miniliq

From sunny SBA, where the high for this pleasant day is only a few degrees below the low for yesterday in MSY -- I don't have my reference books with me, but I finally found it -- BN240 in 1966 MKC-STL using the BAC-111.

miniliq

I posted my answer #8 too quickly -- from the same 1966 timetable, BN239 ORD-MKC-ICT-OKC-DAL-HOU-CRP-BRO.
I'm guessing ORD instead of MDW (no airport codes in the BN timetable) because I don't think MDW opened to jet service until 1968, but I could be wrong. I do know that IAH wasn't open in 1966 so HOU is correct.

jlemon

Yep, quite correct. In the spring of 1966, Braniff operated three (3) different aircraft types between St. Louis and Kansas City: The BAC One-Eleven, the Convair 340 and the Vickers Viscount. The latter were Continental Airlines aircraft operated on the aforementioned STL-MKC-DEN interchange flights.

And by the summer of 1968, the Convairs were gone and the Viscount interchange service with Continental had been discontinued. Braniff was now operating 100% of its services from STL with BAC One-Eleven equipment. Besides STL-MKC, BN was also flying the British twinjet on STL-DSM-MSP, STL-MSP and STL-OMA routings at this time.

Enjoy SBA! I lived there for many years.....

jlemon

Correct! And this was another classic milk run route operated by a classic aircraft: the BAC One-Eleven.

BN 239 departed ORD at 6:30am and after six (6) intermediate stops arrived in BRO at 12:42pm. The aircraft then turned around and headed back north by a different route:

BN 242: BRO-CRP-SAT-AUS-DAL-TUL-MKC. This flight departed BRO at 1:30pm, made five (5) stops en route and arrived at MKC at 6:57pm.

And after that? Well, there was more flying to do before the day was done:

BN 241: MKC-TUL-SHV-MSY. The flight departed MKC at 7:40pm and arrived at MSY at 10:42pm.

All in all, an honest days work turned in by this great little British Aircraft Corp. twinjet operated by Braniff International.....

Seat 2A

The following questions are all based upon schedules published in the November 1st, 1969 International edition of the OAG. The first 747 flight is still two months away, but there are plenty of fine old and not so old aircraft still flying into and out of North America. Here are a few questions to test your memory and/or knowledge of those “good old days”.

1. Pals have called on you to join them scuba diving in British Honduras. It so happens that you're in Miami, just a short flight away. You have a choice of two airlines offering nonstop service to Belize City. One of them operates an Electra, your favorite prop. Which airline would this be? Answered

2. After a couple of days of scuba diving off Roatan, your next destination is New Orleans. This airline offers the only nonstop service from Belize, twice weekly with a jet both days. Answered

3. Your journey from New Orleans to New York is aboard the Southern Railways’ crack streamliner “The Crescent”. Disembarking at New York’s Penn Station, you catch the Carey Transportation bus to Kennedy Airport for your flight to Dusseldorf, Germany. When booking this ticket, you specified that you wanted either a nonstop or a direct flight – no connections. The obvious choice, Lufthansa, offers only connections. Only one airline offers a three times weekly one stop flight. Which airline is it?

4. You’ve taken a train down to rainy Frankfurt and now need to fly from there to sunny San Juan, Puerto Rico. This airline offers the only direct flight with stops in Paris and Madrid. What airline is it? What kind of airplane will you be flying upon? Answered

5. After sailing from San Juan to Grand Cayman, you have a choice of two airlines offering nonstop service to Miami. Name those airlines and – for bonus points – name the aircraft each would use. Answered

6. A National DC-8 has delivered you swiftly and comfortably to San Francisco. After two nights enjoying the classic luxury proffered by the St. Regis Hotel, you board your three stop flight to Bangkok, Thailand. Although you’d wanted to try out TWA’s luxurious Royal Ambassador Service across the Pacific, the idea of making six enroute stops was none too appealing. Instead, you've booked a First Class seat aboard this foreign airline’s three stop service to Bangkok. Which airline was this? Any idea as to the route? Answered

7. Heavy rains have washed out the railroad tracks down in Malaysia, forcing you to book a First Class seat aboard Thai International’s morning Caravelle service down to Singapore. The humidity there was even worse than in Miami but three nights of air conditioned splendour at the Raffles combined with a daily ration of Singapore Slings at the Long Bar have kept things bearable. Somewhere along the line you've also managed to acquire a souvenir pith helmet. Now it’s time to return to Los Angeles aboard one of only two direct flights offered, both by the same airline. Your flight departs SIN at 2300 and makes three stops enroute to LAX. Name the airline and for a big time bonus (I have an old coupon good for up to a year's supply of choice chicken parts), the aircraft and the three stop routing. This airline also offered a two stop service between Singapore and Los Angeles along an entirely different routing. Any idea what that routing might have been? Answered

8. Your presence is requested at a wine tasting in Santiago. Unfortunately, the once weekly Braniff direct flight departed Los Angeles two days ago. Given your aversion to connections, your only choice is an economy class seat aboard this three stop Convair 990 departing LAX on Wednesday evening at 1930 and arriving in Santiago the next day at 1315. Which airline would this be? Answered

9. You were such a hit at the wine tasting in Valparaiso that you’ve been invited to another wine tasting two days later in South Africa. Only one airline flies from South America to Johannesburg. Name the city must you depart from along with the airline and aircraft you'd be flying to Johannesburg. Answered

10. Things became a bit blurry after that eighth bottle of delicious South African Cabernet Sauvignon – so blurry in fact that you’ve woken up in Dakar, Senegal with no idea how you got there! Well, whatever – you’ve now got to find some headache powders and figure out how to get to New York. Pan American offers three weekly nonstops but despite your hangover, you're feeling a bit adventurous and so look for another more exotic option. Only one other airline – an African airline – offers nonstop service to JFK aboard a leased 707. Which airline is this? Answered

tonywestsider

Tonywestsider's memory lane will try two of these questions:

6. Japan Airlines. Route: San Francisco, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok. You also mentioned four stop. So perhaps the other JL route would be SFO-HNL-HND-HKG-BKK. Either route would require a connection at HND.

8. Is this APSA (Aerolineas Peruanas), which operated CV990s from Los Angeles-Mexico City-Guayaquil-Lima-Santiago?

jlemon

Great questions, Seat 2A! And very challenging as well!

2. Belize City (BZE) to New Orleans (MSY): TACA operating a BAC One-Eleven (I saw at TACA BAC One-Eleven at MSY many years ago back when New Orleans had a fair amount of nonstop and direct service to Mexico and Central America).

5. Grand Cayman (GCM) to Miami (MIA): Cayman Airways and LACSA with both carriers operating the BAC One-Eleven.

BTW, congratulations to Seat 2A concerning the success of this thread! Over 1400 replies and over 37,000 views - all since Nov. 18, 2011! Wow!

Seat 2A

And finally, if I might modify a quote from jlemon, Congratulations! to all of us regular participants concerning the success of this thread! Over 1400 replies and over 37,000 views - all since Nov. 18, 2011! Wow! And Thanks!

jlemon

OK, let's try this again!

5. Grand Cayman (GCM) to Miami (MIA): Well, we know that LACSA is correct with a BAC One-Eleven....and LACSA went on to help Cayman Airways launch jet service by leasing a BAC One-Eleven to KX but not until 1972.

I also know that Southern Airways flew MIA-GCM with a DC-9. In fact, this was the first and only international route that SO ever operated. But I do not think Southern was flying this route yet in 1969....

So that leaves.....

BWIA with Vickers Viscount turboprop service. I think the routing was KIN-GCM-MIA.

miniliq

You do have a way of bringing back memories -- I took my wife with me on a one-month working trip from Houston to Indonesia in 1969; but our outbound really started in YVR on a JL DC-8 to TYO via ANC; then switched to a different JL DC-8 flight TYO-HLG-BKK-SIN-JKT, during which we had the memorable and anxious experience of being greeted in BKK by a posse of fire trucks as we landed and taxied some distance from the terminal for an inspection of the landing gear -- some overheating I assume -- but no adverse outcome. On our return trip we enjoyed F on regional flights of TG (Caravelle) and ML (737), before using JL for the trip home.
What does this have to do with questions 6 and 7? Well I remember planning the trips and had we not left from YVR (had to visit relatives in YYC and YEG) I had considered BA from SFO to BKK -- Boeing 707, with a night stop in HNL -- then TYO-HKG-BKK. So that's #6. For #7, on our return trip, had we not decided to spend some time in SIN, KUL and BKK, I found out that the French airline UTA had a flight to LAX via the South Pacific -- I've cheated and looked up what the exact stops were because I couldn't remember: SIN-NOU-NAN-PPT-LAX. The alternative was SIN-SYD-PPT-LAX -- all on DC-8s.
In retrospect, I wish we'd done the UTA route with stopovers -- We've had return visits to all of the other places, but still have NOU/PPT/NAN on our bucket list.
Great story in this series of questions -- I may tackle a couple of the other ones tomorrow.

tonywestsider

Very interesting responses!

I stand to be corrected on #6 and also concur that BA had this route. It's just that I couldn't look up the route in their timetable. All I could see was that SFO-HNL-NAN-SYD route of some sort. What does thou sayeth, Seat 2A?

Seat 2A

2A sez right on to Tony and miniliq ~ BOAC operated a 707 from San Francisco to Bangkok via HNL, TYO and HKG. That is a flight I would have loved to have flown, especially in First Class.



Monarch Class aboard BOAC's 707

I do love a good story as part of the answer, so miniliq I both appreciate your answer and envy your past travels. Alas, I was a mere 6th grader back in 1969, though I did log a couple of domestic flights aboard United DC-8s and TWA 707s.

As to your answers, you're spot on (including routings) on both questions 6 and 7. Why on earth would anyone want to fly nonstop between Singapore and Los Angeles when one could instead fly SIN-NOU-NAN-PPT-LAX? On a DC-8-62 no less!

You are correct with BWIA (sometimes referred to by the locals as Britain's Worst Investment Abroad), however as of the November 1969 OAG, BWIA was operating a 727 Sun Jet on this route. Close enough!

cs57

Another "name" for BWIA was "But Will It Arrive"!

jlemon

Well, heck, the BWIA ("Bee-wee") GCM-MIA flight was operated with a Viscount at one point....but the equipment had obviously been up gauged by 1969 to Boeing's iconic trijet!

It's also interesting to note that BWIA pioneered the first scheduled jet service into GCM with the 727. I believe LACSA was next with BAC One-Eleven service including the stretched 500 series which Cayman Airways eventually operated as well. In fact, I think that LACSA and Cayman Airways were the only two carriers to operate the BAC One-Eleven series 500 into the U.S. (LR and KX operated the type GCM-MIA and KX also flew the stretched series 500 model GCM-IAH). LIAT operated the BAC One-Eleven series 500 as well at one point but did not serve the U.S. (outside of service to SJU).

So Seat 2A! Would you happen to have the complete routing of the BWIA 727 flight that served GCM?

Seat 2A

I would, but it's 120 miles up the road back home outside Fairbanks. I'll publish it as soon as I get home on Tuesday night. Then it's off to Barrow the next morning...