USA PROPLINER FLIGHTS - 1970s - PART 2
Convair CV-580 September 1979

We had just arrived at Lake Tahoe, California as passengers on this CV-580 N5814 from Burbank.
Aspen Airways based at Aspen, Colorado were leasing this CV-580 to Air California at the time

Lockheed Electra September 1979

Air California L.188 N124AC arrives at Lake Tahoe next day, on which we flew to San Francisco

Climbing out of Lake Tahoe,  the Electra crosses the peak of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range
NAMC YS-11 September 1979

NAMC YS-11 N169P loading cargo bins at 3AM at Baltimore, during a multi-stop freight run with Pinehurst Airways,
operating for the Airborne Charter Express air freight network.

Next morning at Wilmington, Ohio which was an Airborne Charter Express hub.  The Convair 600s were from Midwest Express

N169P's Captain George Greig is centre, with Pinehurst YS-11 F/Os Bill Berryhill and Bob Corbett

Lacking the stamina of night air freight pilots, I was well and truly bleary-eyed the following afternoon,  during a spell
in the right-hand seat as we continued the fog-delayed freight schedule
Confederate Air Force warbird flights at Harlingen, Texas in October 1977 & 1979

The Confederate Air Force Colonels were noted for their southern hospitality, especially to international travellers.
I was extremely grateful for the rides they arranged on ex-military warbirds at their annual airshows in 1977 and 1979.
This Douglas B-23 Dragon N4000B had been converted to an executive aircraft in 1946 by Pan American Airways

The B-23's proud owner CAF Colonel Tom Page on left flew the B-23 with Jim Hill, whose experience went back to
being an instructor on the B-23s which Pan Am converted for the corporate market after WWII



From the B-23 cockpit, following a B-24 Liberator and B17 Flying Fortresses in a bomber flypast at the CAF airshow

Airborne at Harlingen in a Grumman Avenger formation, from the rear seat of Grumman TBM-3 N53503

After a stomach-wrenching hour of low-level airfield attacks in a B-25 Mitchell, the crew protect Laden Maiden's modesty.
In May 1978 this B-25 N9494Z was one of five flown to England for the movie Hanover Street

Highlight was an hour's flight in the luxurious cushioned rear blisters of this Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina N68756
with its owner, Australian CAF Colonel Mike Wansey. It had been modified as a Landseaire corporate air yacht in 1952.
Several years later Mike had it repainted in RAAF wartime markings and N68756 flew to Australia and back to Texas

 
View from the PBY-5 rear blister on a low run in across Harlingen airfield, B-17s, A-20 and B-24 at the runway holding point
Beech Super H18 freighter September 1979


Brandt Air Beech H18 N34AP at Honolulu unloading freight after an early morning bread delivery to Hawaiian islands
Herman Brandt offered the ride, but warned that I would be helping the pilot with the loading and unloading

Four hours earlier N34AP had taken off at Honolulu into a tropical sunrise. Diamond Head volcano in right ahead.
The Beechcraft was loaded with freshly-baked bread for Molokai and Lanai

Pineapple farms to the horizon as we cross the island of Lanai delivering their morning bread

On the flight back to Honolulu, items of general cargo items replaced the bread in the cabin

Affable Twin beech pilot David Ho on the way back to Honolulu, where he begins his day job in the city
Douglas DC-4 freighter, September 1979

Air Distribution Inc at Honolulu operated two Douglas DC-4s on inter-island heavy freight.
I went along on N401AD from Honolulu to Hilo, where it is about to unload a TransAm car before the rest of the cargo.

N401AD's Captain Byron Black had flown F-105s in Vietnam, and now owned his own Beech 18 at Honolulu

A pleasant flight down the coastline of Maui on the 2hr 20 minute flight to Hilo

Cargo containers in the DC-4 cabin. Air Distribution modified their DC-4s to carry full-size international airline containers.
Both their DC-4s have the widest cargo doors approved by FAA for the DC-4 type

Pratt & Whitney R-2000 in the sunset. View from the DC-4 right hand seat on the flight back to Honolulu

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