miniliq

Sorry I missed your question 2A -- for some reason I'm not getting all of the postings forwarded automatically, so I missed yours. And you may be sorry you asked, because my knowledge of this subject far exceeds my knowledge of aircraft variations.

Anyway, the Go-Getter was a pre-mixed cocktail from Heublein that contained Arrow Triple Sec, Smirnoff Vodka, and Jose Cuervo Tequila (all companies acquired by Heublein). The G. F. Heublein Company had produced pre-mixed cocktails (such as Martinis, Manhattans, Old Fashioneds, and Daquiris) since 1939, and by the time inflight alcohol service became popular in the 1950's, Heublein had produced an even wider variety of pre-mixed cocktails (full-size and miniatures), some of which may be unfamiliar to you (e.g. the Sergeant Major, the Hobo's Wife, the Pink Squirrel, the Brass Monkey, the Sidecar, and the Wallbanger) but of more relevance to this forum, some were unique to a particular airline -- thus we had the Go-Getter for Ozark, the Roadrunner for Frontier, the Something Else for Eastern, the Broadway for North Central, and the Yellowbird for Northeast Airlines. Other airlines had their own mini specialties produced by different manufacturers, for example the PanAmbrosia Cocktail (produced by Cointreau), a Lebanese liqueur for Middle East Airlines, and the Lufthansa Cocktail (produced by Mampe).

Most airlines, however, were content to have minis of popular brands of all types of drinks (whiskies, vodkas, brandy, rum, liqueurs, etc.) with their airline label added. Until I started selling off my collection I had minis with labels from over 100 different airlines (not all acquired inflight!).

And I had one mystery label (hope I didn't mention this before). It is a Heublein Manhattan Cocktail, with a label on the reverse that says "bottled expressly for McGregor Airlines" and an IRS tax stamp that dates it to pre-1945. I suspect it may be a "vanity" bottling for some private aircraft owner, but have never managed to confirm that. So if it rings a bell with any of you, please let me know.

WHBM

Air 2000, one of the nicely-professional holiday airlines of Britain in the 1980s-90s (now merged into Thomson) had a signature drink served on early morning flights which was Bucks Fizz https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buck%27s_Fizz , the orange juice-champagne mix that I understand the USA separately calls Mimosas. I have to say there is generally more champagne in a Bucks Fizz (it's at least 50-50) than in any Mimosa I've been served at a "champagne" breakfast in the US, where it's a glass of orange juice and a little psst from a "champagne" bottle. Air 2000 actually had it pre-blended in champagne-shaped bottles. Being a holiday airline it was sold, and the crew would make at least two runs through the cabin with it. It was probably the best-known feature of the airline to the general public, travel agents selling holiday packages invariably mentioned it (as did the holiday brochures) where Air 2000 was the carrier.

This being Europe, you do NOT get away with calling Californian sparkling wine "champagne". It needs to use the proper stuff.

miniliq

I agree -- a cocktail made with champagne (or sparkling wine imitations) mixed as a Mimosa or Bucks Fizz does make a nice start to a flight, but I never was aware (until your mention of Air 2000) of any made in miniature form -- do you know how big the Air 2000 bottles were? In my flying experience the champagne is generally poured from a big bottle, which probably does not bear any airline identification -- so I never had any true minis (about 50 ml size) in my collection. The closest I came were a 187 ml bottle of Marquis de Lyon California Champagne (I know, I know) bottled for Coombs Airways and a similar sized bottle of Champanho Michielon from Varig (it at least has a proper corked top).

WHBM

If I had to guess I'd say the Air 2000 bottles were quarter-size, so 18cl (probably a US equivalent measure for this !). Champers is normally about 12% so the mix would only be about 6%. But a good start to a holiday trip. UK holiday flight cabin crew in those days made notably more money out of drink/duty free sales commission that they did from their, admittedly usually low, pay.

All the idea of Errol Cossey, originally a senior commercial exec with Dan-Air, who quit after a bustup with chairman Fred Newman, in Comet days, who refused to invest in new aircraft for their main clients. Errol and tour operator Harry Goodman (Dan-Air No 1 customer of the time) set up Air Europe, with new 737s and well-regarded catering, but Goodman wanted to call all the shots so moved on to another tour company and set up Air 2000 with them, done HIS way, and HIS Bucks Fizz. Eventually this whole group was sold out, so he started another airline, Flying Colours, with 757s, they got merged up after a few years as well, so he moved on and was a key player in Excel, later trading as XL, although by this time Easyjet and Ryanair were knocking the holiday flight operators off to oblivion. I think all of these carriers came through Sanford in Florida in their time, along with many other places.

Seat 2A

And we're down to just two...


THE TIMELINE FOR THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IS 1965

53. The SEA-PDX route is served by just four airlines. Between them they operate seven different aircraft types on this route – however only one type offered between SEA and PDX is common to each of the four carriers. Please identify each of the four airlines that fly SEA-PDX and the single type of equipment common to each one on this route.
HINT: WA, UA and NW have been identified. We're looking for one more airline and the common aircraft type...
A N S W E R E D

56. We’re going to Vegas, Baby! Four airlines offer nonstop service on the SFO-LAS route. Amongst the total of six nonstop flights offered are aircraft built by four different American manufacturers. Of the four airlines, two operate the same aircraft type from one manufacturer; another operates flights with two aircraft from two more different manufacturers, while the fourth airline operates a single flight with an aircraft from a fourth manufacturer, Identify each airline and match it up with the aircraft it flies on this route.
HINT: Four airlines, four different aircraft manufacturers, four different aircraft types - one of them duplicated by two airlines. What's so hard about that for a bunch of pros like you?
A N S W E R E D


I will be working on a set of questions from the seventies this weekend, to be published Sunday or Monday - unless one of you beats me to it with a set of your own.

jlemon

Time to take a break from our big domestic demolition project involving our home (and work in general) and attempt to answer this multifaceted quiz item....

56. I'm fairly sure the four airlines operating nonstop from San Francisco to Las Vegas in 1965 were:

* Delta
* National
* TWA
* Western

What I'm not completely sure about is the equipment each operated on the route. So here are some guesses:

* DL - DC8
* NA - B727-100, DC8
* TW - B707, CV880
* WA - B720B, L-188 Electra

Meantime, we continue to make excellent progress with regard to rectifying the flood damage sustained by our home two weeks ago. However, there is still a very large amount of work to do and it appears we will not be able to move back in until about three months from now. We are also still waiting to find out what the insurance will cover while continuing to move forward with the removal of damaged portions of the house in preparation for the actual repairs.

Oh, did I mention we are now approaching the height of hurricane season in the Gulf of Mexico? Well, of course we are...and there are two areas of disturbed tropical weather currently being monitored by the National Hurricane Center, one over the Bahamas which appears to be moving towards the GOM and the other in the Gulf just south of Louisiana which appears to be drifting towards the Texas coast. These are both primarily rainmakers at the present time and the absolute last thing we need in south Louisiana right now is more precipitation as many areas remain flooded. There is quite simply nowhere for the water to go.

So we remain watchful, especially with regard to the weather system over the Bahamas, and hope neither of these systems becomes a tropical storm or hurricane.

miniliq

Seems like West Coast (WC) Airlines belongs on this list, but I have no suggestion for the common aircraft type.

jrl767

I'm gonna throw out a real wild guess ... Pacific Northern ... the common aircraft was the Boeing 720

Seat 2A

Seat 2A

53. The SEA-PDX route is served by just four airlines. Between them they operate seven different aircraft types on this route – however only one type offered between SEA and PDX is common to each of the four carriers. Please identify each of the four airlines that fly SEA-PDX and the single type of equipment common to each one on this route.
HINT: WA, UA and NW have been identified. We're looking for one more airline and the common aircraft type...

Per miniliq: Seems like West Coast (WC) Airlines belongs on this list, but I have no suggestion for the common aircraft type.

West Coast did indeed fly between Seattle and Portland, however they were using Seattle's Boeing Field (BFI) rather than SEA.

Per jrl767: I'm gonna throw out a real wild guess ... Pacific Northern ... the common aircraft was the Boeing 720

Correct! To his credit, JL had mentioned this possibility earlier but ultimately went with a different aircraft. Well done, J! ^

jlemon

Well, on a Sunday afternoon, I was able to finally mow the swamp....er, backyard....for the first time in two weeks. Still a bit damp out there, to say the least, but I managed not to get the machine (a John Deere borrowed from the neighbors - our lil' tractor was submerged in the flood and we are waiting to see if it can be resurrected) stuck in the mud.

So, with an eye to an upcoming new set of quiz items from Seat 2A concerning the 1970's, here's a bonus quiz item:

It's 1975 and you are in Los Angeles. You need to travel to San Francisco for a business meeting followed by a social trip with old friends up to Napa Valley for a big wine tasting event. Now you are in no big hurry as you have a fairly flexible schedule. And you have taken note of the fact that no less than four air carriers operate wide body equipment nonstop from LAX to SFO. Three of these airlines operate one wide body jetliner type on the route while the fourth air carrier flies two different wide body types. So with this mind, identify all four airlines and the respective wide body equipment they were operating from LAX to SFO. ANSWERED

jrl767

I initially thought this pre-dated my many early LAX<-->SFO jaunts by a year or so, but my log showed otherwise ... anyway, I'm willing to open the bidding:

• TWA: L-1011 and 747
• Pan Am: 747
• PSA: L-1011 (my first flight on a TriStar was aboard Mama Grinning Bird in Jan 75, so I know this one's right)
• Northwest: 747

jlemon

Correct on all counts. Pacific Southwest Airlines was operating up to six departures a day with the L-1011 from LAX to SFO on weekdays with a smaller number of TriStar flights on the weekends. Pan Am was flying two daily 747 departures (and also 707 service) while Northwest was operating one daily 747 flight. TWA had two daily wide body flights, one with a 747 and the other with an L-1011, and was also operating B707-320 service.

Other air carriers included United and Western, of course, but with no wide body service on the route. The largest aircraft flown by UA LAX-SFO at this time was the DC-8-61 while WA was flying B707-320, B720B, B727-200 and B737-200 service.

In addition, Hughes Airwest was operating several nonstop flights a day LAX-SFO with DC-9-30 equipment while Braniff International was flying DC-8-62 service three days a week on the route as an extension of their service from South America (an old Panagra route, of course).

TROPICAL WX UPDATE: Tropical Depression Nine has now formed in the eastern Gulf of Mexico and is forecast to strengthen to a tropical storm. If so, it will be named Hermine. Current forecast track has it coming ashore as a tropical storm on the Gulf Coast of Florida somewhere between Tampa/St. Pete and Panama City later this week.

Seat 2A

Re. LAX-SFO service:

"Pan Am was flying two daily 747 departures (and also 707 service)"

Yes, but pre-deregulation wouldn't these PA offerings have been Conditional Stopover Traffic only? As such, they wouldn't have been available to the casual LAX-SFO traveler.

The year after deregulation, I flew upon my first 747SP via a Pan Am bird between SFO and LAX. The one way standby fare was $13.00.

Seat 2A

Here're ten questions before I head off to work...


THE TIMELINE FOR THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS IS 1974
All questions referenced from a North American OAG

1. Your job has you flying regularly between Dallas and Minneapolis. Braniff dominates the market with nine mostly daily flights - a morning and a midday nonstop along with seven multi-stop through flights. Normally you prefer BN’s midday nonstop but alas, today you won’t be able to even get out of the office until noon. Consulting your OAG, you consider the options. Hmm… what’s this? Mixed in amidst the nine BN departures is a single two-stop direct flight departing DFW at 2:45pm. It’s aboard an airline you’ve heard of but have not yet flown upon. What the heck – book it, Danno! Identify the airline, the two intermediate stops and the aircraft operating this route.
A N S W E R E D

2. Identify Pan Am’s shortest international flight departing from a U.S. gateway city. I’m looking for the destination and the aircraft type operating the flight.
A N S W E R E D

3. You’re flying from New York JFK to Curacao. You’ve flown this route many times before, always aboard a 707 or DC-8 of some type. Arriving at the gate, you’re shocked but thoroughly pleased to see the distinctive nose of a 747 parked just outside the huge plate glass windows. What airline will you be flying upon?
A N S W E R E D

4. Your wonderful vacation at Isle Royale National Park comes to an inadvertent end when your business partner calls and asks if you could meet him in Denver ASAP to discuss the acquisition of a Colorado based chain of ski apparel stores. He’s even done a bit of legwork and found a two-stop direct flight departing from nearby Thunder Bay, Ontario early tomorrow morning (5:40am ) that will get you into Denver at 8:25am. Book it, buddy, and please set us up for a breakfast meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel at 10:00am. Now then, if you can just catch that last ferry of the day over to Thunder Bay… Identify the airline, the two stops and the aircraft you’ll be flying upon between YQT and DEN.
A N S W E R E D

5. If you want to fly out of Vancouver aboard one of those new wide-bodied DC-10s, there’s only one airline and one city you can fly to. Identify both, if you please…

6. Allegheny and Eastern offer one-stop direct flights between Toronto and Philadelphia, but only this airline offers a nonstop flight via a single daily departure utilizing a larger plane than either AL or EA operate on their flights. Why, there’s even a snack served enroute! Identify the airline and aircraft operating this flight.
A N S W E R E D

7. You live on da south side a Chicago and want to fly out to a bowling tournament in New Jersey. You abhor the long drive through traffic to get out to O’Hare, and especially dislike the cost of parking there – which is exorbitant even by 1974 standards. Imagine then your surprise and delight to discover a two-stop flight from nearby Midway Airport direct to Newark. Identify the airline, the two intermediate stops and the aircraft operating this route.

8. Not counting flights originating from outside North America, Miami International enjoys Boeing 747 service from nine different cities operated by four different airlines. No two airlines offer service on the same route. Identify each of the cities and the airline that operates 747s on it.

9. Hamilton, Ontario has international flights to a single city. Identify the city, the airline providing the service and the aircraft type flown.
A N S W E R E D

10. Only one airline flies Boeing 707s from Miami to airports in the continental United States. Two cities are served. Identify the airline and the two cities served.
A N S W E R E D