Happy New Year...

I wish everyone the best for 2011...

Now go away, quit bothering me, I'm going back to sleep...

Another Christmas bites the dust...

Just got back from a semi-peaceful Christmas with the kids and grandson...

And yes, contrary to popular opinion, I DID have a Christmas tree... so there... :-)

My grandson with the 90 lb Rottweiler that thought I was his personal chew toy/play toy...

Two falls out of three--- Ready...

And a pin by the Rott... EVERY TIME :-) 90lbs of dog vs. 90lbs of boy is NO contest...

And I saw a LOT of this face... Okay... throw the ball/toy/stick... THROW IT... If you don't throw it, I'm gonna come over there and bite you...

And he'd bring it back, slobbering over my pants and my hand... and if I didn't pick it up or throw it, he'd 'lean' on me... hard enough to move the chair!

Anyhoo... a GOOD time was had by all, way too much food consumed, and plenty of quiet conversation to catch up... I wish each of you a Happy New Year, and hope that 2011 is better for you and yours!!!

I did meet an interesting couple at the airport, he was 94 and she was 92, and they'd been married 63 years; and were still VERY spry!

He saw my Navy bag tag, and his first question was whether the Navy still stood in line for everything, and he laughed when I told him yes, nothing had changed... He was proud of the fact that he'd never had a DC tour, and spent all his years in the Fleet as a "real" sailor.

He went in in 1939 as an E-2 Signalman, retired in 1959 as an O-6 and was a Destroyerman... He was in Task Force 58 during the major battles, under both RADMs Halsey and Mitscher. He later commanded a Destroyer at Inchon in Korea.

I would have loved to sit and get him to talk about those days for the archives, but he and his wife were on their way back to Florida, as he had a tee time Thursday morning with his regular foursome :-)

I just hope I'm doing HALF that well at that age :-)

Missing person- BOLO...

EDIT- as of now the young lady HAS BEEN FOUND! No information on condition or anything else.

From Snigs- a missing young lady. Please be on the lookout for:

25 year old Nicole Taylor. She was last heard from around 8:30 Thursday morning. She is in a dark blue Chevy Silverado (4door) tag- Mississippi DD8893. Today while you’re out and about keep an eye out for this tag or her… and either contact Jennifer Wallace, 706 872 9499, Jim Wallace, 706-466-4680 , or Toni Chambers, her mom, at 706 872 8436 if you have any information!

The rest of the information is HERE on Snigs post...

Two photographic perspectives on History...

Charles Lindbergh's flight

Win Perkins, a real estate appraiser who specializes in airport properties, has posted on his Web site a video he created of Charles Lindbergh's famous and risky takeoff in the Spirit of St. Louis .. According to Perkins, this is unlike any other presentation of the takeoff footage. Perkins said he "painstakingly assembled news footage from five cameras that filmed Lindbergh's takeoff from Roosevelt Field, Long Island " and "mixed it with enhanced audio from the same newsreel sources."

This is one of the most interesting videos I've seen come over the Internet. When you click HERE, episode #3 comes up ready to play.

I'd suggest you first click on "CONTACT" to the left and select #1, then watch them in order, #1 through #4. I was glued to the screen through all 4.

As an Aviator, I cannot imagine what it took for Lindbergh to overcome the odds against him and accomplish this amazing feat...

31 hours, over 3000 miles, DR navigation all the way... Simply amazing!!!

And HERE is a link to some photos of Davis Monthan from the late 60's This was a MUCH earlier time, when you could actually get out among the planes and see things.

I do remember going out there in 1971 and scavenging parts off the Navy WV birds (Super Connies) and seeing Gen McArthur's personal airplane a C-54 with Battan on the nose. We joking called Monthan our spare parts locker...

Merry Christmas to All!!!

Flight planning complete.

PMs are complete, sleigh is loaded, weight and balance is signed off.

Reindeer are fueled, mid-flight refueling is scheduled (hay and sweet oats)

Coffee and box lunch is aboard...

Santa is suited up, it's time to get the show on the road...

Launch em, launch em, launch em!!!

Merry Christmas to all!

This one of my all time favorite Norman Rockwell covers... You can see more HERE

Lest We Forget...

A Must Read before we go into the Holidays with OUR families:

God (or your deity of choice) bless all our Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines.

On Nov 13, 2010 Lt General John Kelly, USMC gave a speech to the Semper Fi Society of St. Louis , MO. This was 4 days after his son, Lt Robert Kelly, USMC was killed by an IED while on his 3rd Combat tour. During his speech, General Kelly spoke about the dedication and valor of the young men and women who step forward each and every day to protect us. During the speech, he never mentioned the loss of his own son. He closed the speech with the moving account of the last 6 seconds in the lives of 2 young Marines who died with rifles blazing to protect their brother Marines. "I will leave you with a story about the kind of people they are...about the quality of the steel in their backs...about the kind of dedication they bring to our country while they serve in uniform and forever after as veterans. Two years ago when I was the Commander of all U.S. and Iraqi forces, in fact, the 22nd of April 2008, two Marine infantry battalions, 1/9 "The Walking Dead," and 2/8 were switching out in Ramadi. One battalion in the closing days of their deployment going home very soon, the other just starting its seven-month combat tour. Two Marines, Corporal Jonathan Yale and Lance Corporal Jordan Haerter, 22 and 20 years old respectively, one from each battalion, were assuming the watch together at the entrance gate of an outpost that contained a makeshift barracks housing 50 Marines. The same broken down ramshackle building was also home to 100 Iraqi police, also my men and our allies in the fight against the terrorists in Ramadi, a city until recently the most dangerous city on earth and owned by Al Qaeda. Yale was a dirt poor mixed-race kid from Virginia with a wife and daughter, and a mother and sister who lived with him and he supported as well. He did this on a yearly salary of less than $23,000. Haerter, on the other hand, was a middle class white kid from Long Island . They were from two completely different worlds. Had they not joined the Marines they would never have met each other, or understood that multiple America's exist simultaneously depending on one's race, education level, economic status, and where you might have been born. But they were Marines, combat Marines, forged in thesame crucible of Marine training, and because of this bond they were brothers as close, or closer, than if they were born of the same woman. The mission orders they received from the sergeant squad leader I am sure went something like: "Okay you two clowns, stand this post and let no unauthorized personnel or vehicles pass." "You clear?" I am also sure Yale and Haerter then rolled their eyes and said in unison something like: "Yes Sergeant," with just enough attitude that made the point without saying the words, "No kidding sweetheart, we know what we're doing." They then relieved two other Marines on watch and took up their post at the entry control point of Joint Security Station Nasser, in the Sophia section of Ramadi, Al Anbar, Iraq . A few minutes later a large blue truck turned down the alley way-perhaps 60-70 yards in length-and sped its way through the serpentine of concrete jersey walls. The truck stopped just short of where the two were posted and detonated, killing them both catastrophically. Twenty-four brick masonry houses were damaged or destroyed. A mosque 100 yards away collapsed. The truck's engine came to rest two hundred yards away knocking most of a house down before it stopped. Our explosive experts reckoned the blast was made of 2,000 pounds of explosives. Two died, and because these two young infantrymen didn't have it in their DNA to run from danger, they saved 150 of their Iraqi and American brothers-in-arms. When I read the situation report about the incident a few hours after it happened I called the regimental commander for details as something about this struck me as different. Marines dying or being seriously wounded iscommonplace in combat. We expect Marines regardless of rank or MOS to stand their ground and do their duty, and even die in the process, if that is what the mission takes. But this just seemed different. The regimental commander had just returned from the site and he agreed, but reported that there were no American witnesses to the event-just Iraqi police. I figured if there was any chance of finding out what actually happened and then to decorate the two Marines to acknowledge their bravery, I'd have to do it as a combat award that requires two eye-witnesses and we figured the bureaucrats back in Washington would never buy Iraqi statements. If it had any chance at all, it had to come under the signature of a general officer. I traveled to Ramadi the next day and spoke individually to a half-dozen Iraqi police all of whom told the same story. The blue truck turned down into the alley and immediately sped up as it made its way through the serpentine. They all said, "We knew immediately what was going on as soon as the two Marines began firing." The Iraqi police then related that some of them also fired, and then to a man, ran for safety just prior to the explosion. All survived. Many were injured...some seriously. One of the Iraqis elaborated and with tears welling up said, "They'd run like any normal man would to save his life." "What he didn't know until then," he said, "and what he learned that very instant, was that Marines are not normal." Choking past the emotion he said, "Sir, in the name of God no sane man would have stood there and done what they did." "No sane man." "They saved us all." What we didn't know at the time, and only learned a couple of days later after I wrote a summary and submitted both Yale and Haerter for posthumous Navy Crosses, was that one of our security cameras, damaged initially in the blast, recorded some of the suicide attack. It happened exactly as the Iraqis had described it. It took exactly six seconds from when the truck entered the alley until it detonated. You can watch the last six seconds of their young lives. Putting myself in their heads I supposed it took about a second for the two Marines to separately come to the same conclusion about what was going on once the truck came into their view at the far end of the alley. Exactly no time to talk it over, or call the sergeant to ask what they should do. Only enough time to take half an instant and think about what the sergeant told them to do only a few minutes before: "...let no unauthorized personnel or vehicles pass." The two Marines had about five seconds left to live. It took maybe another two seconds for them to present their weapons, take aim, and open up. By this time the truck was half-way through the barriers and gaining speed the whole time. Here, the recording shows a number of Iraqi police, some of whom had fired their AKs, now scattering like the normal and rational men they were-some running right past the Marines. They had three seconds left to live. For about two seconds more, the recording shows the Marines' weapons firing non-stop...the truck's windshield exploding into shards of glass as their rounds take it apart and tore in to the body of the son-of-a-bitch who is trying to get past them to kill their brothers-American and Iraqi-bedded down in the barracks totally unaware of the fact that their lives at that moment depended entirely on two Marines standing their ground. If they had been aware, they would have known they were safe...because two Marines stood between them and a crazed suicide bomber. The recording shows the truck careening to a stop immediately in front of the two Marines. In all of the instantaneous violence Yale and Haerter never hesitated. By all reports and by the recording, they never stepped back. They never even started to step aside. They never even shifted their weight. With their feet spread shoulder width apart, they leaned into the danger, firing as fast as they could work their weapons. They had only one second left to live. The truck explodes. The camera goes blank. Two young men go to their God. Six seconds. Not enough time to think about their families, their country, their flag, or about their lives or their deaths, but more than enough time for two very brave young men to do their duty...into eternity. Those are the kind of people who are on watch all over the world tonight-for you. We Marines believe that God gave America the greatest gift he could bestow to man while he lived on this earth-freedom. We also believe he gave us another gift nearly as precious-our soldiers, sailors, airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines-to safeguard that gift and guarantee no force on this earth can every steal it away. It has been my distinct honor to have been with you here today. Rest assured our America, this experiment in democracy started over two centuries ago, will forever remain the "land of the free and home of the brave" so long as we never run out of tough young Americans who are willing to look beyond their own self-interest and comfortable lives, and go into the darkest and most dangerous places on earth to hunt down, and kill, those who would do us harm. God Bless America , and....SEMPER FIDELIS!" Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

There is something fishy about this...

Yet again sitting at the airport, getting ready to actually take a trip for PLEASURE :-) Going out to see the kids for Christmas... Since they are in Kalifornia, I've packed properly based on the weather, hip waders, life jacket, foul weather gear... Yep, I'm ready...

IAD has NO porno-scanners in operation, and have gone back to the 'old style' pat downs it looks like...

Loading was actually pretty light, no lines out the door, no really harassed CSAs or, well, anybody...

People were actually being NICE to each other, what a novel concept! And I didn't hear a single happy holidays, all I heard was Merry Christmas!

Blogging is going to be light for me for the next week, give or take; so I want to take this opportunity to wish each and everyone of you a Merry Christmas, (or your holiday greeting of choice), and I hope you have safe travels and enjoy the down time with your families.

Please take a minute and remember those in the military who are far from home on these holidays, they are the keepers of our freedoms!

How Many of These do YOU Remember Part 2 ???

And now, part 2...


Now defunct airlines that used to populate our skys before dereguation... And some of them were pretty damn good!!!


New York Air



Operated: 1980-1987
Cause and result demise: Financial, acquired by Continental
Interesting fact: New York Air was well known for its onboard bagged snacks, known as the "The Flying Nosh", from the Yiddish word nash, "to eat sweets, nibble on".


North Central Air Lines

Operated: 1952 - 1979
Cause and result of demise: Merged with Southern Airways to become Republic Airlines, which became part of Northwest Airlines, which is now part of Delta.
Interesting fact: It had its origins in 1939, when the Four Wheel Drive Company (FWD), a major manufacturer of four-wheel transmissions and heavy-duty trucks based in Clintonville , Wisconsin , opened a flight department and traded a company truck for a WACO biplane for their company's use.

Northeast Airlines

(added August 16, 2010)

Operated: 1931 - 1972
Cause and result of demise: Merged with Delta on August 1, 1972.
Interesting fact: Northeast was perhaps most famous for its dramatic "Yellowbird" campaign where its new delivery of Boeing 727-200 in 1967 were painted white and yellow. Its humble beginnings were as Boston-Maine Airways, which operated out of Boston , and was a joint venture between Boston and Maine Railroad and Maine Central Railroad.
Photo by Bruce Drum.

Ozark Airlines

(added August 16, 2010)

Operated: September 1950 - October 1986
Cause and result of demise: Merged with TWA.
Interesting fact: It operated a special toll-free number based in New Jersey between the 60s and 80s that required asking the telephone operator for number WX-8300. Also, comedian George Carlin once acted as a spokesperson for the airline.
Photo courtesy of AirNikon.

Pan American World Airways (Another one I've flown many a time to Europe)

Operated: 1927 - 1991
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy, remaining assets acquired by Delta Air Lines.
Interesting fact: During the mid-1970s, there were two Pan Am flights operated around the world to set or break previous around-the-world flying records. Liberty Bell Express broke the commercial plane around-the-world record with 46 hours, 50 seconds, making only two stopovers during the journey, one in New Delhi and the other in Tokyo-Haneda. The other was over the North Pole using the Clipper New Horizons, which was actually the same plane as the Liberty Bell Express, and took 54 hours, 7 minutes, and 12 seconds.

Pacific Air Lines / Southwest Airways

(added August 16, 2010)

Operated: 1946 - 1968
Cause and result of demise: Purchased by Howard Hughes to form Hughes Airwest, which was bought by Republic Airlines in 1980, which was bought by Northwest in 1986, which merged with Delta in 2009/2010.
Interesting fact: Pacific Air Lines Flight 773 crashed near San Ramon, CA on May 7, 1964, after a distressed passenger shot both the pilot and co-pilot before turning the gun on himself, causing the plane to crash and killing all 44 aboard. This was likely the first ever instance of a pilot being shot by a passenger.. Pacific also launched a controversial ad campaign in 1967 designed to play upon passenger's fears of flying. Flight attendants apparently handed out "survival kits" featuring hot-pink lunch pails containing a small security blanket, a "lucky" rabbit's foot, the best-selling book "The Power of Positive Thinking", and a fortune cookie containing the slogan "It could be worse. The pilot could be whistling 'The High and the Mighty'."
Photo by RuthAS.

Pacific Southwest Airlines (Flew this one a bunch going back and forth to San Diego from SFO/SJC)

Operated: 1949 - 1988
Cause and result demise: Financial, merged with USAirways, now reincarnated as commuter affiliate.
Interesting fact: With the slogan "The World's Friendliest Airline," PSA was known for its sense of humor and its recognizable trademark was a smile painted on the nose of each plane and an accompanying ad campaign declaring "Catch Our Smile.." After PSA was bought by USAir, ex-PSA mechanics would occasionally paint smiles on USAir planes as a joke.
Image courtesy of catchoursmile.com.

Peoples Express

Operated: 1981 - 1987
Cause and result demise: Sale to Texas Air holding, integrated into Continental Airlines.
Interesting fact: The airline used a simplified fare structure whereby all seats on a given route were offered at the same price, with slight differences between "Peak" and "Off-Peak" fares. All seats were in economy class, with the exception of "Premium Class" seating on overseas flights. Fares were paid on the flight.

Piedmont Airlines (Lots of miles on this one up and down the East Coast, a GOOD airline, totally screwed up by merging with US(less)Air)

Operated: 1948 - 1989Cause and result demise: Integrated into USAirways, and still operates as Piedmont Airlines.

Interesting fact: A original Piedmont Airlines DC-3 is located unrestored at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer , North Carolina . It still has its original paint scheme and parts.
Image courtesy of Ed Coates.

Presidential Airways

(updated August 18, 2010)

Operated: 1985 - 1989Cause and result of demise: Merged with Colgan Air in 1986, then became a feeder airline for Continental in 1987 and United in 1988. Eventually went bankrupt.

Interesting fact: It was founded in 1985 by Harold J. (Hap) Pareti, formerly an officer at People Express, as a low-cost carrier.
Image courtesy of dc-9.us .

RenoAir (Flew it once into Reno, they scared the crap outta me, I rented a car and DROVE back to SJC)

Updated August 18, 2010)
Operated: 1992 - 1999
Cause and result of demise: Integrated into American Airlines.
Image courtesy of Richard Silagi.

Republic Airlines

Operated: 1979 - 1986
Cause and result of demise: Bought by Northwest Orient, which rebranded itself after the merger as Northwest.Interesting fact: Apparently it is still possible to find a few old Republic logos around Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport and Memphis International Airport if one looks hard enough.

Southern Airways

Operated: 1949 - 1979
Cause and result of demise: Merged with North Central Airlines to become Republic Airlines.
Interesting fact: Southern Airways billed itself as the "Route of the Aristocrats". and used the slogan "Nobody's Second Class on Southern" in its television commercials. It was famous for its promotional shot glasses: for a time, a differently designed shot glass was issued each year. Original Southern shot glasses are valued by collectors of the airline's memorabilia.

Texas International Airlines (The first airline I ever flew on, in a Convair 660, and first flight in a DC-9A from TXK to DFW)

(Updated August 18, 2010)
Operated: 1944 - 1982
Cause and result demise: Texas Air, a holding company, bought Continental, filed for bankruptcy, and reemerged as Continental Airlines.
Interesting fact: It was known as Trans-Texas Airways until 1969 and its acronym then allowed competitors to derisively call it "Tree Top Airlines" and "Tinker Toy Airlines". It ran an ad campaign to counter it with a tagline: "No More Tinker Toys. No More Treetops. We are now Texas International Airlines". It apparently remains to this day the only carrier to bring jet service to the airports in Abilene , Hot Springs , Wichita Falls , San Angelo , Roswell , Hobbs and Texarkana.

Tower Air

Operated: 1983 - 2000
Cause and result demise: Bankruptcy
Interesting fact: Tower Air was prominently featured in such movies as Liar Liar and Turbulence. It was also one of the 'contract' carriers for the military, flying the "Freedom Birds" in various parts of the world.

Trans World Airlines (Over a million miles on TWA, flew them all over the world. Great service, coach seats as big as first class seats are today)

Operated: 1925 - 2001
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy, acquired by American Airlines.
Interesting fact: In the 1950s the TWA Moonliner, a futuristic exhibit that was placed by Howard Hughes, was the tallest structure at Disneyland and depicted atomic-powered travel to come in 1986.

ValuJet

Operated: 1993 - 1997
Cause and result of demise: ValuJet Flight 592, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9, crashed in the Florida Everglades on May 11, 1996 due to a fire caused by the activation of chemical oxygen generators that were stored in the cargo hold. The fire damaged the plane's electrical system and eventually overcame the crew, resulting in the deaths of 110 people.
Interesting fact: In order to save itself from the damaging effects of negative publicity, it took on a reverse merger with the much smaller company AirWays Corp. (currently AirTran Holdings). It thus now operates AirTran Airways.

Western Airlines

Operated: 1926 - 1986
Cause and result of demise: Merged with Delta Air Lines after failed buyout from Air Florida .
Interesting fact: During the 1970s, they promoted themselves as "The champagne airline" because champagne was offered free of charge to every adult passenger over 21 years old.

Thanks for reading, and I hope these posts elicited as least a few memories for folks...

As always, comments welcome with YOUR memories!

How Many of These do YOU Remember Part 1 ???

A friend who is a retired Airline Captain (who is bored to tears) sent me these, too good not to share!!!

Now defunct airlines that used to populate our skys before dereguation... And some of them were pretty damn good!!!

And yes, they are in small text... Too damn much info so I took it down a size to conserve space. Enjoy :-)

Air California (AirCal) (Flew this one a few times)

Operated: 1967 - 1987
Cause and result of demise: Ceased operations. Acquired piecemeal by American Airlines.
Interesting fact: One marketing program used by Air California in the early to mid 1970s was to offer school field trips to Sacramento at $25 a head, where school children would be taken on a tour of the California State Capitol, Governor's Mansion, and Sutter's Fort.
Image courtesy of dc-9.us .

Air Florida

Operated: 1971 - 1984
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy, sped up by the crash of the January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crash in Washington DC - assets obtained by Midway Airlines.
Interesting fact: Air Florida sponsored Southampton Football Club, an English Football League side, during the 1983-84 season, in which Southampton were league runners-up. The deal was cancelled after one season due to Air Florida's insolvency.
Image courtesy of securiteaerienne.

Allegheny Airlines

(Updated August 22, 2010)

Operated: 1953 - October 28, 1979, started in 1939 as All-American Airways.
Cause and result demise: Rebranded as USAir, then US Airways
Interesting fact: It was one of the first airlines to create an affiliated branded network of regional airline carriers operating in unison with Allegheny, which was called the Allegheny Commuter System.
Image courtesy of William Demarest.

Aloha Airlines (Flew this one a few times)


Operated: 1946 - 2008
Cause and result of demise: Chapter 11 bankruptcy, transfer of operations to Aloha Air Cargo.
Interesting fact: On April 28, 1988 Aloha Airlines Flight 243 was a scheduled Boeing 737-297 flight between Hilo and Honolulu in Hawaii . The aircraft suffered extensive damage after an explosive decompression in flight, but was able to land safely at Kahului Airport on Maui.

The safe landing of the aircraft with such a major loss of integrity was unprecedented and remains unsurpassed.

Braniff International Airways (My first time on a 747)


Operated: 1928 - 1982
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy. Some flights scheduled to leave on May 12, 1982, at Dallas Fort Worth Airport were actually forced to disembark, being told that their airline no longer existed.
Interesting fact: A Braniff plane and logo always appear after the closing credits in the South Park cartoon series. With the slogan : "Braniff - Believe It!"

Edit- Their logo appeared during seasons 1-10 of South Park, at which point the lifeless corporate corpse lawyered up and basically said "Hey, um, that's still our logo and if you want to use it, you need to pay." It did not appear to be anything extortionistic or lawyer-predatory, and the case was settled with the allowance that SP could continue using it, although they have chosen, for reasons known only to Matt and Trey, not to. H/T to Stingray



Capital Airlines

Operated: 1941 - 1961. (Had its origins as Pennsylvania Central Airlines from 1936)
Cause and result of demise: Merged into United Airlines
Interesting fact: In 1948, the first airborne television was installed on a Capital airplane.

Central Airlines


Operated: 1949 - 1967
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy. Sold to Frontier Airlines.
Interesting fact: Former president of Venezuela Laurence Lau was present on the maiden flight.
Image courtesy of Paul Freeman.

Chicago Air

Operated: 1985 - 1986
Cause and result of demise: Ceased service.
Interesting fact: It operated six Fokker F27 aircraft, and the call sign was "Wild Onion" in reference to the Chippewa Indian derivation of the name Chicago.
Image courtesy of David Oates.

Eastern Airlines (Lots of miles on these)

Operated: 1926-1991
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy
Interesting fact: An Ex-Airline Executive is set on purchasing the airline back under the original Eastern name, with the main hub being in MIA. It hopes to begin operations in the summer of 2011.

Empire Airlines

Operated: 1976 - 1985
Cause and result of demise: Purchased by Piedmont (see below), then USAir.
Image courtesy of Richard Silagi.

Frontier Airlines

Operated: 1950 - 1986
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy. It re-emerged as the current Frontier Airlines in 1994 from executives of the old airline.
Interesting fact: Frontier Airlines made history when they hired Emily Howell Warner on January 29, 1973. She was the first female airline pilot hired by a U.S. commercial airline.
Image courtesy of Old Frontier Airlines Collection.

Hughes Airwest

(Updated August 18, 2010)
Operated: 1968 - 1980
Cause and result of demise: Purchased by Republic Airlines in 1980.
Interesting fact: Hughes Airwest's predecessor was Air West, which itself was a merger of Pacific Air Lines, Bonanza Air Lines and West Coast Airlines. TWA's former owner and aviator Howard Hughes bought and rebranded the fleet in 1970. The unique yellow paint earned them the nickname of "Flying Bananas", which they then turned into a company catchphrase: "Top Banana in the West".

Kiwi International Airlines

Operated: 1992 - 1999
Cause and result of demise: Bankruptcy. In 1997, a medical doctor Dr. Charles Edwards tried to revive the airline (with an investment of nearly $20,000,000 of his own money), but idea was sadly abandoned.
Interesting fact: Kiwi International Air Lines enjoyed a flawless safety record and near perfect dispatch reliability rate of 99.6% in its expansion.
Image courtesy of A. J. Best.

Midway Airlines

Operated: 1976 - 1991. Began operations on November 1979.
Cause and result of demise: Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Interesting fact: Some of the signature inflight service items were after-dinner chocolate wafer mints and hot hand towels to the entire cabin, both of which had originally caught on with Midway's business clientele.
Image courtesy of Frank C. Duarte.

Mohawk Airlines

Operated: 1945 - 1972
Cause and result of demise: Labor issues and strikes caused it to consider merger with Allegheny (see below), later USAir.
Interesting fact: On February 11, 1958, Ruth Carol Taylor was hired by Mohawk Airlines, becoming the first African-American flight attendant in the United States . In 1961, it became the first airline to use a centralized computer based reservation service. In 1965, it became the first regional airline to utilize flight simulators.
Image courtesy of Tom Hildreth.

Muse Air


Operated: 1981 - 1987
Cause and result of demise: Liquidated by Southwest and renamed TranStar Airlines in 1985, and ceased operations in 1987.
Interesting fact: Started up by founder and one time president of Southwest Airlines, Marion Lamar Muse, it prohibited smoking on the plane long before federal regulations enforced it.
Image courtesy of Lamar Muse.

National Airlines

(Updated August 18, 2010)

Operated: 1934 - 1980
Cause and result of demise: Texas International Airlines offered to buy National in 1978, but they opted instead to merge with Pam Am in 1980. Deregulation as well as high costs for the acquisition would eventually lead to Pam Am's demise.
Interesting fact: In 1964, National became the first exclusively jet powered service in the United States . To supplement their branding and image (their logo was the Sun King, owing to the fact that they were based in Miami , Florida ), they opened a terminal at JFK called the Sundrome in 1970.
Image courtesy of Tom Hildreth.
Where not mentioned, photos are from Wikipedia.

This is the first half of the list, and NO I'm not doing internationals other than Kiwi, nor all the small regionals like PBA, Air South and others that didn't last more than a year or two...

Any comments appreciated, as always :-)