cs57

1939--TWA--
5) TWA Skyclub/Skysleeper would be on DC3/DC-3 DST aircraft.
6) TWA westbound service from New York (Newark) to Los Angeles was three stops--PIT/Chicago/ABQ.


I wish all a great and happy 2013!

Seat 2A

1939... This sounds like Star Airlines - I believe they were the largest airline in Alaska at that time and ultimately went on to become Alaska Airlines.

I wish you all a very happy, healthy and adventurous new year!

Click HERE for a few celebratory fireworks

WHBM

New Year is here, from a grey and gloomy London. Well, it is January. Oh, for the days of our Lawnmower Reports .....

Two out of the three, cs57. The third stop was somewhere different. As a clue, think of TWA's main technical base.

Sorry Seat2A, but it wasn't Star, who I believe were centred on Anchorage and operated generally lighter aircraft carrying mails etc. This service was with mainstream airliners (still something of a novelty in Alaska at that time) and didn't serve Anchorage. Another clue, think of another operator to Fairbanks who we have covered previously in the thread - and their background.

jlemon

Happy New Year, Everyone!

And, indeed, we did take a holiday break which involved my fiancee and yours truly flying nonstop on Southwest from New Orleans to LAX on Christmas Day (which involved a very turbulent departure shortly before a formidable squall line with severe weather affected the airfield - the MSY area was under a tornado watch at the time) and then taking the Amtrak "Coast Starlight" train the next day from L.A. Union Station to San Luis Obispo. This railway route has over 100 miles of track mostly located immediately adjacent to the Pacific Ocean from Ventura to Santa Barbara and then up through Vandenberg Air Force Base. After checking into a lovely hotel situated on sea cliffs overlooking the ocean in Shell Beach, we made our way to various wineries in the Paso Robles area during the next several days. Then it was back on the train, this time the "Pacific Surfliner" in biz class, for the return journey to L.A. and our Southwest B737-700 LAX-MSY nonstop flight followed by a two hour drive from MSY to LFT and home via the I-10 freeway. Our holiday marked the first time I've flown on Southwest in over 15 years and it was interesting to see how WN's boarding process has evolved over that time......as were the repeated attempts to air start the 73G at LAX due to a perceived APU problem!

And now to business:

6) I believe this TWA transcon route was New York - Chicago (Midway) - Kansas City - Albuquerque - Los Angeles.

8) I think this is Pacific Alaska Airways and there may have also been a stop in Whitehorse in the Yukon between Juneau and Fairbanks. As for equipment, I believe the service was flown with a Lockheed Electra (the original twin engine piston aircraft) or with a Lockheed Lodestar. I also think this air carrier may have been affiliated with Pan American (PA) at the time....

And as for the Lawnmower Report, that update will be delayed, I think, for about two more months!

miniliq

And a Happy New Year from another Old-Timer who took a long Christmas break! Drove to IAH, then a UA 787 Dreamliner IAH-LAX, UA 747-400 LAX-SYD, 13-day cruise on Celebrity Solstice around New Zealand; Christmas in SYD; TG 777-400 SYD-BKK, SQ 777-400 BKK-SIN, 6 days in SIN; then SIN-FRA-IAH on LH Airbus 380-800. Total air miles just over 26,000, all in F/J. Great trip, and glad to be almost home, although unhappy with the cold weather.

After we drive back to MSY in a couple days, I'll have access to my OAGs and perhaps be able to get back into the swing of things. Meanwhile, based on some online research, I'll take a stab at your question #2 -- was it Croydon and Heston, with service provided by Air Dispatch, Ltd., operating as Inner Circle Air Lines (presumably the "Inner Circle" referred to the fact that the service also included Gatwick and Hatfield), using De Havilland Dragons?

jlemon

9) South African Airways was operating from Johannesburg to Durban and Cape Town; what aircraft type was their principal one in 1939 ?

Perhaps the main type operated by SAA at this time was the Junkers Ju 52?

Although I believe that South African also operated the Airspeed AS.6 Envoy as well back then.....

jlemon

Hey miniliq! Welcome home to cold, gray Looziana! And that certainly sounds like one heck of a trip around the world!

When you have a chance, it would be great to hear about your experience on board the Lufthansa A380. I may be flying on LH IAH-FRA r/t later this year on the A380 and would like your opinion with regard to whether it's worth the miles to upgrade to F or J on the big Airbus.....

miniliq

I'll be glad to share my opinion, but since this is off-topic for the quiz, out of courtesy to the others I'll PM a reply.

Seat 2A

Howdy gang! It's a nice warm morning here in the Fairbanks area, and as good a time as any to drop off these last two questions from my earlier set. Both were taken from the March 15, 1974 edition of the OAG: (If they remain unanswered by tomorrow evening, I'll go ahead and post the answers)

1. Name the four airlines and their respective aircraft operating nonstop service between Montego Bay and New York.

1. Pan Am (707)
2. Air Jamaica (DC-8)
3. Eastern (727-100)
4. BOAC (VC10)

12. This airline offered the only nonstop service between the Mainland and Hawaii that did not include a First Class cabin. Name the airline, its aircraft and the routes it flew between the mainland and Hawaii on these all coach flights.

12. Western flew 707s and 720Bs to Honolulu from

ANC (247)
LAX (Daily)
MSP (6)
SAN (Daily)
SJC(127)
OAK(X127)
SFO (Daily)
Hilo from LAX


By the way, kudos to jlemon for correctly answering that AeroMexico would be the airline to call for those desiring to fly nonstop from La Paz, Mexico to Los Angeles in 1974.

Finally, welcome home, miniliq! I hope you and Mrs. M had a great trip and a good time aboard United's First Class. I look forward to joining the "I've flown the 787" Club later this month, having just booked a flight aboard United's 787 for just $68.80. That'll be part of a larger trip involving 26 flights aboard 6 airlines and five thousand miles of train travel around America. I leave a week from today and will henceforth be pretty scarce until I post a picture or two over at the trip reports forum.

WHBM

Quite so, JL, the British 'establishment' aircraft manufacturers were appalled that South African Airways went off and bought no less than 16 Junkers 52 (20 seats), and 18 of the somwhat smaller Junkers 86 (11 seats). Looking at the 1939 timetable, goodness knows what they did with them all. All of them were given names of various prominent South African personalities. Their routes at that time covered just SA itself with a couple of salients into adjacent territories.

There can't be many threads on FlyerTalk which have the A380 and the Airspeed Envoy covered in consecutive posts ! The Envoy (6 seats) was a little-known wooden-built (in Portsmouth, England) twin engined commuter aircraft with however a surprising turn of speed. Airspeed put together about 60 of them in 1935-39, and probably thought they had done quite well to do so over the years. Along came WW2 and the RAF adopted it as their basic multi-engined trainer - and had them build nearly 9,000 of them ! The RAF called it the Oxford. However, the four Envoys sold to SAA were moved on to the SA Air Force in 1938 when the Junkers arrived, so were gone before our date. They had only lasted about 18 months in airline service. Timber-framed aircraft never do too well in tropical climates (although structural repairs just need a saw and a hammer), the all-metal Junkers would have been a significant advance. A number of the RAF's timber aircraft like the Oxford, sent to the tropics in WW2, were damaged beyond repair due to being chewed through by termites !

Regarding the Junkers 52, Lufthansa still have one flying as a museum piece and PR prop, occasionally it comes over to the UK, and when it has visited London a couple of times they operate it from, of all places, London City airport ! Some may be aware we live right by there, and it is decidedly strange to have seen it in there. It makes quite a noise on takeoff, but gets off in about a quarter of the notably short runway there.

WHBM

Sorry it's getting done a bit at a time.

Yes, Pacific Alaska was the carrier from Juneau to Fairbanks, and on to those northern Alaskan points. They were indeed a Pan Am subsidiary. The flights in 1939 connected with the steamer which took 3/4 days from Seattle to Juneau, this must have been beyond aircraft range at the time. The next summer, 1940, Pan Am had sent a Sikorski S-42 flying boat over to do the Seattle to Juneau link, which it achieved well within a day, must have made quite a change. It's the background to Pan Am's later service, through to 707 days, from Seattle to Fairbanks.

There's a scan of the PAA timetable in question on the web as well.

http://www.timetableimages.com/ttima...39/pak39-2.jpg

jlemon

As always, most interesting and very much appreciated with regard to both the Junkers Ju 52 and Pacific Alaska!

And in addition to the Boeing 707 service that was flown by Pan Am SEA-FAI, I believe that PA also operated B747-100 service between Seattle and Fairbanks during the height of construction activities associated with the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. If memory serves me correctly, Seat 2A mentioned awhile back that Pan Am would operate this flight to and from FAI using a 747 that was also tasked to fly SEA-HNL roundtrip service......

jlemon

Good Sunday Morning All!

It's another cold, gray and wet day here in the LFT area. We've been burning quite a bit of wood in our fireplace thus far this season and stocks were beginning to run low. So I took my chainsaw out to the country yesterday and cut some more oak wood. My significant other was quite pleased with my work (she loves a good, warm fire) and if she's happy, well then, I'm happy, too!

And with that, let's get back to the quiz:

The timeline for the first four items is the late winter of 1967:

1) What airline was operating nonstop jet service between Nashville (BNA) and Tulsa (TUL)? Also identify the equipment flown. ANSWERED

2) This airline was flying nonstop jet service between El Paso (ELP) and Greater Southwest Airport (GSW) which was the airfield serving Fort Worth, TX at the time. Name the air carrier and the aircraft used. ANSWERED

3) You need to fly from Detroit (DTW) to Boston (BOS) and would like to travel on a twin engine jet. You've identified a direct flight that makes two stops en route. What airline and aircraft type would you be flying on? ANSWERED

4) This airline was flying a three stop direct service from New York (JFK) to Los Angeles (LAX). One of the stops was in San Diego (SAN). Identify the airline and equipment flown on the route. ANSWERED

5) Identify five (5) different turboprop aircraft types operated by Hawaiian Airlines (HA) in the past. ANSWERED

6) This airline purchased new Douglas DC-9s that could rapidly changed from an all passenger configuration to an all cargo configuration and back again. Name the airline and the specific DC-9 type. ANSWERED

7) This airline operated Lockheed L-188 Electra service from Whitehorse (YXY) in the Yukon in the fall of 1973. Identify the air carrier. ANSWERED

8) What airline operated Lockheed L-1049 Constellation service into Resolute (YRB) in far northern Canada? ANSWERED

9) What airline operated nonstop jet service between Chico, CA (CIC) and San Francisco (SFO) in February of 1976? Also identify the aircraft used. ANSWERED

10) What do you think is the most unique feature of the Kapalua Airport (JHM) on the island of Maui in Hawaii? However, on second thought, perhaps I should have said, "What do you think was the most unique feature of the Kapalua Airport (JHM) on the island of Maui in Hawaii?" So there's a hint for you! ANSWERED

Seat 2A

Well I'll have a go at one of your questions.

6) This airline purchased new Douglas DC-9s that could be rapidly changed from an all passenger configuration to an all cargo configuration and back again. Name the airline and the specific DC-9 type.

I always wanted to fly this airplane and, had I understood online routings a bit better back in the early 1970s - especially those between Denver and Los Angeles - I very well would have on say, a DEN-ABQ-ELP-LAX routing.

The airline is Continental and the aircraft is the DC-9-15RC. Following their service with Continental, I believe a number of these planes were sold off to Air Canada and Hughes Airwest.

jlemon

Correct! I remember seeing CO operated DC-9-15RC aircraft at IAH shortly after this airport opened. Unfortunately, I never got to fly on one, either. The closest I got to doing so was flying front cabin on a CO DC-9-30 from EWR to BTV back in the late 80's......

If I remember correctly, Continental eliminated the DC-9 from their operation only to reintroduce the type some years later following the addition of former New York Air and Texas International DC-9s into the fleet.......