IT's OFFICIAL: Follow the Red Tail is no more !!

[A4sForever]

Wonder how much Eastern and American saved on weight with polished airplanes.

Since more airlines don't do it, I have to imagine the time/cost associated with keeping polished airplanes free of corrosion (especially in the norther tier!) offset -- or more than offset -- the fuel savings from the weight.

That was one of the many ongoing "battles" between Braniff (paint) and American (shiny) when American moved their corporate HQ down to Dallas.

Braniff maintained it was worth haulin' the extra weight around (flew a lot of Caribbean, Mexico, Central & South America as well as CONUS) to save on maint. costs (labor & materials) for the never-ending corrosion problem. American said "no, no, no" and suffered a lot of corrosion when they pickup up some of Braniff's routes to SA.

Who was right ??? Don't know -- Braniff's gone & American's still here. But Braniff pilots always said: "We love to fly & it shows ... "

Especially when the originators of that catch-phrase were within earshot ...

 

[Fog]

NWA lost all its "cool" quotient when it stopped calling itself Northwest Orient Airlines. Now that was cool. They flew DC-7B's & C's to Japan back when polar routes were exotic, dangerous & required a trained navigator.

 

[A4sForever]

NWA lost all its "cool" quotient when it stopped calling itself Northwest Orient Airlines. Now that was cool. They flew DC-7B's & C's to Japan back when polar routes were exotic, dangerous & required a trained navigator.

You got that right ... it was "cool" ... and the hard-core continued to call it "Northwest Orient Airlines" .. In the earlier post-War days -- the international birds were more likely to carry the "Orient" livery whereas it didn't always appear on the domestic side of the house ... the airline as a whole was still referred to as NW "Orient" ...

The term "Red Tails" always worked ... until recently. :icon_cryi

They way they 'splained it was: "it needs to be changed; it's the longest corporate name in the world with the exception of Colonel Sander's Kentucky Fried Chicken ... "

The reality: it represented the leading edge of PC overreaction to anything that remotely smacked of "racial" in this country on the corporate level.

In this case -- it was an overreaction to calling the "Orient" ... the Orient.

Believe it.

 

[Fog]

A4s: THose are great pics. Thanks. Tell me, the 707ish a/c over Honolulu, is that a 720? It sure looks short 'n fat - sorta like a 737 w/ 4 engines. Thanks.

 

[A4sForever]

A4s: THose are great pics. Thanks. Tell me, the 707ish a/c over Honolulu, is that a 720? It sure looks short 'n fat - sorta like a 737 w/ 4 engines. Thanks.

Quite correct -- good peepers and good a/c ID, Fog

When they started buying Boeing jets -- the company tended to use the -720 on CONUS and West Coast-Honolulu routes ... the -707 went across the big pond. Please note in the photo the relative LACK of high-rise development in Waikiki and Ft DeRussy is still Ft DeRussy -- no Hale Koa -- (just under the nose/belly of the -20) ... it's the way I remember it as a kid when we lived there.

From an ol' company missive from the '60's -- the info is really, really old and kinda historic:

Northwest Orient Airlines service to Hawaii was inaugurated on December 22, 1948.

Northwest became a prime contractor in the Korean Airlift in 1950. Flying DC-4 aircraft, Northwest completed 1,380 Korean Airlift round-trip trans-Pacific crossings, more than 13 million miles. During this period they flew 40,000 soldiers and 12 million pounds of cargo across the Pacific at no interruption to their regular commercial trans-Pacific schedule of flights. Service was in DC-4 aircraft, on the Seattle/Tacoma-Portland-Honolulu routing. Stratocruisers were placed on the run subsequently, and in December, 1953, Northwest began service with DC-6Bs. DC-8 jets went into operation in September, 1960; service was interrupted by a strike and the present 720B service was begun in June, 1961. Northwest currently operates a daily round trip through-plane service linking New York, Chicago, Seattle-Tacoma, Portland and Honolulu. (I wish ... if only )

 

[HackerF15E]

I can still remember the ads from when I was a kid...

"Northwest Orient Airlines....the world is going ouuuuuur waaaaaaayyyyyy."

My mom used to be a 'stew' for Northwest on Electras back in the day.

 

[MPH]

You Mom was one of the "hard-core" ...

...Did A4 just crack a "your mom" joke?

 

[A4sForever]

My mom used to be a 'stew' for Northwest on Electras back in the day.

You Mom was one of the "hard-core" ...

Maybe she's in this:

 

[HackerF15E]

...Did A4 just crack a "your mom" joke?

Yep, I figured there'd be one of those thown at such bait while among flight suit wearers.

I'd expect nothing less!

 

[A4sForever]

Hmmmmmm ... got this in the mail today .... do you think there's something they're not tellin' me just yet ... ???

Typical w/ this outfit: the pilot's always the last to know ...

 

[Flugelman]

Hmmmmmm ... got this in the mail today .... do you think there's something they're not tellin' me just yet ... ???

Typical w/ this outfit: the pilot's always the last to know ...

Well, at least they tell ya where to "stick it"...

 

[nittany03]

Hmmmmmm ... got this in the mail today .... do you think there's something they're not tellin' me just yet ... ???

Typical w/ this outfit: the pilot's always the last to know ...

Nice . . . that's almost as good as the "Jury Duty Questionnaire" I got from Schenectady County 4 years after leaving the People's Republic of NY for good, residence-wise. No. I don't live there anymore. Go away.

Didn't know you were ever qualled in the Airbus. A sideline to the 747, perhaps? A secret fondness for escargot?

 

[HackerF15E]

Maybe Boeing is going to buy Airbus.

 

[eddie]

Maybe Boeing is going to buy Airbus.

That would simplify the tanker thing...