23) 1983--New York (JFK)--Miami
That would be Arrow Air with service five times per week. (this service was gone by 1985, with JW building up SJU operations)

Just a bit of attention to detail needed by 'Flight'. I am afraid to add "as ever". Aerolineas were the first overseas company to buy (and take delivery of) the Comet 4 aircraft. There were a number for the earlier Comets of course. I suspect just some rushed journalism. By the time the Comet 4 came along the original Comet 1/2/3 were hoped to be forgotten by the UK industry.

The first overseas company to place a order for the Comet overall was Canadian Pacific, for two Comet 1A aircraft. They took delivery of their first but it crashed on take-off at Karachi, Pakistan on its delivery flight, killing among others the senior CP execs involved in the new programme. CP then cancelled their second one and it went to BOAC, who themselves had considerable attrition of the new aircraft before the final premature withdrawl.

Can I add a couple of supplementaries.

a) What was an aircraft built in Britain and being delivered to Canadian Pacific doing in Karachi in the first place ?

b) What route were the aircraft going to be used on ? To give a hint, it didn't involve Canada.

c) Who else actually operated the Comet 1 in airline service ?

PS S2A - fascinating old page from 'Flight'. So many old airliners mentioned. Plus I can spot a couple of further inaccuracies as well.

Thanks for clearing this up WHBM. I knew we could count on you!! ^

As to your question: Who else actually operated the Comet 1 in airline service ?

I'm thinking it was two airlines - Air France and UAT

Ah, but did Wikipedia mention that Wardair was also operating A300s? :)

The airline was Wardair, by the way.

Good Saturday Morning All!

It's shaping up to be a stormy day here in south Louisiana as not one but two squall lines are forecast to sweep toward us from Texas as a strong cold front advances our way....and we could see some severe thunderstorms this afternoon and evening with even a tornado or two. :eek:

So, with the WX discussion now dealt with, I'll tackle several more of the latest excellent quiz items from Seat 2A......

24. Air Canada (AC) was the major player between Toronto and Montreal Dorval with their "Rapidair" service which featured departures just about every hour on the hour (with some exceptions) between YYZ and YUL on a Monday through Friday basis. The "Rapidair" service was flown at this time with a mix of B727-200 and DC-9-30 equipment. AC also most likely had a couple of flights that were not part of the "Rapidair" schedule which were operated with larger aircraft such as the B767-200 and the L-1011. And AC was also probably operating a daily flight between Toronto and Montreal Mirabel (YMX), perhaps with a 72S or D9S.

The other major player between YYZ and YUL at this time (although not to the extent of AC) was CP Air (CP). Most of their flights in this market were operated with B737-200 equipment, although there were probably a couple of flights operated with either a DC-10 or B747.

This leaves the other two air carriers which I believe at this time were Nordair (ND) and Quebecair (QB). Nordair flew B737-200 equipment on the route while Quebecair was probably operating a mix of B737-200 and BAC One-Eleven aircraft.

25. This sure sounds like Muse Air (MC). Equipment was probably an MD-80 and the flight may have originated at Houston Hobby (HOU). I had the opportunity to fly on Muse Air on a number of occasions on board their MD-80 and DC-9-50 aircraft into and out of AUS, HOU, LBB, LAX, MIA, MSY and TPA. It was a fine airline. I believe Muse Air also operated nonstop between Lubbock (LBB) and Los Angeles (LAX) with an MD-80 at one point with an actual routing of HOU-LBB-LAX and return. Like the Midland/Odessa (MAF) flight, this nonstop service between west Texas and southern California did not last too long as load factors were apparently insufficient to produce a profit.....

Well now....looks like it's time for a holiday-style Cajun Bloody Mary and a spot of yard work before the rain hits! :cool:

how about Pacific Western?

let's try Air Canada, Miami <-> Toronto

My answer is: Trans International Airlines; DC-8-51

I not sure that the 720 could fly non-stop from Europe, so I'm going with Aer Lingus with service to JFK and BOS from Ireland.

I'll note that another Scandinavian 727 operator was Transair of Sweden. Both they and Sterling of Denmark were for many years holiday flight operators to the Mediterranean etc, and Transair were very early 727 operators from 1967. It was always the case that Scandinavian carriers were accepted in other Scandinavian countries, so both operated charters equally from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. We've met Sterling before in this thread, with their worldwide Caravelle operations, more recently they invested in low-cost scheduled operations, lost a lot of money, and folded.

These Scandinavian charter operators were normally only seen in their home territory, and at various holiday destinations. However, in the 1970s-80s, when European mainstream scheduled airfares were still at a high level, just aimed at the limited business and government market, the various Scandinavian charter companies offered weekly inclusive-tour flights over to London. They all arrived together on Sunday afternoon, and they all used London Stansted airport, which was nothing like it is nowadays, but was just a big runway in the fields, with ramshackle wooden terminal buildings on the opposite side of the runway to today's terminal. No real surface transport provision, everyone was conveyed to/from London in specially arranged buses. Some days there were no flights through the airport at all, sometimes it took an odd diversion or freighter, but on Sunday afternoons there were a few hours to see all sorts of unusual (for the UK) aircraft. Conair Boeing 720Bs, Sterling Caravelles (often several), Braathens 737s, Scanair DC8s, and Transair 727s, plus any others. Each came from a different Scandinavian starting point, and the mix changed from year to year, but that was the general approach, while the terminal building buzzed with several hundred passengers, with actually not a lot, if anything, for them to do. But that was how many Scandinavians made their first trip to London 30 years ago or more. Transair had a long-term arrangement with Scanair, and Scanair in turn were the charter side of SAS, using old DC8s handed down from the main company, while Transair provided 727-100s for the smaller routes.

In passing, I wonder how many different airlines in different countries have used the name 'Transair'.

I've just poked that half-answer in between Christmas preparations, like erecting the WHBM Christmas tree (lights worked first time :) ). The decorations came down from the attic, where they are good friends for 11 months of the year alongside the boxes of old ABC World Airways Guides, the 1960s-70s timetables, the books on the Comet, the Empire Flying Boats, the Tupolevs, and many more. Did I sneak a little look through them while up there ? Is the sky blue ?

There certainly have been a few....to include:

Transair in Canada with B707-320C, B737-200 and F28 jet equipment as well as Viscount, Twin Otter and YS-11 turboprops in addition to a host of other propellor driven aircraft over the years. We've discussed them here in the past.....

Transair in Australia. I think they operated Fairchild Metro turboprops and also created a spin off carrier, Transair New Guinea....

Transair in the U.K. with Viscounts and DC-3s, I believe (feel free to chime in here, WHBM, not only concerning this carrier but also with regard to Conair and their Boeing 720Bs!)....

Transair in Georgia (the other Georgia) operating Tupolev Tu-134 and Tu-154 equipment. I think they may have had several of their aircraft either shot down or otherwise damaged during military actions.....

Haiti Trans Air operating B727-200, B737-200 and DC-8-61 aircraft....

Trans Executive Airlines operating as Transair for cargo operations in Hawaii. Aircraft in the fleet appear to include Short 360 turboprops and perhaps a B737....

There could well be others......

a - it was on its delivery flight, destined for Australia (Sydney?)

b - I believe CP intended to operate the Comet between Australia and Hong Kong

Good morning everyone! Well, almost everyone because Alaska's four hours earlier than EST. We had a beautiful snowy weekend up here in the Great White North - almost a foot of snow fell between Saturday and Sunday - so I've been busy this morning trying to clear some of it. I'm thankful for my new headlamp because it won't start to get light until about 10:00am.

For reasons unknown, my internet service was spotty to nonexistent this weekend. As such, some of these questions are starting to get a bit ripe. Let's pick through them...