cutty Sark is now their main centre, probably the most architecturally spectacular campus in Britain.

The course was part time, evenings, and most of us either worked in the City of London or lived nearby. I recall one guy who visited Paris frequently. This was in the early days of also nearby London City airport, when Paris was served with DHC-7s by two airlines, Brymon (aligned with BA) and Eurocity Express (part of British Midland). Classes started at 6.30pm, he had been in Paris for the day, and at apparently considerable extra expense to his employers was booked back on a 5pm flight into LCY, instead of to Heathrow. He went out to CDG that evening, to find his flight was … cancelled. He was rebooked on the other carrier, but they went from a different CDG terminal, he spent more than an hour just getting between them, and walked in to class more than halfway through the evening. Needless to say his account of it all absorbed all the time in the pub afterwards.

Meanwhile, back at the question, I'll go along with the Emirates A310 as well. It must have been in this year, 1987, that I visited a business customer south of London, an Australian expat who I met up with in the car park, just as the A310 from this upstart new airline passed low overhead running in to Gatwick. I described the new airline and he told how his Australian brother had a job as a dentist in Dubai where he was "going to make a fortune". Don't know if he did, but the airline certainly achieved it. I think London was their first mainstream route. At this time Dubai's principal airline was Gulf Air, which ran quite a substantial operation from the various points into London with Tristars, but had a habit of linking two or even three points before setting off for Europe, which hacked the various rulers of the UAE who were all minority shareholders in the airline at the time, and who felt they deserved better than routing Dubai-Doha-Bahrain-London. Gulf Air didn't react sufficiently, and the rest is history. Gulf were a notably British carrier, and long had been, their fleet was even registered in Britain, including their first Tristars, until the end of the 1970s, and all the management and pilots were British expats.

Toshbaf

6. It's Delta on a Los Angeles - Anchorage - Hong Kong (Kai Tak) route. A few years later, ANC was dropped when MD-11's were delivered.

7. Very interesting question, 2, 3, 4 engines. I will try.

Ozark, McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30
TWA, Boeing 727-200
United, McDonnell Douglas DC-8-61

28. Commentary only, not an answer. There was a DFW-YYZ flight on Air Canada that, sadly, had a fire in the lavatory leading to an emergency landing in Cincinnati. Roughly half of the passengers perished. Soon afterwards, smoke detectors and a ban on lavatory smoking was put in effect. So the DFW-YYZ flight was one of the few referred to in the question but isn't the answer.

Toshbaf

When was the last time you flew on a flight with an enroute stop? Enroute stops are a common question on this thread. I haven't for years, certainly more than 10 years. It's still common on Southwest Airlines.

I have been on a connecting flight operated by the same plane on rare occasions.