JoeDTW

You should have gone with your first instincts, because Charlotte is correct! DL 1120 left ATL at 8:15 PM, and arrived Charlotte at 9:03 PM. The return flight (DL 1117) left CLT at 8:36 AM, and arrived ATL 9:30 AM.

DL did not serve ATL from SJU; their only flight at SJU went to MSY.

JoeDTW

Now that we finally identified the last of the cities DL flew L-1011s to nonstop from ATL, we're down to just two questions left: The route the 3 stop DC-8-51 took from BDL to DTW, and the route DL's remaining flight through IAD took.

jlemon

9. Wild guess time.....and I'll make the assumption that New York JFK is not located in New England and while Cincinnati is located in the Midwest.

DL DC-8 routing: Hartford/Springfield (BDL) - New York Kennedy (JFK) - Charlotte (CLT) - Atlanta (ATL) - Detroit (DTW)

JoeDTW

None of these cities were stops. To eliminate three possible next guesses, neither Newark nor Philadelphia nor Baltimore were stops, either.

Seat 2A

9. I'm thinking BOS may well have been one of the cities, but beyond that I'm drawing a blank. I'll look forward to seeing the correct answer on this one...

jrl767

jrl767

wrapup
with regard to “second smallest passenger capacity of any of the aircraft among the 16 segments”: the smallest was the USAF C-21 — LearJet 35 — with 7 seats

JoeDTW

Remember, my clue said none of the stops were in New England or the Midwest.

Neither Boston nor Tampa are correct. Orlando is one of the stops, but it is not the middle stop.

Seat 2A

9. By 1976, Delta’s once-mighty DC-8-51 fleet was down to 13 aircraft; DL planned to retire them by March, 1977, but DL wound up keeping them until 1980. The “flight itineraries” section of Delta’s timetable shows just eleven flight numbers (not flight segments) operated by DC-8-51s. One of the more unusual was a Hartford-Detroit DC-8-51 flight that made three intermediate stops. Name all three stops. Hint: none of the three stops were in New England, or the Midwest.
MCO is either the first or third stop.

Hmm... Okay then, but I can't imagine Delta would ever allow anyone to buy a ticket between Hartford and Detroit on this routing (much as I know I would have liked to back then...)

Let's try BDL-MIA-FLL-MCO-DTW

JoeDTW

You're close enough that let's chip this one in:
DL 835 Lv BDL 9:00 AM, Ar FLL 11:40 AM
Lv FLL 12:10 PM, ar PBI 12:30 PM
Lv PBI 1:05 PM, ar MCO 1:42 PM
Lv MCO 2:15 PM, ar DTW 4:27 PM

You could not buy a ticket all the way through, nor could you buy a ticket from Fort Lauderdale to West Palm Beach. Surprisingly, you could not buy a ticket from BDL to MCO, although you could fly on a 727-200 (DL 263) that left BDL at 10:10 AM and arrived MCO 2:36 PM, with stops at PHL and TPA. You could, however, fly from FLL or PBI to MCO, or FLL to DTW.

This flight was cancelled on Dec 14, 1976. The Oct 31, 1976 timetable said the BDL-FLL-PBI legs would be flown by a DC-8-61 (DL 941) effective Dec 15 and MCO-DTW would be flown by a 727-200 (DL 342). The PBI-MCO leg would be cancelled. Delta's afternoon nonstop from FLL to DTW, which left at 2 PM and arrived at 4:30, would also be upgraded from a 727-200 to an L-1011 on Dec 15.

JoeDTW

We are down to just one question left. Unlike the BDL-DTW flight via Florida, this flight takes a geographically logical flight path between ATL and IAD and from IAD to its final destination; it does not go south or west from ATL to its first and second stops, nor does it go south or west from IAD to its final destination.

7. In the 1960s and early 1970s, DL and Pan Am had through DC-8 and 747 service from New Orleans and Atlanta to Europe, via IAD. In October, 1975, DL ended the interchange because the 747 was far too big for the ATL-IAD route, and ended nonstops from ATL to IAD. As of October, 1976, Delta was down to just two flights a day at IAD: one round trip on an ATL-xxx-xxx-IAD-xxx pattern. Name the airports and equipment used on this route. Like the other airports listed above, IAD was dropped completely after deregulation.

Seat 2A

7. In the 1960s and early 1970s, DL and Pan Am had through DC-8 and 747 service from New Orleans and Atlanta to Europe, via IAD. In October, 1975, DL ended the interchange because the 747 was far too big for the ATL-IAD route, and ended nonstops from ATL to IAD. As of October, 1976, Delta was down to just two flights a day at IAD: one round trip on an ATL-xxx-xxx-IAD-xxx pattern. Name the airports and equipment used on this route. Like the other airports listed above, IAD was dropped completely after deregulation.

I used to wander through the pages of the OAG looking for short flights where the cost of a ticket would allow me to try out a new airline or different aircraft type. For some reason Delta between Washington IAD and Baltimore is coming to mind. Then again, at my advanced age lots of things come to mind though they're not always relevant. In any event, let's go with BWI as the final destination. As to how the airplane got from ATL to IAD is anyone's guess. I reckon I'll try ATL- CAE - CLT - IAD - BWI with a DC-9-30

JoeDTW

You are on the right track.

CAE is either the first stop or the second stop.

CLT is not a stop, and BAL is not the final destination.

jlemon

7. When in doubt, throw out a wild guess....I'll try ATL - AGS - CAE - IAD - JFK with a D9S.

JoeDTW

You are so close that I'll give you credit for this one; the final stop was LGA.

The flight was DL 616, with a DC-9-30:
Leave ATL 6:29 AM, arrive AGS 7:11 AM
Leave AGS 7:32 AM, arrive CAE 7:55 AM
Leave CAE 8:15 AM, arrive IAD 9:34 AM
Leave IAD 9:25 AM, arrive LGA 10:32 AM

Note that the times at IAD were when the mobile lounge arrived and departed, not when the door was opened and closed.

This closes out the quiz. Thank you for participating - I hope you had as much fun answering the questions as I had devising them.