Old Timer's Airline Quiz and Discussion.
Dec 3, 2018, 1:15 pm
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BTW, "Special Air Mission 41" is now preparing to make its final approach and landing at Joint Base Andrews (KADW), the former Andrews AFB in the Washington, D.C. area. This flight is being operated by a USAF VC-25, a highly modified Boeing 747-200B which, of course, uses the call sign "Air Force One" when the sitting U.S. President is on board. "Special Air Mission 41" departed earlier this morning from Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base (KEFD) in the Houston area and is transporting the body of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush as well as the Bush family to Washington.
Dec 3, 2018, 1:20 pm
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18. The year is 1998. You’re in Mexico City and you’re looking to fly up to Winnipeg, Canada. Now here’s where it gets fun – You’ve come up with a fairly straight-line itinerary (no wildly zig-zagging routings – they don’t count and never will with my questions) utilizing four flights aboard four different airlines, all of which will be operated with the DC-9-10. Thinking about the airlines that still operate the DC-9-10, here are some additional hints:
- One of the connecting cities is in Mexico, which means a domestic Mexican flight, which means a Mexican airline out of MEX.
- The flight from the Mexican connecting city has one intermediate stop enroute to Dallas where you’ll overnight.
- From Dallas you’ll fly nonstop to the next connecting city. The flight from that city to Winnipeg has one intermediate stop.
Ooh, I might know that one, since my dad was flying Northwest often around that time. (IIRC they were the last DC-9-10 operators in the U.S.) So I’m going to go with Northwest to MEM, then on to YWG with a stop at MSP. As for the Mexican flight, no idea - maybe Aeromexico (I recall them having DC-9s and MD-80s) with a stop in MTY?
Welcome to the quiz, Mr. S! And thanks for getting this question rolling again. Northwest was definitely one of the involved airlines, and its one stop flight into YWG did indeed stop at MSP - however, MSP was not the connecting point where a change of airline would have been required. Nor was MEM. You are however correct with MRY being the first connecting point. Aeromexico - a likely candidate out of MEX - is incorrect given that it ceased DC-9-10 operations nine years earlier in 1989.
Please, do guess again - and feel free to try your hand at some of the other questions as well. There's no shame in being wrong here as it's all part of the fun in the journey toward the correct answer.
Welcome to the quiz, Mr. S! And thanks for getting this question rolling again. Northwest was definitely one of the involved airlines, and its one stop flight into YWG did indeed stop at MSP - however, MSP was not the connecting point where a change of airline would have been required. Nor was MEM. You are however correct with MRY being the first connecting point. Aeromexico - a likely candidate out of MEX - is incorrect given that it ceased DC-9-10 operations nine years earlier in 1989.
Please, do guess again - and feel free to try your hand at some of the other questions as well. There's no shame in being wrong here as it's all part of the fun in the journey toward the correct answer.
Dec 3, 2018, 1:33 pm
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BTW, "Special Air Mission 41" is now preparing to make its final approach and landing at Joint Base Andrews (KADW), the former Andrews AFB in the Washington, D.C. area. This flight is being operated by a USAF VC-25, a highly modified Boeing 747-200B which, of course, uses the call sign "Air Force One" when the sitting U.S. President is on board. "Special Air Mission 41" departed earlier this morning from Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base (KEFD) in the Houston area and is transporting the body of former U.S. President George H.W. Bush as well as the Bush family to Washington.
Last edited by Seat 2A; Dec 3, 2018 at 2:28 pm
Dec 3, 2018, 2:18 pm
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Indeed he was....and the VC-25 aircraft used to transport his body as well as members of his family to Washington, D.C. today, being tail number 29000, was introduced during his presidency.
I also expect we will see a U.S. Navy "missing man" aircraft formation at some point as part of the solemn activities honoring the passing of President Bush. The "missing man" formation is always an emotional event for me as I have lost several friends who were military aviators.
I also expect we will see a U.S. Navy "missing man" aircraft formation at some point as part of the solemn activities honoring the passing of President Bush. The "missing man" formation is always an emotional event for me as I have lost several friends who were military aviators.
Dec 3, 2018, 5:02 pm
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Welcome to the quiz, Mr. S! And thanks for getting this question rolling again. Northwest was definitely one of the involved airlines, and its one stop flight into YWG did indeed stop at MSP - however, MSP was not the connecting point where a change of airline would have been required. Nor was MEM. You are however correct with MRY being the first connecting point. Aeromexico - a likely candidate out of MEX - is incorrect given that it ceased DC-9-10 operations nine years earlier in 1989.
Please, do guess again - and feel free to try your hand at some of the other questions as well. There's no shame in being wrong here as it's all part of the fun in the journey toward the correct answer.
Please, do guess again - and feel free to try your hand at some of the other questions as well. There's no shame in being wrong here as it's all part of the fun in the journey toward the correct answer.
Dec 3, 2018, 6:24 pm
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5. National Airlines NA XXX New York (JFK) 900a-1000a S Washington (DCA) 1025a-1106a _______________ 1130a-1229p L Charleston (CHS) 1250p-130p Jacksonville (JAX) 200p-240p S ________________ 257p-223p ______________ 240p-307p Pensacola (PNS) 330p-355p Mobile (MOB) 415p-448p New Orleans (MSY) 525p-624p Houston (IAH) Boeing 727-200 Daily
Norfolk (ORF)
Orlando (MCO)
Tallahassee (TLH)
20. Life has been great since you relocated to Palm Springs from New York except for one thing – there are no nonstop flights back to New York when you want to fly home for a visit. Well as of early 1986, there is at least a direct two stop flight, eastbound only. Surprisingly, it’s not on American. You quickly book a First Class seat and inform your friends in Manhattan you’ll be coming back next week. Identify the airline, the aircraft and the two enroute stops.
Here's a hint that might pay dividends: The arrival airport is JFK.
Here's a hint that might pay dividends: The arrival airport is JFK.
Last edited by jrl767; Dec 3, 2018 at 6:30 pm
Dec 3, 2018, 11:14 pm
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Much appreciated! I’ve been following this thread for a while but much of the subject matter has been a bit before my time. I’m afraid I’m out of ideas as far as this one goes, but I might see if I can dig up a timetable to jog my memory (I started collecting them in earnest around 2001)... or would that be cheating?
Nobody really gets any extra credit for being consistently right (or wrong) here. While I suppose there is indeed satisfaction in providing a correct answer, I’ve always enjoyed making my way through a few wrong answers along the journey to the correct one. Sometimes along the way memories are jostled and some interesting stories and recollections are shared.
Amongst many of our participants is an impressive amount of knowledge and experience. We are fortunate to have the input of WHBM who brings an encyclopedic knowledge of all things related to commercial aviation and some great story telling ability to match. jlemon and jrl767 have significant experience in the aviation industry and provide great insight and personal experiences in response to many of the questions posed here. Yours truly is rather limited by comparison with only a modicum of experience in the airline and travel industry. Essentially I am little more than a simple av-geek, but one with over 5,500 flights covering 5.4 million miles aboard 200 airlines to my credit.
Though we make up the core participants of this little quiz, all are welcome here. There’s a lot more to this thread than simply providing answers right or wrong. We always enjoy trading stories, personal experiences and aviation knowledge to go along with occasional discussions that crop up. As for the questions, while many of them are schedule based, if I can ever find the time to do so I’d love to research more airline and aircraft history based questions.
The bottom line here at the Old Timer’s Airline Quiz & Discussion is to have a good time, be entertained and occasionally enriched with new knowledge. We welcome your contributions.
Dec 3, 2018, 11:25 pm
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5. National Airlines NA XXX New York (JFK) 900a-1000a S Washington (DCA) 1025a-1106a _______________ 1130a-1229p L Charleston (CHS) 1250p-130p Jacksonville (JAX) 200p-240p S ________________ 257p-223p ______________ 240p-307p Pensacola (PNS) 330p-355p Mobile (MOB) 415p-448p New Orleans (MSY) 525p-624p Houston (IAH) Boeing 727-200 Daily
How about the blanks, in order, being filled by
Norfolk (ORF) Yes!
Orlando (MCO) No!
Tallahassee (TLH) Yes!
So then, here's where we're at now...
5. National Airlines NA XXX New York (JFK) 900a-1000a S Washington (DCA) 1025a-1106a Norfolk (ORF) 1130a-1229p L Charleston (CHS) 1250p-130p Jacksonville (JAX) 200p-240p S Tallahassee (TLH) 257p-223p ______________ 240p-307p Pensacola (PNS) 330p-355p Mobile (MOB) 415p-448p New Orleans (MSY) 525p-624p Houston (IAH) Boeing 727-200 Daily
20. Life has been great since you relocated to Palm Springs from New York except for one thing – there are no nonstop flights back to New York when you want to fly home for a visit. Well as of early 1986, there is at least a direct two stop flight, eastbound only. Surprisingly, it’s not on American. You quickly book a First Class seat and inform your friends in Manhattan you’ll be coming back next week. Identify the airline, the aircraft and the two enroute stops.
Here's a hint that might pay dividends: The arrival airport is JFK.
Hmmmmmm ... maybe America West with a 737-300 via Las Vegas (LAS) and Phoenix (PHX)? Ok, you can stop snickering any time ...
Hmmmmmm.... maybe not. Truth be told, I don't think HP/AW actually flew into PSP in 1986. Maybe later. In any event, we're looking for a different airline, although LAS was one of the stops.
How about the blanks, in order, being filled by
Norfolk (ORF) Yes!
Orlando (MCO) No!
Tallahassee (TLH) Yes!
So then, here's where we're at now...
5. National Airlines NA XXX New York (JFK) 900a-1000a S Washington (DCA) 1025a-1106a Norfolk (ORF) 1130a-1229p L Charleston (CHS) 1250p-130p Jacksonville (JAX) 200p-240p S Tallahassee (TLH) 257p-223p ______________ 240p-307p Pensacola (PNS) 330p-355p Mobile (MOB) 415p-448p New Orleans (MSY) 525p-624p Houston (IAH) Boeing 727-200 Daily
20. Life has been great since you relocated to Palm Springs from New York except for one thing – there are no nonstop flights back to New York when you want to fly home for a visit. Well as of early 1986, there is at least a direct two stop flight, eastbound only. Surprisingly, it’s not on American. You quickly book a First Class seat and inform your friends in Manhattan you’ll be coming back next week. Identify the airline, the aircraft and the two enroute stops.
Here's a hint that might pay dividends: The arrival airport is JFK.
Hmmmmmm ... maybe America West with a 737-300 via Las Vegas (LAS) and Phoenix (PHX)? Ok, you can stop snickering any time ...
Hmmmmmm.... maybe not. Truth be told, I don't think HP/AW actually flew into PSP in 1986. Maybe later. In any event, we're looking for a different airline, although LAS was one of the stops.
Dec 3, 2018, 11:41 pm
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5- the time zone change says that missing link must be Panama City (PFN)
20- let’s try Western with a 727-247 operating via LAS and Salt Lake City (SLC)
20- let’s try Western with a 727-247 operating via LAS and Salt Lake City (SLC)
Dec 4, 2018, 5:29 am
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Back to the question... still no idea on the Mexican flights, but from DFW to YWG, it sounds from your hint as though two airlines are involved; it isn’t NW the whole way. Complete shot in the dark here, but how about Midwest Express? They had a hub at MCI, which would seem like a reasonable stop between DFW and MSP. So, I’m going with them DFW-MCI, then NW from there via MSP.
Dec 4, 2018, 10:16 am
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Moving right along...
1. In early 1965, what was the longest flight United was operating with its Douglas DC-6 Mainliners?
6. The winter of 1965 sure is a busy one. After three days of business meetings Mexico City, your services are now required in Bermuda. Thankfully this will be an easy trip as there is a single nonstop flight operating out of Mexico City each Monday night. Identify the airline and the aircraft you’ll be flying.
1. In early 1965, what was the longest flight United was operating with its Douglas DC-6 Mainliners?
6. The winter of 1965 sure is a busy one. After three days of business meetings Mexico City, your services are now required in Bermuda. Thankfully this will be an easy trip as there is a single nonstop flight operating out of Mexico City each Monday night. Identify the airline and the aircraft you’ll be flying.
1. Back when my Dad was working as an aerospace engineer on development of the Saturn V moon rocket at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama during the mid 1960's, United was still operating DC-6 service into HSV. So I will guess this just might have been a Huntsville - New York Newark nonstop operated by UA with a DC-6.
6. This may have been Qantas operating a 707 as part of their "Fiesta Route" service between Australia and the U.K.
Dec 4, 2018, 11:13 am
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5. National Airlines NA XXX New York (JFK) 900a-1000a S Washington (DCA) 1025a-1106a Norfolk (ORF) 1130a-1229p L Charleston (CHS) 1250p-130p Jacksonville (JAX) 200p-240p S Tallahassee (TLH) 257p-223p Panama City (PFN) 240p-307p Pensacola (PNS) 330p-355p Mobile (MOB) 415p-448p New Orleans (MSY) 525p-624p Houston (IAH) Boeing 727-200 Daily
The time zone change says that missing link must be Panama City (PFN) Correct!
20. Life has been great since you relocated to Palm Springs from New York except for one thing – there are no nonstop flights back to New York when you want to fly home for a visit. Well as of early 1986, there is at least a direct two stop flight, eastbound only. Surprisingly, it’s not on American. You quickly book a First Class seat and inform your friends in Manhattan you’ll be coming back next week. Identify the airline, the aircraft and the two enroute stops.
Here's a hint that might pay dividends: The arrival airport is JFK.
Let’s try Western with a 727-247 operating via LAS and Salt Lake City (SLC)
That's the ticket. Here's the schedule:
Western WA 420 Palm Springs (PSP) 220p-301p Las Vegas (LAS) 325p-542p Salt Lake City (SLC) 620p-1225a Dinner New York (JFK) Boeing 727-200 Daily
The time zone change says that missing link must be Panama City (PFN) Correct!
20. Life has been great since you relocated to Palm Springs from New York except for one thing – there are no nonstop flights back to New York when you want to fly home for a visit. Well as of early 1986, there is at least a direct two stop flight, eastbound only. Surprisingly, it’s not on American. You quickly book a First Class seat and inform your friends in Manhattan you’ll be coming back next week. Identify the airline, the aircraft and the two enroute stops.
Here's a hint that might pay dividends: The arrival airport is JFK.
Let’s try Western with a 727-247 operating via LAS and Salt Lake City (SLC)
That's the ticket. Here's the schedule:
Western WA 420 Palm Springs (PSP) 220p-301p Las Vegas (LAS) 325p-542p Salt Lake City (SLC) 620p-1225a Dinner New York (JFK) Boeing 727-200 Daily
Dec 4, 2018, 12:39 pm
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18. The year is 1998. You’re in Mexico City and you’re looking to fly up to Winnipeg, Canada. Now here’s where it gets fun – You’ve come up with a fairly straight-line itinerary (no wildly zig-zagging routings – they don’t count and never will with my questions) utilizing four flights aboard four different airlines, all of which will be operated with the DC-9-10. Thinking about the airlines that still operate the DC-9-10, here are some additional hints:
- One of the connecting cities is in Mexico, which means a domestic Mexican flight, which means a Mexican airline out of MEX.
- The flight from the Mexican connecting city has one intermediate stop enroute to Dallas where you’ll overnight.
- From Dallas you’ll fly nonstop to the next connecting city. The flight from that city to Winnipeg has one intermediate stop.
- We know that the first connecting point is MTY. Aeromexico is not an airline of record. Northwest is involved at some point.
The Northwest flight is the last of the four, and it makes a stop in Minneapolis. Midwest Express is a good guess, but a quick check of the 1998 schedule I reference reveals that it did not - as of 1998 - fly the DFW-MCI route. We're looking for a different connecting point than MCI. Geographically speaking, you're in the right neighborhood, though. As for Mexican operators of the DC-9-10, there are actually two of them that operate the "Baby Nine" between Mexico City and Monterrey. Either one would work for this question with the only variant being how long your layover at MTY would be. I flew down there from San Antonio aboard Interjet's SU-100 Superjet a couple of years ago. The airport was reasonably nice as Mexican airports go. Can't speak for it in 1998 though. Please, guess again!
Indeed, though I did check to see which ones I had, and my collection prior to 2001 (when the PDFs became available to download) is spotty - mostly ones I’ve purchased on eBay to look up past flights. I don’t recall exactly when the -10s left the fleet, but I was unable to get a ride on one in 2004, the first time I flew Northwest. (I did get a -30 and -50 in one itinerary, which certainly wasn’t hard to do at that time.) I haven’t traveled all that much myself, but I got the aviation bug from my dad, whose sales career in aerospace has taken him all over the world in the last 20 years. It was always nice getting timetables from overseas airlines that I’d never get to fly on myself.
I flew my last DC-9-10 with Northwest on a short MEM-BNA run back in 2003. The airplane (N1912E) was delivered new to Eastern in 1966, then sold to Republic in 1979. Northwest inherited it via the merger with RC in 1986. According to Planespotters.net, the airplane was withdrawn from use and stored at Marana Pinal Airpark (MZJ / KMZJ) on January 6, 2004
Dec 4, 2018, 12:56 pm
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1. In early 1965, what was the longest flight United was operating with its Douglas DC-6 Mainliners?
Back when my Dad was working as an aerospace engineer on development of the Saturn V moon rocket at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama during the mid 1960's, United was still operating DC-6 service into HSV. So I will guess this just might have been a Huntsville - New York Newark nonstop operated by UA with a DC-6.
Way to get the ball rolling on this one, JL! HSV-LGA checks in at 821 miles. The flight we're looking for was over 1000 miles in length. Please, guess again!
6. The winter of 1965 sure is a busy one. After three days of business meetings Mexico City, your services are now required in Bermuda. Thankfully this will be an easy trip as there is a single nonstop flight operating out of Mexico City each Monday night. Identify the airline and the aircraft you’ll be flying.
This may have been Qantas operating a 707 as part of their "Fiesta Route" service between Australia and the U.K.
An excellent guess there, JL. However, every schedule I've seen (including the one I reference for this question) reflect Qantas serving the Bermuda to Mexico City portion of the "Fiesta Route" via Nassau. Please, guess again, mate!
Back when my Dad was working as an aerospace engineer on development of the Saturn V moon rocket at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama during the mid 1960's, United was still operating DC-6 service into HSV. So I will guess this just might have been a Huntsville - New York Newark nonstop operated by UA with a DC-6.
Way to get the ball rolling on this one, JL! HSV-LGA checks in at 821 miles. The flight we're looking for was over 1000 miles in length. Please, guess again!
6. The winter of 1965 sure is a busy one. After three days of business meetings Mexico City, your services are now required in Bermuda. Thankfully this will be an easy trip as there is a single nonstop flight operating out of Mexico City each Monday night. Identify the airline and the aircraft you’ll be flying.
This may have been Qantas operating a 707 as part of their "Fiesta Route" service between Australia and the U.K.
An excellent guess there, JL. However, every schedule I've seen (including the one I reference for this question) reflect Qantas serving the Bermuda to Mexico City portion of the "Fiesta Route" via Nassau. Please, guess again, mate!
Dec 4, 2018, 1:30 pm
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