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WHAT ABOUT YOUR FIRST AIRLINE FLIGHT?

TELL US WHAT YOU REMEMBER

                                                                                                                                              I remember my first airline flight. It was in the summer of 1962. I didn't need to go anywhere, but I wanted to fly on an airplane. I wasn't from a wealthy family, so I saved money from my paper route to pay for the trip. In fact my parents, who were born in the early 1900's were afraid of flying, and wondered why I had this obsession. By this time I had been collecting airline timetables for four years. I decided the best trip for the money was Cleveland to Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Wayne County. My choice was Northwest Airlines flight 301 leaving Cleveland at 10:10 AM. It was flown by L-188 Lockheed Electra II - N128US. The coach fare was $9.60, and first class was a whole $10.40. To my parents disapproval I chose first class because I wanted to be up front in those windows forward of the wing. These were the days of first come first serve for seats, so I got there early. I climbed the air stairs and turned left just to find out it was coach in front of the wing. Realizing my mistake I literally climbed over some people to get to the back where the first class seats were. On takeoff I remember thinking about the Electra II's problems in previous years and all of the fatal crashes. This plane had been modified and deemed safe of those problems of whirl-mode. I'll never forget, and love to remember the sounds of the four Allison 501-D Jet-Prop engines as we quickly gained altitude and headed out over Lake Erie. No doubt about it I was fully hooked on flying after this experience. I've researched N128US and found it passed on to supplemental airlines and finally being destroyed in a crash in Zimbabwe.

THE CONVAIRLINERS WORLDWIDE
HAVE YOU ANY CONVAIRLINER MEMORIES?

In the late 1940's there was a need for a suitable replacement for the Douglas DC-3. Several types evolved but one of the most successful was the Convairliner series. Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee Aircraft both of California merged to become Convair Aircraft in the 1940's. When talking about Convair passenger airliners two distinct series come to mind. First the Convairliners which were two engined piston or jet-prop powered airliners with about 40 to 44 seats and the  Convair jets which were four engined jets known mainly for their speed. It has been said the 880 and 990 jets lost more money for Convair than the Edsel lost for Ford Motors.

It can't be said that the Convairliners were exactly replacements for the DC-3. They were much improved over the Dakotas with pressurization, air conditioning, and tricycle landing gear. With 40 seats they were nearly double the size of the DC-3, but in most cases they were a logical step up for most airlines. Their closest competitor was the Martin 202 and Martin 404 made in Maryland. They started with major airlines and evidentially were handed down to smaller local service carriers. One exception is Mohawk Airlines which purchased brand new Convair 440's.

With an extra strong airframe, many of the original types were converted into jet-prop airliners.

CONVAIR 240 - Named for 2 abreast seating and forty passengers in total was the first of the series. The main customer was American Airlines who flew them into the mid 1960's. > Convair 600 - A converted Convair 240 to jet prop power with Rolls-Royce Dart engines. Both were identifiable by having 10 passenger windows on each side.

CONVAIR 340 - A larger, longer and more powerful 240 with 11 windows on each side. The main customer was United Airlines. Identifiable from the 440 with two round exhaust ports behind each engine.

CONVAIR 440 -  A more powerful and soundproofed 340. Identifiable from the 340 with one rectangular exhaust port behind each engine. > Convair 540 - A converted 440 to jet-prop power using Napier-Eland engines. (Only done by Allegheny Airlines)

CONVAIR 340 or CONVAIR 440 Jet-prop conversions. > Convair 580 Jet-Prop conversion using Allison 501D engines. > Convair 640 Jet-Prop conversion using Rolls-Royce Dart engines.

The Convairliner was popular with the military and had their own numbering system.

Link to Convair 240/340/440 Video

THE THIRTEEN U.S. LOCAL SERVICE AIRLINES

DO YOU HAVE ANY STORIES ABOUT THESE AIRLINES?

Not long after World War II the U.S. government was promoting civilian air travel. With a surplus of Douglas DC-3 aircraft 13 different airline companies evolved to supply airline passenger and mail service to smaller communities. By the 1960's they were well established and included...



ALLEGHENY AIRLINES
MOHAWK AIRLINES
PIEDMONT AIRLINES
SOUTHERN AIRWAYS
LAKE CENTRAL AIRLINES
NORTH CENTRAL AIRLINES
CENTRAL AIRLINES
FRONTIER AIRLINES
OZARK AIRLINES
TRANS-TEXAS AIRLINES
BONANZA AIRLINES
PACIFIC AIRLINES
WEST COAST AIRLINES

This is a blog to collect your memories or comments about these 13 airlines.
I will start and hopefully we will have your feedback.

In the 1960's I did a lot of watching airliners at Cleveland Hopkins Airport (CLE). Among my favorite airlines were the regional airlines, or local service carriers. As a good connection point we had 4 of the 13 at CLE. Allegheny Airlines brought passengers in for connections from points in Pennsylvania like Erie and Bradford. Mohawk Airlines did the same mainly from New York State, North Central Airlines from Michigan, and Lake Central Airlines from Ohio and Indiana. By the time I saw them Allegheny was operating Martin 202A and Convair 440 types. North Central still flew a few DC-3's but mainly used Convair 340's and 440's. Lake Central flew mostly DC-3's and some Convair 340s they acquired from United Airlines. Mohawk used the Convair 240, and Martin 404 in CLE. Of course all of these later used jet-prop or jet airliners, but the days of the piston powered props was fascinating. There were a lot of cantankerous engines blowing blue smoke and backfiring. I was lucky enough to fly on each of these four over the years. Can you add some memories to this blog?

Please add, correct or comment on this article.
Thanks,
Werner Lindquist (pugman1948)


pugman1948, LLC is an ebay and Auctiva business that offers bidders vintage airline collectables such as timetables, brochures and other paper ephemera.  All of my listing can easily found each week at..   http://store.auctiva.com/pugman1948

BRANIFF INTERNATIONAL AIRWAYS

"THE END OF THE PLAIN PLANE"

DO YOU HAVE ANY MEMORIES OR COMMENTS ABOUT BRANIFF?

With roots back to 1930, Braniff Airways was a major airline based in the central United States. It was established by two Braniff brothers in Dallas Texas. Later it would add an expansion of service to South and Central America.

In 1952 it successfully acquired Mid-Continent Airlines, another airline from the mid-U.S.

In 1965 the airline undertook a bold step. It was decided to leave the conservative red, white and blue "Pepsi-Cola" livery and begin a new "End of the Plane Plane" livery meaning that all of the aircraft would be painted several different solid colors while still retaining the basic black text of the airline name. This applied to older aircraft like the Prop -Jet Lockheed Electra II, and the rest of the jet fleet. Even the ground handling equipment was painted the solid colors. Besides the multi colored fleet the flight attendants were to wear some "space age" looking outfits, some even with clear space helmets.

Two exceptions to the solid color scheme was a single Douglas DC-8-62 painted by Mexican artist Alexander Calder.  Another in 1976, Calder painted the "Colors of Liberty" in red, white and blue for the 1976 Bi-centennial. The airliner was one of several acquired in the take over of Panagra Airlines, a South American affiliate airline of Pan American (Pan Am).

http://www.dc-8jet.com/bnfdc862calder.htm

One of the most unique of the color liveries was a single Boeing 747 painted in bright orange.

Braniff was the only U.S. carrier to operated schedules flight with the Concorde. Their crew would pick up the plane at Washington Dulles and fly it sub-sonic to Dallas Texas. This proved unpopular and was soon dropped.

In 1982 the airline went bankrupt, many say a victim of deregulation.

Two other Braniff Airways were startup carriers after the collapse. Both of them are extinct.


pugman1948, LLC is an ebay and Auctiva business that offers bidders vintage airline collectables such as timetables, brochures and other paper ephemera.

Please add, correct or comment on this article.
Thanks,
Werner Lindquist (pugman1948)

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http://store.auctiva.com/pugman1948


Thanks,
Werner Lindquist (pugman1948)                               

Link to BRANIFF Video

UNITED AIRLINES 1969


DO YOU HAVE ANY MEMORIES OR COMMENTS ABOUT THE CARAVELLE?
 

United Airlines was an all jet airline in 1969. It operated the DOUGLAS SUPER DC-8-61, DOUGLAS DC-8, BOEING 727-100, BOEING 727-200, SUD CARAVELLE, BOEING 737, and BOEING 720.

It had acquired Capital Airlines in 1961. Capital had previously been called Pennsylvania Central Airlines.

The addition of the French Caravelle to the fleet supplied United with a quiet and smooth performing Rolls-Royce powered jetliner. It operated as all first class in a day when that would mean just a few dollars more. United ordered 20 of the rear mounted twin engined jets, of which all would be safely retired many years later. They had triangular windows with a soft amber color ( a bit like a clear vicks cough drop).  The cockpit was a authorized copy of the DeHavilland Comet.

Please add, correct or comment on this article.
Thanks,
Werner Lindquist (pugman1948)

pugman1948, LLC is an ebay and Auctiva business that offers bidders vintage airline collectables such as timetables, brochures and other paper ephemera. All of my listing can easily found each week at..   http://store.auctiva.com/pugman1948

MOHAWK AIRLINES AND THE DC-3


DO YOU HAVE ANY MEMORIES OR COMMENTS ABOUT MOHAWK?

Mohawk Airlines began as Robinson Airlines of Ithica, New York in 1940. In 1952 the airlines was sold to Robert Peach who remained the CEO until the airline was purchased by Allegheny Airlines in 1972. This is one of the 13 local service airline carriers of the 1950's, 60's and 70's that provided passenger and mail connection service between smaller U.S. cities and large city airports. Three of these airlines Mohawk Airlines, Allegheny Airlines and Lake Central Airlines would eventually become the first USAir Airlines.

The airline flew the following airliners Douglas DC-3, Convair 240, Convair 440, Martin 404, Fairchild FH-227B prop-jet and BAC-111-200 jet. It's headquarters was Utica New York at the Utica/Rome Airport.

In 1960 Mohawk introduced "Gaslight service" on some of their DC-3 flights. The livery was 1890's inspired and the appropriately dressed stewardess served snack and beer.

It's original mascot and trademark was "Lil Moh", a politically incorrect Mohawk Native American.

It was the only regional airline to order new Convair 440 Metropolitan Airplanes.

It was the first and only regional airline to fly the British Rolls-Royce powered BAC-111 jet.

Mohawks route structure was centered in New York state and extended north to Montreal, south to Washington D.C. and west to Cleveland and Detroit.

In the 1960's they introduced the "unlimited ticket" which entitled the buyer to fly unlimited on Saturdays and Sundays for $25.00. I set a record in 1967 completing 20 take offs and landings in the 2 days.

Please add, correct or comment on this article.
Thanks,
Werner Lindquist (pugman1948)

pugman1948, LLC is an ebay and Auctiva business that offers bidders vintage airline collectables such as timetables, brochures and other paper ephemera.  All of my listing can easily found each week at..   http://store.auctiva.com/pugman1948