Speaking of aviation history

[YakkoWarner]

My first ride in an airliner was on a Connie from New York to Miami around 1949. I remember oil streaming out of one or more of the 4 engines.

If I remember correctly from the tour up at Airline History Museum some years ago, the Connie had something like a 50 or 75 gallon oil tank to supply the engines. Apparently radial engines are British because of the amount of oil they leak and drip and is considered normal....

 

[NutmegCT]

A friend, a former commercial pilot from the 1950s to 1980s, told me when TWA switched from Connies to 707s for passenger service, relegating Connies to cargo, TWA maintenance workers were told not to spend time cleaning the Connie oil drips. Friend said they were the dirtiest a/c on the tarmac.

 

[BobHaskell]

My first ride in an airliner was on a Connie from New York to Miami around 1949. I remember oil streaming out of one or more of the 4 engines.

My first ride was in a De Havilland Twin Otter. My ears hurt after that one. Apparently De Havilland is going to start producing a new Twin Otter.

 

[Gliderman8]

My first ride in an airliner was on a Connie from New York to Miami around 1949. I remember oil streaming out of one or more of the 4 engines.

My first flight was on a flight to upstate NY on Mohawk Airlines in the 60's. I can remember being airsick (along with most everyone else on the plane)
Anybody remember them?

 

[pdplot]

As I recall, they had a nickname. Not very complimentary.
They flew out of Westchester. Frequent daily frights.

 

[NutmegCT]

DH Twin Otter! I remember being a passenger on one back in the 1980s. Flew through a thunderstorm. Not fun. Cabin attendant actually quit *during* the flight.

 

[pdplot]

One of the smoothest flights I ever had was in 1968 in a brand-new DC-9 from Madrid to Lisbon. They had a beverage cart that the flight attendant rolled down the aisle. I think they were not permitted on US carriers at the time. I wonder how many are still flying?
My best flying story was right out of the Twilight Zone. In 1965, I had just gotten my student license and was practicing "smash and go" landings at Westchester. As I flew downwind in my Piper Colt (no flaps), the tower told me to follow a Ford Trimotor on left base. Sure enough, there it was. Quite a sight. The Tin Goose.

 

[Basil]

DH Twin Otter! I remember being a passenger on one back in the 1980s. Flew through a thunderstorm. Not fun. Cabin attendant actually quit *during* the flight.

When I was doing site surveys for the North Warning system, we used an Otter to fly to various base camps. From each base camp we would spend several days flying out to various mountain tops in a Bell Jet helicopter.

 

[Bayless]

In 1979 I was working on a contract with NASA for several months and came home to Oklahoma City every other weekend. The most convenient way was Continental nonstop to IAH then a 15 minute Twin Otter hop to Clear Lake. I was always impressed how easily it got on and off the ground. As I recall, that one lane Clear Lake landing strip was probably no more than a quarter mile long and the Otter didn't seem to need more than about half that.

 

[ckeithjordan]

Back in my airline days, I had plenty of occasion to ride on DeHavilland Twin Otters. One trip, into St. Bart’s in the Caribbean in the early 1980s, the Otter we were on flew just over the mountain top (where there was a sign to motorists to stop short of the top if a plane was approaching) then down the mountainside, onto the runway, which curved up the mountain (the other end was at the beach). The pilot brought the nose up, the stall warning went off and we drop onto the runway, rolling about 100 feet (so it seemed) to a stop. Greatest Disney “E” ticket ride ever! The airport at St. Bart’s was a shack for the gendarme, who checked your papers/passport at a chain link fence gate.

When I lived in California in the 1970s, Golden West Airlines was a big user of Twin Otters.

 

[DocDup1]

If I remember correctly, the oil consumption can be up to 10 gallons per hour on a Wright 3350. When new it is much less than that, but I can remember adding 40 or 50 gallons of oil to the DC7 after a one day of flying. I can still remember the look on the face of the young fuel truck driver the first time I asked him for oil. I told him that we would need about 40 and he showed up with 40 one quart cans. When I convinced him that these old airplanes do not think in terms of quarts but gallons he was speechless. All he had was quarts and it was about 40 degrees outside. It took him hours to pour 160 quarts of 60 weight at that temperature.

 

[DrEntropy]

The pilot brought the nose up, the stall warning went off and we drop onto the runway, rolling about 100 feet (so it seemed) to a stop. Greatest Disney “E” ticket ride ever!

Then going into Hong Kong must be St. Bart's on steroids.

The airport at St. Bart’s was a shack for the gendarme, who checked your papers/passport at a chain link fence gate.

In spring of 1972, Burlington, VT. airport was under construction and had the same style "terminal". Lots of mud as well.