Old Timer's Airline Quiz and Discussion.
Dec 10, 2018, 2:08 pm
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3. In early 1965, what was the longest scheduled piston engine powered aircraft flight in North America?
Wild guess time: Nordair operating a Lockheed L-1049H Constellation nonstop from Montreal Dorval (YUL) to Resolute Bay (YRB). I believe the distance from YUL to YRB is 2,123 miles.
Per the 1965 schedule I reference, Nordair was making two enroute stops on its DC-4 flights between Montreal and Resolute. Great Circle Mapper shows the nonstop distance between these two airports to be 1846 miles. That said, we're looking for a different route, but one that was indeed operated with a variant of Lockheed's Constellation. Please, guess again!
Wild guess time: Nordair operating a Lockheed L-1049H Constellation nonstop from Montreal Dorval (YUL) to Resolute Bay (YRB). I believe the distance from YUL to YRB is 2,123 miles.
Per the 1965 schedule I reference, Nordair was making two enroute stops on its DC-4 flights between Montreal and Resolute. Great Circle Mapper shows the nonstop distance between these two airports to be 1846 miles. That said, we're looking for a different route, but one that was indeed operated with a variant of Lockheed's Constellation. Please, guess again!
Dec 10, 2018, 2:25 pm
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. If I'd been like a lot of young American kids back in the seventies who loaded up their backpacks and headed off to Europe with a Eurail pass, I might've had a better chance to log a flight or two aboard another Caravelle, a Dassault Mercure, perhaps even a VFW-Fokker 614. Then again, I understand inter-city airfares were exorbitantly high back then, so maybe not..
You'd have loved it all !
Dec 10, 2018, 3:47 pm
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Dec 10, 2018, 4:44 pm
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3. In early 1965, what was the longest scheduled piston engine powered aircraft flight in North America?
Ah, the aircraft was a Constellation, you say. Well, then.....let's try Pacific Northern operating nonstop between Kodiak (ADQ) and Seattle (SEA).
There you go. ^ I've long been aware of those longer Canadian sectors but couldn't find anything significant in my OAG. Here's the schedule for the 1251 mile PN flight:
Pacific Northern PN 8 Kodiak (NHB) 1245p-810p Seattle (SEA) Lockheed L-749A Constellation Operates Tue Fri
Ah, the aircraft was a Constellation, you say. Well, then.....let's try Pacific Northern operating nonstop between Kodiak (ADQ) and Seattle (SEA).
There you go. ^ I've long been aware of those longer Canadian sectors but couldn't find anything significant in my OAG. Here's the schedule for the 1251 mile PN flight:
Pacific Northern PN 8 Kodiak (NHB) 1245p-810p Seattle (SEA) Lockheed L-749A Constellation Operates Tue Fri
Last edited by Seat 2A; Dec 10, 2018 at 4:50 pm
Dec 10, 2018, 6:07 pm
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did Nordair operate their Connies between YUL and Frobisher Bay (YFB)? or was that one of the DC-4 stops? gcmap.com shows it as 1281 miles
Dec 10, 2018, 6:50 pm
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So I checked the 1968 schedule I have...
Voila! Nordair was indeed operating a Super Constellation (SU) from Montreal nonstop up to both Frobisher Bay AND (jlemon will be happy to know) Resolute Bay.
Dec 10, 2018, 7:30 pm
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I coaxed my dad into a plane-watching stop at YUL during our visit to Expo ‘67; I took a photo of a Nordair Super Connie (wasn’t the OAG code “SC”?) in front of the hangar (which was far across the runways, so the image didn’t turn out very well) ... that was also the only time I ever saw Vanguards
Dec 10, 2018, 7:34 pm
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The BOAC operated Student Flight I took in 1963 from London to New York was indeed a good buy at GBP70 round trip and as cheap as Icelandic from Luxembourg. But that would be about USD1,600 now, though coach was a bit nicer then.
Dec 10, 2018, 8:37 pm
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Ł70 in 1963 would be $1600 now? Good Lord! What was the exchange rate relative to U.S. dollars back then?
Dec 10, 2018, 10:59 pm
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Graph of Ł/$ exchange rate (1940 - today)
Dec 11, 2018, 8:27 am
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And with $1 then inflated to $8.24 now you end up with about $1,600. Given the fares from this side of the pond I think BA have never updated the exchange rate!
ETA: the old five shilling piece or crown was called a dollar for the old exchange rate.
ETA: the old five shilling piece or crown was called a dollar for the old exchange rate.
Dec 11, 2018, 12:40 pm
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By 1968, Nordair was operating L--1049H Constellation service once a week on a Montreal Dorval - Resolute - Frobisher Bay - Montreal Dorval routing as well as round trip Montreal Dorval - Frobisher Bay twice a week.
And then along came the Boeing 737-200 and the days of scheduled Constellation service operated by Nordair were pretty much over.
Plus, not a quiz item (as I do not know the answer) but a rather interesting question nonetheless:
What airline was the first to operate scheduled jet service into Resolute (YRB)? Was it Nordair or Pacific Western?
Last edited by jlemon; Dec 11, 2018 at 12:49 pm Reason: a non-quiz question
Dec 11, 2018, 1:50 pm
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By 1968, Nordair was operating L--1049H Constellation service once a week on a Montreal Dorval - Resolute - Frobisher Bay - Montreal Dorval routing as well as round trip Montreal Dorval - Frobisher Bay twice a week. And then along came the Boeing 737-200 and the days of scheduled Constellation service operated by Nordair were pretty much over.
Don't forget the Electra... I have schedules from the early 1970s showing Nordair flights routing via Fort Chimo and Halls Beach on their way up north to Resolute.
In the meantime, here are the Connie schedules from my 1968 schedule:
Northbound: ND 43 Montreal (YUL) 1159p - 515a Frobisher Bay (YFB) 645a - 945a Resolute Bay (YRB) Equipment: SU Departs YUL on Tuesday evening, arriving YRB Wednesday morning
Southbound: ND 44 Resolute Bay (YRB) 1130a - 430p Frobisher Bay (YFB) 530p - 1030p Montreal (YUL) Equipment: SU Operates Wednesday only
Effective June 3rd, 1968 ND 43 operated nonstop YUL-YRB, making a stop at YFB on the return
Northbound: ND 43 Montreal (YUL) 1159p - 715a Resolute Bay (YRB) Equipment: SU Departs YUL on Tuesday evening, arriving YRB Wednesday morning
Southbound: ND 44 Resolute Bay (YRB) 915a - 215p Frobisher Bay (YFB) 315p - 815p Montreal (YUL) Equipment: SU Operates Wednesday only
There was also a once weekly DC-4 flight operating via Frobisher Bay and Hall Beach each way
Plus, not a quiz item (as I do not know the answer) but a rather interesting question nonetheless: What airline was the first to operate scheduled jet service into Resolute (YRB)? Was it Nordair or Pacific Western?
Pacific Western was the first Canadian airline to take delivery of the 737. Still, Nordair wasn't far behind and I think had been serving YRB longer.
Don't forget the Electra... I have schedules from the early 1970s showing Nordair flights routing via Fort Chimo and Halls Beach on their way up north to Resolute.
In the meantime, here are the Connie schedules from my 1968 schedule:
Northbound: ND 43 Montreal (YUL) 1159p - 515a Frobisher Bay (YFB) 645a - 945a Resolute Bay (YRB) Equipment: SU Departs YUL on Tuesday evening, arriving YRB Wednesday morning
Southbound: ND 44 Resolute Bay (YRB) 1130a - 430p Frobisher Bay (YFB) 530p - 1030p Montreal (YUL) Equipment: SU Operates Wednesday only
Effective June 3rd, 1968 ND 43 operated nonstop YUL-YRB, making a stop at YFB on the return
Northbound: ND 43 Montreal (YUL) 1159p - 715a Resolute Bay (YRB) Equipment: SU Departs YUL on Tuesday evening, arriving YRB Wednesday morning
Southbound: ND 44 Resolute Bay (YRB) 915a - 215p Frobisher Bay (YFB) 315p - 815p Montreal (YUL) Equipment: SU Operates Wednesday only
There was also a once weekly DC-4 flight operating via Frobisher Bay and Hall Beach each way
Plus, not a quiz item (as I do not know the answer) but a rather interesting question nonetheless: What airline was the first to operate scheduled jet service into Resolute (YRB)? Was it Nordair or Pacific Western?
Pacific Western was the first Canadian airline to take delivery of the 737. Still, Nordair wasn't far behind and I think had been serving YRB longer.
Last edited by Seat 2A; Dec 11, 2018 at 2:25 pm
Dec 11, 2018, 2:37 pm
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I think Nordair was there first with jets, but not by much. Both were serving there by 1971, when both only had a small handful of the 737 each. Boeing developed a special gravel runway kit for the 737 for these northern operations, which deflected stones thrown up by the nosewheel from chancing to go into the engines.