Old Timer's Airline Quiz and Discussion.
Nov 6, 2014, 6:17 pm
#6317
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I wonder if anyone will know the answer to this trivia question....
What was Delta's pet name for the Boeing 727?
If I remember correctly, it was referred to as "The Harley". The JT8D engine will never be remembered for - shall we say, the tranquility of its operation. Two JT8Ds on the 737-200s and various DC-9 models that Delta operated were bad enough, but three on the 727 were positively ear-splitting!
By the way, welcome to the Old Timer's Airline and Airliner Quiz, readywhenyouare! Please feel free to submit and/or answer more questions any time. ^
What was Delta's pet name for the Boeing 727?
If I remember correctly, it was referred to as "The Harley". The JT8D engine will never be remembered for - shall we say, the tranquility of its operation. Two JT8Ds on the 737-200s and various DC-9 models that Delta operated were bad enough, but three on the 727 were positively ear-splitting!
By the way, welcome to the Old Timer's Airline and Airliner Quiz, readywhenyouare! Please feel free to submit and/or answer more questions any time. ^
Last edited by Seat 2A; Nov 6, 2014 at 6:23 pm
Nov 6, 2014, 6:38 pm
#6318
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Originally Posted by Seat 2A
49. The Boeing 720 was designed to offer increased performance on short-to-medium range routes. Per schedules published in early 1965, what was the longest route operated by the 720 within the continental United States? Which airline operated it?
HINT: Per the schedule I referenced, there were two flights operated with 720s that were longer than the JFK-SEA run. Using mileage provided by webflyer.com, I can tell you that based upon schedules published in the 1965 OAG I referenced for this question, two airlines operated scheduled 720 services over two different routes (one per airline) and each route was the exact same distance (over 2500 miles). One of the routes started in the Continental United States but ended outside of the 48 states.
So - care to have another gander at this?
HINT: Per the schedule I referenced, there were two flights operated with 720s that were longer than the JFK-SEA run. Using mileage provided by webflyer.com, I can tell you that based upon schedules published in the 1965 OAG I referenced for this question, two airlines operated scheduled 720 services over two different routes (one per airline) and each route was the exact same distance (over 2500 miles). One of the routes started in the Continental United States but ended outside of the 48 states.
So - care to have another gander at this?
P.S. You're right - I didn't give you partial credit for Northwest per your original answer (JFK-SEA) because Northwest was not the airline that operated the longest flight totally within the continental U.S. (Per the original question) I've since decided to include the NW 720 flight that operated from the U.S. to a point outside of the Continental U.S. because it's the exact same distance as the AA flight that operates within the Continental U.S.
So then - we know the airlines involved. What're the routes?
Last edited by Seat 2A; Nov 6, 2014 at 7:02 pm
Nov 6, 2014, 7:43 pm
#6319
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great circle distances from landings.com show AA's BOS-LAX route at 2603 miles and NW's PDX-HNL route at 2600 miles, so that's close enough to your "exact same distance" data point from webflyer.com
Nov 6, 2014, 8:01 pm
#6320
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Since we're looking for flights over 2500 miles, we know it wasn't Continental or Eastern or Western and I've already mentioned that it wasn't United. That leaves American and Northwest. There aren't too many transcons over 2500 miles and there aren't too many destinations outside of the Continental U.S. exceeding 2500 miles that either of these two airlines would have flown one of their 720Bs to.!
So then - we know the airlines involved. What're the routes?
So then - we know the airlines involved. What're the routes?
American flying nonstop Los Angeles (LAX) - Hartford (BDL) and Northwest flying nonstop Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) - Anchorage (ANC).
And speaking of American.....
My lady has been cleared by her doctor to travel by air so we are off to Liberia, Costa Rica tomorrow and a resort on the Pacific. Route of travel will be LFT-DFW (AA Eagle ERJ-145 in Y), DFW-MIA (AA B757-200 in F) and MIA-LIR (AA B737-800 in F).
Weather conditions permitting, we should be able to see the lights of Havana after sunset tomorrow evening as we head over Cuba while sipping on red wine up in the front cabin as we prepare for the dinner service on good old American en route to Costa Rica....
Nov 6, 2014, 11:50 pm
#6321
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Aw, c'mon J! Since we're looking for flights over 2500 miles, we know it wasn't Continental or Eastern or Western and I've already mentioned that it wasn't United. That leaves American and Northwest. There aren't too many transcons over 2500 miles and there aren't too many destinations outside of the Continental U.S. exceeding 2500 miles that either of these two airlines would have flown one of their 720Bs to.
Great circle distances from landings.com show AA's BOS-LAX route at 2603 miles and NW's PDX-HNL route at 2600 miles, so that's close enough to your "exact same distance" data point from webflyer.com
Yes!!! You done good, J! Now then, with a site as exacting as landings.com, surely you'll be fired up for this one:
What was the eighth longest 720 flight operated entirely east of the Mississippi in the third quarter of 1965?
Great circle distances from landings.com show AA's BOS-LAX route at 2603 miles and NW's PDX-HNL route at 2600 miles, so that's close enough to your "exact same distance" data point from webflyer.com
Yes!!! You done good, J! Now then, with a site as exacting as landings.com, surely you'll be fired up for this one:
What was the eighth longest 720 flight operated entirely east of the Mississippi in the third quarter of 1965?
Last edited by Seat 2A; Nov 7, 2014 at 11:14 am
Nov 7, 2014, 11:12 am
#6322
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American flying nonstop Los Angeles (LAX) - Hartford (BDL) and Northwest flying nonstop Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) - Anchorage (ANC).
That's weird - my response to you from last night must not have made it - perhaps accidently shut down in my rush to make my flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks which was boarding early. Earlier this year we pushed back from the gate at FAI 14 minutes early!
In any event, our man in Virginia has beaten you to it with AA BOS-LAX and NW PDX-HNL.
I am curious however - did NW actually operate nonstop flights between MSP and ANC back in the sixties? I was aware of NW003 out of Chicago, but not of anything out of MSP.
My lady has been cleared by her doctor to travel by air so we are off to Liberia, Costa Rica tomorrow and a resort on the Pacific. Route of travel will be LFT-DFW (AA Eagle ERJ-145 in Y), DFW-MIA (AA B757-200 in F) and MIA-LIR (AA B737-800 in F).
Weather conditions permitting, we should be able to see the lights of Havana after sunset tomorrow evening as we head over Cuba while sipping on red wine up in the front cabin as we prepare for the dinner service on good old American en route to Costa Rica....
Have a great trip! ^
That's weird - my response to you from last night must not have made it - perhaps accidently shut down in my rush to make my flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks which was boarding early. Earlier this year we pushed back from the gate at FAI 14 minutes early!
In any event, our man in Virginia has beaten you to it with AA BOS-LAX and NW PDX-HNL.
I am curious however - did NW actually operate nonstop flights between MSP and ANC back in the sixties? I was aware of NW003 out of Chicago, but not of anything out of MSP.
My lady has been cleared by her doctor to travel by air so we are off to Liberia, Costa Rica tomorrow and a resort on the Pacific. Route of travel will be LFT-DFW (AA Eagle ERJ-145 in Y), DFW-MIA (AA B757-200 in F) and MIA-LIR (AA B737-800 in F).
Weather conditions permitting, we should be able to see the lights of Havana after sunset tomorrow evening as we head over Cuba while sipping on red wine up in the front cabin as we prepare for the dinner service on good old American en route to Costa Rica....
Have a great trip! ^
Nov 8, 2014, 3:55 am
#6323
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off to Liberia, Costa Rica tomorrow and a resort on the Pacific......Weather conditions permitting, we should be able to see the lights of Havana after sunset tomorrow evening as we head over Cuba
Do enjoy the resort - can you still swim in the Pacific there at this time of year ? We went to Eilat on the Red Sea one December, Red Sea of course being always warm water ........ it was freezing, couldn't stay in for more than 30 seconds
We went for the day over to Petra in Jordan and I honestly thought it was going to snow.
AA's BOS-LAX route at 2603 miles
Nov 8, 2014, 9:54 am
#6324
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American was always coy about the fact that they had 720B's in the fleet; they showed they were 707s in their own timetables, and officially termed them as 707-023B's. They also had a very large early-delivery proper 707 fleet as well, which held down most of the transcontinental runs. The 720B was of course quite a capable aircraft, so US transcontinental was no issue for them; Lufthansa ran them from Frankfurt to as far away as Tokyo, Johannesburg and Santiago in Chile, all with intermediate stops along the way of course.
Interesting stuff as always, WHBM. In the 1965 OAG which I referenced for these question, AA's 720 flights were easy to discern as they were shown as B2Fs. Pan American also operated a few 720Bs but talk about coy - in the OAG many (if not all) of PA's flights showed up simply as "JET"
I believe the longest 720 flight flown between U.S. destinations was Western's 2,780 mile sector between Honolulu and Anchorage.
As for the longest 720 flights anywhere - Aer Lingus might be a consideration while operating its non-fan powered 720-048s nonstop between Boston and Shannon (2890 miles) or New York and Shannon (3070 miles). Then again, those 720s might also have been frequent visitors to Gander, Newfoundland. I wonder where Pan Am operated its 720s?.
.
Interesting stuff as always, WHBM. In the 1965 OAG which I referenced for these question, AA's 720 flights were easy to discern as they were shown as B2Fs. Pan American also operated a few 720Bs but talk about coy - in the OAG many (if not all) of PA's flights showed up simply as "JET"
I believe the longest 720 flight flown between U.S. destinations was Western's 2,780 mile sector between Honolulu and Anchorage.
As for the longest 720 flights anywhere - Aer Lingus might be a consideration while operating its non-fan powered 720-048s nonstop between Boston and Shannon (2890 miles) or New York and Shannon (3070 miles). Then again, those 720s might also have been frequent visitors to Gander, Newfoundland. I wonder where Pan Am operated its 720s?.
.
Last edited by Seat 2A; Nov 9, 2014 at 10:50 am
Nov 8, 2014, 5:10 pm
#6325
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As for the longest 720 flights anywhere - Aer Lingus might be a consideration while operating its non-fan powered 720-048s nonstop between Boston and Shannon (2890 miles) or New York and Shannon (3070 miles). Then again, those 720s might also have been frequent visitors to Gander, Newfoundland. I wonder where Pan Am operated its 720s?.
And regarding the Pan Am 720Bs - they are the same aircraft. Lufthansa bought more capable 707s, and sold all their 720Bs to Pan Am. The latter never bought a new 720B - they got secondhand (though almost new) ones from Western and American at first, and then bought the Lufthansa fleet in 1964-5. They lasted until 1972-3. They were based at Miami, and ran down to the Caribbean and Latin America. They were known at Pan Am as the "pocket rockets" because with their lighter weight but the same engines as the current 707s they had good field performance - the reason for buying them, of course.
Nov 9, 2014, 8:15 am
#6327
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Ah yes, I remember these Golden Wing clubs of Ansett from the late 1990s when we were setting up an office in Australia, and travelling round quite a bit with our new customers. There were just two domestic carriers of consequence, Qantas and Ansett, both of whom had very comparable networks, and major businesses in Australia aligned with either one or the other. Their Frequent Flyer schemes, and their commercial sales arrangements, were designed to facilitate this. Our main customer was entirely an Ansett business, so that is who we used, principally between Brisbane and Sydney. I don't quite remember how I got in, presumably members I was travelling with could sign in a guest.
Australians are some of the pleasantest people to do business with, straightforward, non-bu115hitting, technically knowledgeable, and yet old-world polite. As a visitor from Britain, once you let them know you are fine with them calling you a "Pom", and especially once you can tell them about the little town in Britain their grandfather emigrated from, their hospitality is great.
Ansett went under one day after 9/11, and the news was generally overshadowed. They were looking for new financing, and word suddenly came through that no bank would touch airlines any more.
Australians are some of the pleasantest people to do business with, straightforward, non-bu115hitting, technically knowledgeable, and yet old-world polite. As a visitor from Britain, once you let them know you are fine with them calling you a "Pom", and especially once you can tell them about the little town in Britain their grandfather emigrated from, their hospitality is great.
Ansett went under one day after 9/11, and the news was generally overshadowed. They were looking for new financing, and word suddenly came through that no bank would touch airlines any more.
Nov 9, 2014, 10:49 am
#6328
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71. As a First Class passenger on this airline, you’re entitled to relax in the Golden Wing Club prior to your flight. Which airline are you flying?
This would be the late, great Ansett Australia
Spot on, mate! I had the good fortune to log quite a few flights aboard Ansett back in the 1980s and 90s. They were always a First Class operation even though I usually sat back in Economy. The one time I did log a flight in First Class came in 1987 aboard an Ansett 767 flying MEL-SYD-BNE. As a paid First Class passenger I also gained access to the Golden Wing lounge at Melbourne. I remember the food offerings being very nice, quite a bit more varied than what you'd find at a U.S. airline lounge.
This would be the late, great Ansett Australia
Spot on, mate! I had the good fortune to log quite a few flights aboard Ansett back in the 1980s and 90s. They were always a First Class operation even though I usually sat back in Economy. The one time I did log a flight in First Class came in 1987 aboard an Ansett 767 flying MEL-SYD-BNE. As a paid First Class passenger I also gained access to the Golden Wing lounge at Melbourne. I remember the food offerings being very nice, quite a bit more varied than what you'd find at a U.S. airline lounge.
Nov 9, 2014, 4:24 pm
#6330
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I was in the back row, which I think was normally kept for the crew where possible, because on previous flights off the main runway 34 Left, seated on the right at the window, there had been spectacular views of Sydney and the Harbour Bridge, but I didn't have my camera with me. Well they were on northerly departures again this time, and camera was at the ready, but my seat was on the left; an obliging check-in agent, finding most of the windows on the right were gone, found me this one. We taxied out to the parallel runway 34 Right, which I had never been on before, took off, but the departure from this one makes an immediate 45-degree turn to the right. City Centre and Harbour Bridge were off to the left - original seat would have been perfect.
Last edited by WHBM; Nov 9, 2014 at 4:42 pm