rosensfole

It was indeed a tough day; analysing test results from a trial computer system at our biggest customer is tough business especially when they fail to send all the diagnostics. Got there in the end but it should have been much simpler if they'd done as asked. I guess they feel they have the power...

... speaking of which, I can't remember what I saw at Newcastle Airport in 1972 (probably because I'm guessing it was then my father took me through that particular airport). I think Freddie Laker pulled off some sort of stunt around then at Newcastle. All too fuzzy. I'll have to think a bit more, but first a long G&T.

Seat 2A

Careful you don't make that G&T too long or things might get real fuzzy, as in maybe a PIA 720B or a 787

YVR Cockroach

Back in that era, I think only CP (CP Air) had scheduled rights to HNL so Im going to guess YVR-HNL was on a CP DC-8. Doubt it would have been a D8S. I am going to piggyback on answer 18 and say YLW-YVR was operated by a Convair 640.

YVR Cockroach

I don't recall an British isles airlines operating a DC-9 but a lot of continental airlines did. Start with SAS DUB-CPH.

Sounds like something UA might have done with a DC-10-10

Seat 2A

YVR Cockroach

VH-RMD

Did you once used to live back there, RMD? Hard to believe I was in Australia just ten days ago. Small planet.

I spent a year in Wales with my grandparents in 1971-72 while my parents traipsed around Europe.

We had come from a couple of years in Jamaica before then returning to Australia for a couple of years following the UK sojourn, and then heading off for shores distant again.

I may have an Australian passport but did not spend much of my childhood there, and find myself doing much the same as an adult...

Seat 2A

Seat 2A

Very cool. I'll bet you managed a few flights aboard my favorite airliner - the VC10.

VH-RMD

Indeed! It was one of my favourites also.

jlemon

8. Most people wouldn’t be too excited to leave Honolulu in the late winter, but you’re taking your wife and kids to Orlando and Disney World, so there's that. Better yet, you’ve even found seats aboard a direct two-stop flight to Orlando, although there is a “Change of Gauge” – whatever that means. Identify the airline and aircraft(s) you’ll be flying upon as well as the two intermediate stops.

8. May we have the year for this service, sir!

Seat 2A: "In all my years of flying through Seattle (1,653 flights so far according to FlightMemory) I don't recall ever having seen any Convair prop other than the PW (Pacific Western) models....."

As late as 1966, United was still operating Convair 340 "Mainliner" service into Seattle....but this was long before I ever landed at SEA.

However, there have been reports that another air carrier may have operated Convair 580 service into SEA in the past. I have never been able to find any definitive information concerning whether this might be true but I am continuing my research. Stay tuned.....

Seat 2A

jlemon

5. Well, let's go way out west....in fact, almost to the former Soviet Union. I'll guess this was Attu and the air carrier was Reeve Aleutian Airways (RAA).

12. This may have been good old Frontier operating a B737-200 on a routing of Kalispell - Bozeman - Billings - Denver - El Paso.

Seat 2A

As always, please limit your responses to no more than TWO questions at a time so that all might have a reasonable chance at participation.
This doesn't mean you're limited to just 2 per day, but rather just 2 at a time. Once I've addressed your response, go ahead and try another 2.

1. In early 1965, what was the longest flight United was operating with its Douglas DC-6 Mainliners?

2. In early 1986, nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Milwaukee were nonexistent. United’s one-stopper through Denver is sold out, so you’ve booked yourself on a two stop flight aboard one of that new crop of airlines that sprung up after deregulation eight years ago. It departs LA at 11:30 am and arrives Milwaukee with plenty of time for dinner with your cousins. Identify the airline and aircraft you’ll be flying upon as well as the two intermediate stops.

3. If you were a plane spotter at Newcastle, England’s N.E. Regional Airport in the summer of 1972, you’d see just two jet types operated by two different airlines. Identify the jets and the airline that flew each type.
We know that one of the aircraft was a BAC-1-11

4. Back in the good old days, if you wanted to get from Indianapolis to Ft. Myers, Florida you just called Eastern and hopped on a "Whisperliner" via Atlanta. All of the flights offered First Class back then, too. Now in 1998 there's a local Indianapolis based airline but they are an all-economy class operation. How gauche! Thankfully one airline that just happens to fly nonstop from Indy to Ft. Myers still offers First Class, so you quickly book a First Class seat on the afternoon departure. Identify the airline and aircraft you’ll be flying upon.

5. Per the 1973 North American OAG, what was the westernmost destination served by the Lockheed Electra? What airline operated this service?
A N S W E R E D

6. The winter of 1965 has been a chilly one in Kelowna, BC. You’re definitely looking forward to your upcoming vacation in Honolulu even if the only seats available on the date you can travel are aboard all-economy class configured aircraft, even across the Pacific to Honolulu. It goes without saying you’ll have a connection in Vancouver, so see if you can figure out which airline(s) and equipment type(s) you’ll be flying between Kelowna and Honolulu.
A N S W E R E D

7. It’s the summer of 1972 and you find yourself in Ibiza needing to get to Palma, Mallorca for a day and then on to Algiers. Due to a number of previously poor experiences, you refuse to fly the national airline Iberia. It is of no account however as Iberia doesn’t even fly to Algiers. Thankfully, you’ve found an alternative with an airline that can fly you to Palma and then three days later on to Algiers. The aircraft types – both jets – are different for each flight. Identify the airline in question and the aircraft types specific to the IBZ-PMI flight and the PMI-ALG flight.

8. Back in 1986, most people wouldn’t be too excited to leave Honolulu in the late winter (much less any other year), but you’re taking your wife and kids to Orlando and Disney World, so there's that. Better yet, you’ve even found seats aboard a direct two-stop flight to Orlando, although there is a “Change of Gauge” – whatever that means. Identify the airline and aircraft(s) you’ll be flying upon as well as the two intermediate stops.

9. A thorough perusal of the 1973 North American OAG revealed just three airlines within its purview were operating the NAMC YS-11 at that time. Which ones were they?

10. It’s the Winter of 1965 and as a hotel catering director overseeing a large chain of hotels sprinkled throughout the U.S., Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, your job has you travelling often. Most recently you’ve completed a successful job at your resort in Fort de France, Martinique and are now needed at the Mexico City property. You’re not looking forward to the myriad connections that you expect will be required to get to Mexico City, so you couldn’t be happier to discover a direct flight straight from FDF TO MEX. Upon further inspection - Whut tha - Well, it's not exactly “straight” to Mexico City, is it?The flight will make seven enroute stops. Identify the airline, the aircraft and each of the enroute stops.

11. It’s 1972 and you’re flying out of Dublin on the only flight utilizing a DC-9 of any variant. Identify the airline and destination you’re flying to.
A N S W E R E D

12. It’s early 1986 and you plan to fly from Cattle Smell - er - Kalispell, Montana down to El Paso, Texas for the annual Cattleman’s Association Awards Dinner. Although you’re expecting to make a connection or two, you’re pleasantly surprised to discover a three-stop direct flight. Identify the airline and aircraft you’ll be flying upon as well as the three intermediate stops.
A N S W E R E D

13. It used to be that Boeing 707s were a common sight across the azure blue waters of the Caribbean. By 1986 however, just one airline still flies the venerable 707 between the U.S. and a Caribbean destination. The flight departs New York’s JFK each Saturday morning at 9:00am, flying nonstop to its destination. Identify the airline and the Caribbean destination served.

14. You live in Oklahoma City and need to get to Las Vegas for a convention. You call Sunworld International only to find out they’re no longer in business. However, a bit more research reveals that in 1998 another airline now serves this route with two daily nonstops. Identify the airline and the equipment it operates on the OKC-LAS route.

15. It’s 1988 and you’ve been living and working in Milwaukee for three years now. Your job involves a fair bit of travel, and this time your services are requested in Tucson, Arizona. Although there are no nonstop or even direct flights between Milwaukee and Tucson, your travel agent has found an interesting on-line connection involving two twin-engine jets – one of them foreign built, the other American made. Unfortunately no First Class is offered on either of these flights but it’s a quick connection and as an added bonus there are two snacks served enroute. Identify the single airline, the connecting city and aircraft types utilized.

16. Remember back in 1986 when you were planning to drive from your home outside Sacramento to have lunch with your sister in San Francisco, but given the morning traffic and the paucity of parking spaces, you decided to fly instead? Best of all, instead of the usual single aisle jet or prop, you managed to book yourself a seat aboard an honest to God widebody aircraft. That was a great flight for such a short route. Identify the airline and aircraft you flew upon.

17. After a relaxing but steamy week in Key West, Florida, you’re looking forward to returning home to the comparative chill of Saint John, New Brunswick. Just to make the return trip more interesting, you’ve consulted your March 1988 Pocket Flight Guide and worked up an entertaining itinerary from Key West right up the eastern seaboard to Saint John (No crazy zig-zagging to the east or west) involving five airlines operating five different types of jets, none of them American built. Four of the flights are less than 400 miles in length. You’ll take one flight the first day, three the next day and one more on the third day. At one connecting point you’ll have to change airports. Based upon what you know of foreign aircraft types operating in the area at this time (1988) and the airlines that operated them, work out the itinerary along with the airlines and aircraft to be flown.

Here are some additional hints:

• The first two flights are totally within Florida
• The fourth flight is between the U.S. and Montreal

18. The problem with flying between between Akron/Canton, Ohio and Los Angeles is that there are no nonstops and more often than not you’ll have to connect somewhere. That all changed in 1986 with the commencement of daily one stop service direct into LAX. Identify the airline and aircraft you’ll be flying upon as well as the intermediate stop.

19. Awright now, here’s your challenge: It’s 1998. You live in Montreal, Quebec and you want to fly to Los Angeles, California with all of the flights being aboard 4-engine jets. The problem is there just aren’t all that many 4-engine jets left flying around these big broad countries we live in. Even so, you’ve found a routing utilizing two airlines involving a single connection, although you will have to overnight at the connecting point. The flight to the connecting city has one enroute stop. Can you figure out the airlines, aircraft and the routing? I’m pretty sure it is the only way to fly all 4 engine jets between Montreal and LA.

20. In early 1973, there were three U.S. airlines serving Honolulu from cities on the U.S. mainland that did not utilize widebodied equipment on any of their flights to Honolulu.
A N S W E R E D

Seat 2A