jlemon

Excellent information as always from WHBM! Many thanks, sir!

Seat 2A

Welcome back, Tony! I always think of you when I put in any Hawaii referenced question so it's good to see you back again.

As to those Wake Island flights, Pan American is indeed correct and WHBM has done a fine job of adding color commentary to the overall answer. I don't have that schedule with me right now or I'd be happy to post it. I do recall that the flight definitely continued from Wake Island to Guam, though after that I was thinking Hong Kong...

As to the DC-10s in question 9, Hawaiian Air was not the other carrier per the schedule I was using. Please guess again!

jrl22, you are indeed correct about TAESA operating the 737s on the TIJ-GDL run. My one flight on TAESA came in May 1994 between Mexico City and Tijuana. The aircraft was a 737-500 wearing the blue and green livery of Noroeste.

jlemon

Ask and ye shall receive.....

From the Pan American World Airways June 1, 1969 system timetable....

PA 841: Dep. SFO 2145, Arr. HNL 2345; Dep. HNL 0130, Arr. AWK 0410; Dep. AWK 0450, Arr. GUM 0600; Dep. GUM 0700, Arr. SGN 1005

Op: SFO-HNL Daily, HNL-SGN Tuesdays and Fridays only

Equip: 707 (F/Y classes of service)

PA 842 followed the same route in reverse eastbound from Saigon to San Francisco via Guam, Wake Island and Honolulu twice a week, although arrival and departure times at AWK were slightly different on each of the two days that the flight operated on......

jlemon

6. Let's go with Southwest (WN) with B737-200 and B737-300 equipment.

8. Hmmmmm.....I believe that Sun Country (SY) operated B737-800 flights into BHC at one point.....but I'm going to go with Reno Air (QQ) with MD-80 service on a BHC-SJC routing.

9. Well Seat 2A, you've definitely got me scratching my head on this one! I know that Hawaiian (HA) was operating DC-10 equipment on the HNL-SFO route by November of 1994......so the only other air carrier I can think of is an obscure airline by the name of Leisure Air (LB).

tonywestsider

Mahalo jlemon and Seat 2A for the welcome back! Far away travels took me to interesting places like PRG and my first RTW trip this year. I will elaborate further in another post if you are curious.

I will concur with jlemon's answer regarding question 9. The other carrier operating DC-10s between SFO and HNL was Leisure Air, operating former UA equipment. I will also agree that in late 1994 and for sure by Spring of 1995, HA was operating DC-10s on that route.

BTW, a bit of other history recall on PA service to Wake Island. Around 1957, PA operated the zenith of its piston powered aircraft fleet, using the Boeing 377 "Super" Strato Clipper from SFO-HNL-AWK-TYO-MNL. Another 377 was used from LAX-HNL-AWK-GUM-MNL. Both routes continued on from MNL with a change of aircraft using a Douglas DC Super 6 Clipper, going to the Middle East or Europe and then change equipment again to a Douglas DC Super 7 Clipper for TATL service, thereby making both routes originating in LAX or SFO, round the world routes ending in New York or Philadelphia. The 1957 PA timetable also shows both DC aircraft used as equipment change either in Asia, Middle East or Europe. The 377 Super Strato Clippers always stayed in TPAC service. Here is the 1957 PA timetable for those routes:

http://timetableimages.com/ttimages/pa/pa57/pa57-03.jpg

Seat 2A

After three straight days of sunshine in southern Portugal, I've awoken to clouds and rain here in Glasgow, Scotland. In a couple of hours I'll be riding the train out to Fort William. This is part of the spectacular West Highland Line and while it would be preferable enjoy this ride on a sunny day, I'll have another chance on the return trip in a couple of days.

Thanks also to tonywestsider for the detail on Pan Am's 377 operations!

jlemon

Wild guess time......

VIASA perhaps operating in conjunction with KLM. Routing may have been CCS-CUR-KIN-MIA......

Seat 2A

WHBM

Nobody will believe that KLM had a Convair 880, without photographic evidence, so here it is.

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgur...ed=0CEUQ9QEwBQ

It was, of course, a Viasa aircraft, notice the Venezuelan registration YV-C-VIC, and that all the photos of it on the web as a KLM aircraft show the starboard side only. KLM and Viasa had various joint aircraft operating arrangements (KLM had a minority interest in Viasa and showed many Viasa flights in the KLM timetable), and in a number of cases painted aircraft up this way, the owner on the port side and the borrower on the starboard. KLM had ordered a couple of DC9s for their Caribbean network but with the delivery difficulties that Douglas got into at this time they were late, so KLM leased a Viasa Cv880 to cover Caribbean routes, principally from Curacao to Miami, as in the example stopping in Jamaica. Flight crew were Viasa, cabin crew from the KLM Curacao base. The actual operator from Curacao was ALM, which KLM also had a majority share in, and in truth did most of the management, until 1969.

There were also KLM DC8s painted this 50/50 way. There was once an off-route KLM football supporters' charter from Amsterdam to Liverpool UK which used such a DC8; probably the only time that a Viasa livery ever appeared in Liverpool.

S2A, I guess you are not in balmy Caribbean weather at the moment though .......

jlemon

Further to WHBM's incisive and terrific commentary above, here are flight schedules taken from a Viasa timetable back in 1967 listing the service operated with KLM flight numbers that we have been discussing.....

KL 975: CUR-KIN-MIA
Op: Mondays only
Equip: CV-880

KL 920: CCS-CUR-(KL 975)-KIN-MIA
Op: Wednesdays only
Equip: CV-880
Note: Flt. number change at CUR

KL 982: CCS-AUA-(KL 973)-KIN-MIA
Op: Fridays only
Equip: CV-880
Note: Flt. number change at AUA

And there was also this flight listed in this section of the Viasa timetable.....

KL 916: CCS-AUA-(KL 993)-JFK
Op: Sundays only
Equip: CV-880
Note: Flt. number change at AUA

All of the other services listed in this particular Viasa timetable section are also shown as being operated with KL flight numbers but with DC-8 equipment instead of the Convair 880.....

Icecat

8. This airline offered the only daily jet service into the airport serving Bullhead City, Arizona/Laughlin, Nevada. Identify the airline and the aircraft used.

I believe it was Morris Air with a 733 from SLC in the first half of 1994, and it was terminated when Southwest took over in July of that year.

Seat 2A

Right on, Icecat! Morris Air it was with a 733 out of SLC. The circumstances surrounding my sole flight on Morris Air were... well, here's what happened:

Back in 1992, while riding Amtrak's Desert Wind between Los Angeles and Denver, I decided to take advantage of the longer station stop in Las Vegas to head into the station and buy a six pack of beer. Although we were just a few minutes behind schedule, Las Vegas was a service stop where garbage was emptied, ice and food restocked, etc. The schedule indicated a fifteen minute stop to accomplish these things. At that time, the Las Vegas train station was located in the Union Plaza Hotel, and just off the hotel lobby was a small liquor store. The idea here was to save money. With another twenty-six hours of train travel ahead of me, I’d require at least four to six beers, Why pay $4.50 per beer plus tip when I could just buy a six pack for so much less? The potential savings were too good to ignore and so I bought a six pack of Sam Adams for about $8.00. With a few minutes still to spare, I decided it’d be a good idea to pick up some ice because I can’t abide warm beer. An ice machine was located up on the second floor of the hotel and once I’d filled up my small plastic shopping bag, I headed back down to the train.

By my reckoning, I arrived back at the station with about three minutes to spare. Imagine then my surprise and dismay upon walking out onto the platform to see the end of the train heading down the tracks about one hundred yards away. The big steel mesh gate leading to the tracks was closed and locked, so any fantasies I had of dramatically chasing down the train with my bag of beer were quickly squelched. It was later explained to me that because the train was running behind schedule, the normal fifteen-minute service stop was accelerated a bit. Fair enough. I’d gambled and lost. Both my backpack and my daypack were onboard the train as well, but on a positive note I did have that bag of ice cold Sam Adams with me.

Beer or no beer, I’ve never been one to panic in these kinds of situations. Things are as they are and they only way out is to move forward. Calmly. There had to be a way to catch up with that train somewhere between Vegas and Denver. I had twenty-six hours.

From Las Vegas, the Desert Wind headed northeast up to Salt Lake City, arriving at about 5:00am. I quickly discovered that I wouldn’t be able to use Greyhound to catch it anywhere in between because the train did not parallel the highway but rather took the rural route – out in the middle of the desert. Next I started looking into flying to Denver on one of those air-only specials offered by the package tour companies when I stumbled across Morris Air’s ad in the Yellow Pages. I’d totally forgotten about them! Ten minutes later, I was booked on Morris Air’s 10:00pm nonstop to Salt Lake. Total cost: $49.00.

A shuttle van to Las Vegas’ McCarran Airport only cost me about $5.00. However, because my flight didn’t arrive in Salt Lake City until a little after midnight, there were no scheduled bus or van services offered downtown. As a result, I had to shell out about $20.00 for a taxi. Then, because the train didn’t arrive until 5:00am and the station was closed until about 4:30, I spent about three hours and another $7.00 hanging out in a nearby Denny’s on South Temple Street.

Now let’s do the math.

Had I bought six premium beers on the train and tipped accordingly, I would have paid about $30.00.

Instead, in an effort to save money, I paid the following amounts for my six pack:

Six Pack of Sam Adams: $8.00
Shuttle to the Airport: $5.00
Flight from LAS to SLC: $49.00
Taxi to downtown SLC: $20.00
Hanging out in Denny’s: $7.00
The Overall Experience: Priceless

At $89.00, that six-pack of Sam Adams remains by far the most expensive beer purchase I have ever made.

BTW, the Morris Air flight was operated with a 737-200 bearing the livery of Sierra Pacific Airlines.

jrl767

now THAT is a classic!

Seat 2A

Good morning all. I recently completed my first flight aboard an A380 - in First Class no less - and am now ready to cross the 787 off my list. Until then, let's get back on topic and address the one partially answered question left over from my most recent batch... If necessary I'll check back with the answer tomorrow morning.

5. Everybody knows American and United operated nonstop flights between Chicago O’Hare and Miami. Identify the two airlines and their respective equipment that offered nonstop flights between Chicago Midway and Miami.

ATA has been correctly noted as one of the airlines, operating a 727-200. Hint: The other airline did not operate Boeing equipment...

WHBM

I suppose our only question to S2A is were his belongings all still in place when he caught up with them ! In passing, I would say I've seen the Swiss railways completely restock the restaurant car from wheeled containers, plus take the locomotive off one end and attach another at the opposite end as the train reverses direction mid-journey, at Lucerne, in probably less than three minutes. Spectacular. It too was late. You may think that Swiss trains are never late, but this one had come through from Italy, enough said.

WHBM is currently in just-above-freezing, grey, rainy Central Finland, and we had our own separate little adventure getting here, which doubtless belongs in Trip Reports sometime. At least Ryanair was not so bad this time. Not a single old aircraft to be seen here, unfortunately, although the terminal was certainly not the height of modernity. In fact, on arrival our 737 was the only aircraft in the entire airport. Yes, one of those places .......