jlemon

If memory serves me correctly, I believe KLM Royal Dutch was the first 747 operator at Houston Intercontinental which occurred the year I graduated from high school down near the NASA space center: 1971.

KLM was operating its service from IAH to AMS via an intermediate stop in Montreal at the time and the 747 replaced a DC-8 on the route. Curious if your database reflects a 1971 first delivery timeline to KL with regard to the 747......

Seat 2A

Seat 2A

Here are the remaining unanswered questions...

7. This airline claims to have established the world’s first commercial around the world route. Can you identify the airline and the route? (This could be a discussion item as it would seem more than one airline has made similar type claims.)

12. What was the world’s first airline to operate a passenger jet with a flight deck designed for just two crew? What kind of jet was it?

13. This British airline renamed itself after the aircraft type it acquired in 1964. Name the airline and - by extension – the aircraft. A N S W E R E D

14. This airline launched the first ever scheduled jet flight to take place entirely within the Arctic Circle. Identify the airline, aircraft and route.

18. Can you name an airline named after its founder that also operated 747s? IN PLAY Braniff, Wardair, Ansett, Martinair, Kallat El-Saker Air , Khalifa and cargo operator Kalitta have been identified so far. Any more out there?

19. So far, Hawaii hasn’t seen many flights utilizing narrow bodied Airbus aircraft. What is the first airline to fly the Airbus A321 to Honolulu? A N S W E R E D

20. In 1969, Mexico’s largest airline claimed to fly from more US gateways to Mexico than any other airline. Can you identify the airline and all of its US gateways? (More than 5 – less than 10) A N S W E R E D

23. In 1968, if you were enjoying “Royal Canadian” service to Vancouver, which airline would you be flying upon?

jlemon

19. So far, Hawaii hasn’t seen many flights utilizing narrow bodied Airbus aircraft. What is the first airline to fly the Airbus A321 to Honolulu?

20. In 1969, Mexico’s largest airline claimed to fly from more US gateways to Mexico than any other airline. Can you identify the airline and all of its US gateways? (More than 5 – less than 10)


19. This almost seems to be too easy so my answer may well be incorrect: American Airlines

20. Hmmmmm.....well, I believe there were only two big airlines in Mexico back in 1969 being Aeronaves de Mexico and Mexicana de Aviacion.

I'll go with Aeronaves serving the following U.S. destinations:

* Detroit
* Houston
* Los Angeles
* Miami
* New York City
* Phoenix
* Tucson

And I think Aeronaves was also serving two Canadian destinations at this time: Montreal and Toronto.

Speaking of Mexico and its air carriers, here's a bonus quiz item.....

In 1990, Mexicana was serving no less than 14 destinations in the U.S. plus one destination located in a U.S. territory. Name them all. ANSWERED

jlemon

What was the first airline to operate trans-Atlantic services between England and New York from a place other than London?

Identify the airline and the English place flown from.

Well, I've been giving this bonus quiz item from WHBM some thought....and right off the bat, I'll wager the service was operated with a flying boat and thus not with a land plane.

I will also assume we are talking about scheduled passenger service here and not a route proving or mail flight.

Two air carriers come to mind: Imperial Airways and Pan American World Airways.

I'll go with Pan Am operating a Boeing 314 Clipper from Southampton to New York via Foynes in Ireland as well as a stop somewhere in Newfoundland and perhaps another stop somewhere in the Canadian maritimes.

jrl767

destinations in the Continental United States:

1. Los Angeles (LAX)
2. San Jose (SJC)
3. Oakland (OAK)
4. San Francisco (SFO)
5. Seattle (SEA)
6. Las Vegas (LAS)
7. Denver (DEN)
8. Dallas (DFW)
9. San Antonio (SAT)
10. Chicago (ORD)
11. New York (JFK)
12. Washington Dulles (IAD)
13. Orlando (MCO)
14. Miami (MIA)

I'm reasonably sure of probably ten of those

destination in a US territory:

1. San Juan PR (SJU)

Indelaware

13. Britannia Airways (formally Euravia); Bristol Britannia

18. Kallat El-Saker Air (Libya)

One could also add... Continental Airlines (formerly Varney Speed Lines and named for the founder Walter T Varney), United Airlines (formerly Varney Air Lines and named for the founder Walter T Varney). Both airlines were named after their founders and both flew, albeit after name changes, 747s.

WHBM

Close enough JL. The airline was known as British Airways, but was legally BOAC. They had been formed during early WW2, in 1940, by the merger of the old Imperial Airways, mainly long-haul flying boats plus the London to Paris route, and British Airways (Mk 1), the largest pre-war independent airline, which had developed a notable route structure across much of northern Europe. During the wartime their UK services were all closed down, although an exception was the Baltimore to Bermuda flying boat, and the aircraft used on military missions, but the corporate survived, and when civil aviation was allowed again from 1 January 1946 they started up again. So although there were various trial runs etc pre-war, the first schedule (below) was afterwards.

Three Boeing 314 flying boats had been obtained during the war, and these, named Bangor, Berwick and Bristol, started that first service from Poole Harbour through the Azores and Bermuda to Baltimore, having tacked on to the wartime Bermuda operation. This avoided the icing locations of the North Atlantic. Flights from the UK were weekly at first, with two extras per week between Bermuda and Baltimore, which had been maintained through wartime.

Poole Harbour was where the wartime flying boats had been based, away from the old Southampton base where the large docks and the Spitfire factory were constant attack points. It was about a 3 hour train journey from London. The flights initially used the old British Airways brand before changing to BOAC.

http://www.timetableimages.com/ttima...6b/ba46b-1.jpg

http://www.timetableimages.com/ttima...6b/ba46b-2.jpg

http://www.pooleflyingboats.com/map.html

(especially the Archive tab)

So, why is this not the answer to S2A's question about which city other than London had the first transatlantic scheduled flight. Simple. Neither Poole, nor the adjacent Bournemouth (they seamlessly run into each other) are cities. They are just very sizeable towns. Cities are very sparingly assigned in the UK.

WHBM

The KLM aircraft just escaped my list to the end of 1970, their first aircraft came 16 days into 1971. KLM unlike other major carriers didn't take the original 100 series aircraft, but waited for the improved 200B version (they actually got the first delivery), although as there had been a big bulge of early production of the original version many carriers, especially the US operators, found themselves somewhat overstocked with it, and orders and production for the 200B fell well away for several years.

jlemon

An excellent start by jrl767 with only three more destinations served by Mexicana in the U.S. in 1990 left to be identified.

jlemon

Many thanks! And one more quick question.....were these new B747-200Bs destined for KLM combi aircraft?

WHBM

KLM didn't start their 747 Combi fleet until some years later, 1978, when they moved on to another enhancement of the 747-200B when GE engines were made available. Their first ones had the initial standard P&W ones. The Combi had been introduced some years earlier, Air Canada got the first one. KLM did subsequently become the major Combi user. However, the whole concept fell away after South African lost one over the Indian Ocean, last heard from with a fire in the rear cargo compartment and the cabin crew entering with fire-fighting kit.

Air Canada had a history of Combis going back to the DC8, which they used on Transatlantic flights from Vancouver to London, among others. Canadian relatives had taken this flight off-season in the late 1960s and described it only had about 10 rows, 60 Y seats, in the front of the divider, and no F.

MADPhil

This prompted me to read this article: http://www.boeing.com/commercial/aer...les/2011_q2/3/ about fire detection and suppression. It looks as if you need to have your fire within an hour of a suitable airport, although a fire that has been successfully suppressed for an hour may not restart I suppose. You are certainly better off not having it on a Combi.

Seat 2A

Seat 2A