By Fons Schaefers

In 1977 I had the rare opportunity to fly on a flying boat reminiscent of times gone by. The boat was a 1943-built Short Sandringham named Southern Cross and registered as VP-LVE. It was operated by Antilles Air Boats. Both that year and the year before, it came all the way from St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean to England to do some pleasure flights.

Preparations

When I received the “week ending 27 August 1977” edition of Flight International, this article caught my attention:

In the classified advertisement section of that same issue there was more information:

Wow. How nice it would be to enjoy such a pleasure flight! Er, why not try it? I called a spotting mate to see if he would like to join me. The answer was yes, very much. My issue of Flight had arrived on Saturday, August 27. The flights would start on Thursday, September 1, so I knew I had to be quick. I lived in the Netherlands, not England, so this meant I had some organizing to do.

On Tuesday, I called the Dorset number, or rather, I had a post office do that for me. It was the first time I made an international call, and, how could I know what the Blandford Dorset telephone code was? (The internet did not exist at the time, let alone Google.) The guy on the phone – I think he worked for, or even was, M.M. Aviation – said he had seats available for Monday afternoon, September 5, around 2:00 pm and we should report in Calshot on time. With that confirmation in the pocket, we arranged train tickets from Amsterdam to Southampton.

Late on Sunday, September 4, I left home, joined my pal and rode the train to Hoek van Holland to catch the night ferry from Hoek to Harwich. In London, we transferred from Liverpool Street station to Waterloo station by Tube (metro). In Southampton, we took a bus through the New Forest to Calshot village, arriving about 1:00 pm. There, we saw the Sandringham in the distance, between trees, floating in the water between the English coast and the Isle of Wight.

Next, we walked over to Calshot pier, the former RAF flying boat base, but found it deserted. However, soon after, a bus appeared full of air enthusiasts and the MM representative. Unbeknownst to us, they had assembled at a meeting point in Southampton. The representative was happy to see us, fearing we had not made it.

The airplane had arrived from Ireland on Friday around 17:30 pm. There were no flights over the weekend. Our flight was the first one on Monday afternoon. In the morning, there had been a flight for the press and other invitees. During that week, there were 17 flights in total, the last of which was on Friday, September 9. (On Tuesday, September 6, flights had to be cancelled because of low clouds.) Although Antilles Air Boats (AAB) was the operator, the boat was leased by Aer Arann, a small Irish airline normally flying between Galway, Ireland, and the three offshore Arann Islands. The ticket – or was it the boarding pass – mentioned “M. M. Aviation in conjunction with Antilles Air Boats” with no mention of Aer Arann. I assume their role was limited to some aeropolitical aspects while M.M. Aviation took care of local arrangements, sales and promotion. The fare was ₤19.50. According to the Bank of England, in 2024 this equals ₤112, or $143. Not only was this very cheap for a one-hour sightseeing flight, but when considering its unique and historical nature, it was a true bargain.

The Boat

A launch took us to the flying boat, which was moored quite a distance away. Calshot pier borders on Southampton Water, but for environmental reasons no permission had been obtained to use that. Rather, a stretch of water on the Solent abeam the Beaulieu river mouth (off Lepe) had been assigned.

We approached the boat from the rear and took our first pictures.

Next, we moored at the entrance left forward. Negotiating two steps down, we entered a vestibule area with access to the bow area, left, and the passenger compartments on the right. While this area was unfurnished, exposing the metal skin of the boat, the cabins were furnished with wood, reminding us that this airplane was built before plastics had invaded aircraft interiors. The seating arrangements were very unlike the modern jet tubes with its seats lined up as a military regiment. The main deck had four compartments, each seating six or eight in a club layout, for a total of 30.

Between the third and fourth compartment, there was a steep set of stairs, 59 cm (23 inches) wide, leading to the upper deck. At its top, to the left (so, forward in the direction of flight) was the galley. To the right there was another passenger compartment, seating 14.

The cabin diagram below, although taken from the AAB manual, was drawn by Ansett in 1965 for VH-BRC as the boat was then known. It shows the two decks, the five passenger compartments, the galley and the flight deck. Note the gender-specific toilets opposite the entrance door. Today, the boat is preserved in Southampton’s Solent Sky Museum. When I inspected the boat in December 2024, three more aft-facing seats were present in cabin B. It is likely that they were there in 1977 as well. I assume Ansett also had them, but did not show them as they were for the crew and not to be booked. In cabin D, there was one fewer forward-facing seat than Ansett showed.

Seating was open, but after 47+ years, we do not remember where we sat! The cabin and seat numbers were not marked in the boat.

During the cruise flight, we could freely roam around the two decks.

The cockpit, on the upper deck, was not accessible from the galley as the wing was in the way, although small items such as meals could be handed through. It could only be reached via a vertical set of steps in the vestibule area.

Taking turns, we were all allowed to climb the steps and take cockpit pictures in-flight. While waiting, I took a picture straight up. It shows the ceiling of the flight deck, the left arm of the co-pilot and a communications cord that is also visible in the next photograph, taken upstairs.

The captain was the famous Charles F. Blair Jr., founder and president of Antilles Air Boats and the third husband of the even more famous movie actress Maureen O’Hara.

Charles Blair was sadly to die one year later in an accident with a Grumman Goose. On the right sat Ronald Gillies, who had already flown the same airplane when it was still VH-BRC. Noel Hollë was the flight engineer and James C. (Jim) Flanagan, also a flight engineer, was the mooring man, or bow officer. Flanagan had greeted us from his prominent position in the bow when we arrived in the launch. At 29, he was by far the youngest member of the crew. He had only arrived the day before, and this was his first visit to the UK. According to documentation that was sent a few weeks later, Noreen Gillies, Ron’s wife, was the flight hostess. However, Maureen O’Hara was also on board, selling merchandise such as Sandringham T-shirts to the passengers after each flight. 

The flight deck itself was roomy, with seats not only for the two pilots but also for a flight engineer. Unlike in landplanes, his position was at the far end of the cockpit, facing backward.

In 2024, and very likely in 1977 as well, three more seats were present that are not shown in Ansett’s diagram. A navigator’s station, a jumpseat and a seat, according to a museum volunteer, that had been installed for Maureen O’Hara.

I do not remember if any safety briefing was given, but I doubt it. It is also unlikely there were safety cards for each passenger. There must have been cards posted in the compartments, as they were still there in 2024. They were for VH-BRC; AAB probably never made their own. For cabin E, the card was fixed above the stairs, not well in sight. In cabin D, it lacked altogether. Perhaps that one had been removed for or by an acquisitive collector?

The card shows the entrance door, on the left, a smaller hatch at the far right, plus an upper hatch, all as emergency exits. Both hatches were only accessible via the lower and upper cargo compartments, respectively, which, themselves, were accessible from the cabins. The card adds that “all windows may be used as exits.” On the lower frame of each cabin window was a sign saying:

Emergency exit – to eject window give a sharp blow towards one edge of window with foot or hand.

Above the portals between the compartments there were fasten seat belt – no smoking signs, very elongated as it used text, not symbols.

The Flight

Tension mounted as the door was closed, the launch left and the engines started. Charles Blair steered the boat into the wind and started the take-off. After a long run, with water splashing against the aft windows, it gently lifted off. The rate of climb was very low. We cruised at an altitude of not more than 500 feet (150 meters). I have no recollection of the route, but with its very modest cruising speed of about 120 knots (220 km/h), we possibly could have reached as far as Weymouth before returning. Or did we go to Bournemouth and then circle the Isle of Wight, as Trevor Bartlett reported was the case on his 6:51 pm flight that day? (see https://abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1276125). Perhaps a “boomer” from south England or the Isle of Wight will recognize the scenery in these pictures.

After about one hour, we came back in for the landing on the Solent. Suddenly, water splashed against the windows again. Upon mooring, we saw a boat waiting with the next group of enthusiasts and an empty boat waiting to pick us up.

Before returning to Calshot, we floated at a safe distance for taking pictures of Southern Cross taxiing and taking off on its next flight.

The press release for the September flights had announced that “Flying in Southern Cross recaptures something of the space and grace (and indeed the pace) of a near-forgotten era of civil aviation.” After 47 years, these words have only gained in significance.

Museum Piece

Southern Cross returned to Calshot in 1981. It did not do pleasure flights anymore, but was stored there. Later, it was taxied on its two inner engines across Southampton Water to Lee-on-Solent before being pontooned to Southampton. Since 1984, it has been by far the largest artifact in the local Solent Sky Museum. It has been repainted in the colours of Ansett Airlines, displaying the registration VH-BRC and bearing the name Beachcomber. While it had an impressive active life of almost 40 years, its passive, museum life has now surpassed that in years.

Registration mark

Why did the boat have that odd registration mark – VP-LVE? AAB was based in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), which follows U.S. aviation regulations. When Blair collected the boat in 1974 in Australia, he registered it as N158C. But the U.S. authorities would not allow him to use the N register for sustained operations with passengers. Across from the USVI, at a stone’s throw from St. John, was the island of Tortola, a regular AAB destination. This belonged to the British Virgin Islands (BVI). At the time, it issued registration marks in the VP-LVx range. Next in line was VP-LVE, which the BVI governor was happy to grant. The Director of Civil Aviation for BVI (as well as other British leeward and windward islands) well recognised the Sandringham’s certification, so that VP-LVE could be issued a Certificate of Airworthiness and could fly us, passengers.

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Sources

To fill the gaps in my memory and for additional information, I consulted:

• Rob Hemelrijk, who had joined me that day;
• Letter by Dersot Doran, dated 20 September 1977
• Fabulous Flying Boats, by Leslie Dawson, 2013
• antillesairboats.com

All black and-white photos, and the three exterior colour photos, were taken in 1977. Except for these three, all photos by the author.

Fons Schaefers: [email protected], January 2025

By Fons Schaefers

Introduction

In the 1970s, civil transport aircraft spotting was quite different from what it is today. Airport security was much more relaxed. Although airport ramps were off limits, at many airports it was easy to find vantage photography spots near runways. Even hangars were not always off-limits. The jet age was less than two decades old. First-generation jets ¹ were still being produced and flew in increasing numbers, all but up for phasing out. There was one exception, though: the Convair jets.

In the U.S., American Airlines had disposed of its Convair 990 fleet after only five years of operation. Most went to Europe and the Middle East. Delta had disposed of its fleet of 880s in 1973/74. TWA laid up its fleet of 25 880s around the same time, triggered by soaring jet fuel prices following the 1973 Arab-Israel war. The 880 consumed more fuel than its peers, such as the 707, so it was the first to go. All 25 were parked in one place. In those days, a congregation of so many identical airplanes was extremely rare.

U.S. Visit

Having been a civil aircraft spotter since 1973 and having visited the more exciting airports of Europe, in 1977 I decided to explore another spotters’ heaven: the U.S. Once the hurdle of obtaining a visa was taken (still an issue in those days; ESTA would be invented much later), I could plan my visit. My plan was to cross the entire U.S. in 30 days by Greyhound bus. High on the list were the military storage facility at Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, AZ (with a bus tour every second Saturday of the month), some major airports, the Grand Canyon (hoping for a scenic flight by Ford Trimotor, but alas…), Detroit Willow Run (for the Zantop prop fleet), Niagara Falls and Miami (for its corrosion corner). Also on the list was Kansas City.

TWA Convair 880s

Why Kansas City? JP Airline-Fleets, the contemporary spotter’s bible, in its 1976 edition, listed TWA’s congregation of 25 Convair 880s was right there:

In November 1976, the monthly spotter’s magazine Aviation Letter in # 120 reported:

In February 1977, the news was:

So, with some luck, the 880s were waiting to be logged and photographed when I would pass Kansas City on my way from New York to Tucson.

MCI, May 12, 1977

I left New York on Tuesday, May 10, at 7:00 pm, allowing me a brief, sunset visit to STL the next day. Another night on the bus, and I was in Kansas City. A short ride on the KCI Airport Express brought me to the new Mid-Continent International Airport (MCI) with its three circular terminals: A, B and C.

Looking east from the terminal area, I could see the Convairs. Through my binoculars, I identified the four nearest by registration number. But how nice would it be to have a closer look and take pictures? In terminal B, TWA had an information booth. I boldly stepped up and asked them if it would be possible to visit the Convairs. Quite to my surprise, the lady made one telephone call and then announced it was sorted. She handed me a TWA message note and said, “Take a taxi to the maintenance area and ask there for Larry Andrews.” (or words to that effect).

And so I did. Larry was waiting for me and handed me a visitor pass. Together we walked to the Convairs on the ramp east of the new hangar with its outstanding architecture. The sun was shining, casting sharp shadows. I noted the 880s were roughly parked in three rows. We started walking along the front row, with N808TW being the first, and I started taking pictures.

My tactic was not to take a picture of each airplane from the same angle, but rather a mix so that each airplane, including its registration mark on the tail or fleet number on the nose, would later be traceable. Conscious of time and intending not to ask too much of Larry, I went at quite a pace. At the end of the front row, there were some ships parked at an angle to that row. There we moved to the furthest ship and then returned between the middle and the back, constantly taking pictures.

Halfway, I changed the film from black and white to color slides. Larry shadowed me and offered to take a picture of me in front of one of the 880s.

When we were back to the point where we started, I spotted a set of maintenance steps and asked Larry if I could climb those to take some overview pictures. He agreed.

In all, I took about 35 pictures in what I estimate lasted about 20 minutes. Larry was so kind as to drive me back to the terminal area. I thanked him profusely. From a spot close to terminal C I took one final slide of the Convairs from a distance against a backdrop of the characteristic water tower and the KCAC building (which, as I learned much later, housed TWA administration) before continuing my trip through the United States.

One Month Later

Once back at home, with the pictures developed and returned to me (digital cameras were still futuristic), I could make a rough sketch of the parking pattern. For 23 ships, I positively fixed their location. For N828TW and N816TW, I was not so sure.

43 Years Later

Life went on, and occasionally, when seeing an article in a magazine about Convair 880s, I hoped there was an aerial picture so that I could validate my sketch. But it was in vain. Even Jon Proctor’s book on 880s and 990s did not have one, nor was he aware of any when I asked him at the WAHS convention in Portland, OR, in 2011. But in May 2020, I was lucky. Searching the internet, I found a picture on the website of the TWA Museum, 43 years after my visit. It had been posted in May 2018.

Now I could verify the actual pattern against my original sketch. Looking again at the overview slide, N828TW could be confirmed both by its location and number. But I had misplaced the location of N816TW. This was the only 880 that was not in any of my pictures. Or so I thought. It turned out that I did have a picture of it, taken straight from the rear, so that no registration marks were visible. By gauging the relative location of neighbor ships and by a process of elimination, it had to be #816. Puzzle solved.

Fate of the Convairs

Only twelve days after my visit, TWA sold the first of the 25 Convairs, and soon after, it was broken up on site: N811TW. Jon Proctor describes this as a tough job as its skin was much thicker than that of other airplane types, for which the demolition company was not prepared.

In 1978, N818TW was ferried to Van Nuys, CA, for conversion to a full freighter. Fifteen more Convairs were ferried to Harlingen, TX. Later, they were all ferried to the much drier climate of Mojave, CA. The eight ships remaining on the MCI ramp were broken up in 1979. Four of the Mojave ships were ferried to Atlantic City (3) or Laurinburg-Maxton (1) for use in FAA safety experiments. They were later destroyed, except for 803’s nose, which is kept in Teterboro, NJ. Of the remaining 12, the forward sections of two more ended up in museums: 871 in the Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta, and 817 in the Tillamook Museum in Oregon. Nine others were completely broken up around 2000. In 2024, only N828TW is still intact in Mojave, as N815AJ.

TWA Museum

When I contacted the TWA Museum in May 2020, I learned that Larry worked in material management at the time of my visit. He had retired since and sadly died. Reflecting on the warm welcome reception I received in 1977, I now surmise that perhaps TWA was so eager to sell the ships that anybody who asked to see them was considered a potential buyer and deserved to be shown around.

Last year, I visited the TWA Museum at the old Kansas City airport. On that occasion, I passed by the MCI maintenance area and saw a relic of the Convairs: Convair Drive. How apt.

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Footnote

1: As defined by Airbus, ref. Generations of Jet – accidentstats.airbus.com: Comet, Caravelle, BAC- 111, Trident, VC-10, 707, 720, DC-8, Convair 880/990.

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Sources

• Aviation Letter issue 120 (Nov. 1976), 123 (Feb. 1977) and 144 (Nov. 1978).
• Convair 880 & 990, Great Airliners Volume One, Jon Proctor, 1996.

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Fons Schaefers: [email protected], January 2025

By Jordan Raddatz

Friendships. We all have our fair share of them. United by a common interest. 

In the last couple years, I’ve learned that friendships and Airliners International go together like peanut butter and jelly. Or white on rice. Or any other famous combination. It’s such an important aspect that I don’t think many first-time attendees of the show truly understand. Through Airliners International, my existing friendships with two amazing people have strengthened, plus I’ve deepened many other friendships and made new ones.

I come from South Dakota, a part of the country no one really talks about. The only things we’re famous for are Mount Rushmore in the Black Hills, the Badlands, and a giant palace made of corn, which, around here, corn stretches the landscape for as far as the eye can see. I reside in Sioux Falls, the state’s largest city, a city that, in my opinion, doesn’t get a lot of appreciation. It’s a small city, though growing fast, with a lot of nice perks, parks, and places to check out.

But what about friendships? Well, they were hard for me to come by in grade school, especially when I was in middle and high school. My huge passion for aviation made me an outcast. There wasn’t anyone else at my school who knew airplanes as much as me, so it was hard to connect with them. Furthermore, there weren’t any other aviation enthusiasts I knew in the Sioux Falls area.

When I started posting to YouTube in 2017, most of my classmates mocked me for making those airplane videos. At one point during all this, an assistant teacher told me that if I wanted them to stop mocking my videos, I should stop making them. That’s ridiculous, I thought. Needless to say, I did not take her advice.

I took an aviation class in my junior year of high school, thinking I would finally find some friends. Unfortunately, I realized that the classmates there weren’t the best people either, so I had to step away from them, too. Eventually, I did make some friends at the end of my high school career, despite them not knowing a lick of aviation, but I try to chat with them when I’m not too busy.

Fast forward to 2020 and the global pandemic shuts the whole world down. This was also the time that I met Connor McCauley, a small-town boy from Oklahoma who also had his own YouTube channel. We started talking on social media, and since 2021, our friendship has developed.

That same summer, I discovered Airliners International. Someone mentioned the convention and showed off some airplane seats they bought, so I quickly became enthralled by what it was all about. Other people in my friend group started talking about it.

I conducted some research on the show, and I was blown away by what I found. A giant ballroom filled with tons of aviation memorabilia, including model airplanes. Tour opportunities at major international airports, seminars with awesome guest speakers, and much more! When I learned the following year’s convention would be in Chicago, I asked my parents if they could take me. My father is interested in helping out. We book the hotel and register for the convention over the winter.

I asked Connor about attending Airliners International. He was just as interested in the show as I was. He wasn’t sure if he could make it, but about a month out, he was able to get flights booked to and from Chicago. Now I finally get an opportunity to meet this guy and see what he’s all about!

The week of the show finally arrives, and my father and I drive the eight hours to Chicago, stopping in Rochester, MN, the night before the convention. We complete the drive the next morning, and that afternoon, I can do plenty of plane spotting at O’Hare. I even spotted a Singapore Airlines Airbus A350 that diverted from New York due to weather!

The next day marks the first day of my first Airliners International convention. The registration allowed me into the ballroom two hours ahead of the general public. I was amazed at the scale of the convention. That year, the show was spread out across several rooms and even two separate floors! Unable to resist, I blew through my budget in the first 30 minutes. 

It happened so fast that Connor barely got off the plane in Chicago before he found out about my shenanigans! I still get teased for doing that, but I think it’s justified. It was a good learning experience, as I go through my budget a little more carefully at these shows now. It’s also a lesson I teach other first-timers before they go.

The rest of the convention was great, though. On Thursday night, we attended a minor league baseball game for the Welcome Reception. Then on Friday night, Connor and I, along with a few friends of ours, met up at the parking garage I was at on Wednesday for some plane spotting. I enjoyed my time at the convention and couldn’t wait for next year. I thought Connor was an amazing person in the time I got to spend with him in Chicago.

Connor and I began to collaborate on videos promoting Airliners International that winter. We took the newsletters WAHS sent out regarding updates and made them into YouTube videos on his channel which made many more people discover the show. 2023 would bring many more of us to the Lone Star State, and with that some more great friends.

Now is a good time to introduce the second friend for this story. Anderson Lowell, another small-town resident, came all the way from Upstate New York. The first time I remember interacting with him was around 2021, when Connor and I became friends, though Anderson has told me he started watching my videos well before that. 

Connor and I talked with Anderson about Airliners International on a couple of occasions, and we convinced Anderson to attend the 2023 convention in Dallas. Eventually, he got the opportunity to attend, and it was the first time all three of us met in person. In addition to Anderson, I noted many more first-time, younger attendees who came out, some with their own social media accounts, further helping promote Airliners International to the younger audience at a crucial point in the convention’s history.

That year’s Welcome Reception brought us to Grapevine, a suburb north of the DFW Airport. They have a huge food court there called Harvest Hall, so we were all invited to go there and eat some great food. That’s where I spent a lot of time socializing with Connor and Anderson, plus a bunch of our other friends. 

The next day, I was at the convention for a couple of hours only, as I took a Planes and Trains Tour in Grapevine with some friends. This wasn’t a tour that was part of that year’s convention. When we returned to Grapevine, the weather turned and it began to sprinkle. Connor was helping other people with rides from the Hyatt Regency to Founders Plaza for the spotting meet-up. My train ride turned into a shuttle ride through the Grapevine area, eventually ending at Founders Plaza, super convenient for our group. A severe thunderstorm had developed by this time, but thankfully, it was past us and the airport. Anderson’s flight was delayed and left during the meet-up, but it was great to finally meet him as he was awesome to hang out with for the two days we had together.

As for the spotting meet-up, it was the best spotting I’ve ever done, as there was a lot of variety and plenty of pizza and drinks on hand, plus Founders Plaza is an iconic place to watch planes. The only thing missing was the British Airways A380, as the flight that day was canceled. I remember not eating anything earlier that day, so I downed about three pieces of pizza in two minutes!

The last day of the show was quite emotional as we said goodbye to a bunch of our friends. Some of them weren’t quite ready to leave us; they wanted another three days of this convention! But unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and when my family and I were leaving Dallas, I truly learned that the social aspect of Airliners International is the most important part of the show. Getting the opportunity to talk to your friends you’ve chatted with online for a long time is truly amazing and worth the time and price of your travels. I won’t forget those experiences for as long as I live.

Moving forward, I remember when Connor and Anderson got to meet up again in Atlanta for the annual collectibles show in October 2023. It was great seeing them have so much fun together at the show, and then when they flew on a Delta 757 up to Baltimore. 

Fast forward to summer 2024. In the weeks leading up to the convention, Connor had been traveling with David Powell in Europe. I remember following their travels when I visited my grandparents in Minnesota and whenever I had the opportunity at work. They got to fly all kinds of cool stuff, like a Virgin Atlantic A350-1000, KLM Embraer E2, and a British Airways A380 on the way back! Connor went to visit Anderson that weekend before Airliners International, and then they went to visit David in Indianapolis. 

I met both Connor and Anderson the Wednesday afternoon of the show, and we did the Tristar Experience together. It was our first time in an L-1011, an amazing beast of an aircraft, and it was also Anderson’s first tour at the convention. I still wish they would’ve readied her for a quick flight around KC — but at least seeing one was checked off my bucket list! We then did some plane spotting that afternoon, but only briefly.

The next day, we had a couple of hours in the ballroom with Anderson before he had to leave. His early departure inspired a few ideas in my mind for the three of us to meet up again; I assured Anderson of just that as we said our goodbyes. Connor and I enjoyed the rest of the show with plenty of time in the ballroom, the seminars, and the dinners, with the BBQ night on Friday and the banquet on Saturday. It was the first time I’d attended the banquet.

After the convention, Connor and I went to Sioux Falls, then to Minneapolis for a day for our first plane spotting together outside of Airliners International. Then it was time for him to head home after being away from home for three weeks. I concluded the summer working my summer job and making the rest of my YouTube videos.

A couple of months later, Connor, Anderson and I agreed to take a trip to Florida for a weekend in November. I would be flying on Allegiant Air into Nashville, where I would meet Connor. My flight was delayed because I was on Allegiant’s oldest Airbus A320. Clocking in at 27 years old at the time of my flight, the inbound flight was delayed, and then on the way out of Sioux Falls we had a computer issue in the cockpit. Fortunately, it got resolved and I wasn’t too far behind schedule; it didn’t matter anyway as all Connor and I had planned was getting to the hotel for the night. 

The next morning, we took a Spirit Airlines Airbus A320neo to Fort Lauderdale, where we would meet Anderson. But then he was delayed leaving Richmond, VA, so we wouldn’t see him until later in the afternoon. Connor and I went to Miami and checked out The Airplane Shop. Along the perimeter, we spotted some cool planes, including some World Atlantic MD-80s and the IFL Group Convair 5800!

After our Miami stay, we flew Silver Airways on an ATR-72 out of Fort Lauderdale to Orlando. For Anderson and me, it was our first time on an ATR aircraft and our first time on Silver Airways, while Connor had flown them earlier in 2024 to meet up with another friend. We spotted the entire day and checked out the B-52 memorial before dropping Anderson off at the Orlando International Airport and driving to Tampa for the night. Connor left early the next morning to get home for classes and I took an Uber to St. Petersburg for my Allegiant flight home. 

As I flew home, I spent some time reflecting on the trip, reminding myself how important this trip was to me. The first big thing was all the new experiences I had: flying by myself finally, utilizing rideshare services, and getting familiar with traveling with friends. All of these were great learning opportunities for me, so I could get comfortable with doing this again. 

The aspect of traveling with friends was the second big thing I reflected on during the flight. It was the first time Connor, Anderson and I traveled together, and it certainly won’t be the last. I had so much fun with them and it still feels surreal to me that I got to do this with friends I met through social media, who come from different parts of the country. Yet we are all united by a common interest in aviation.

As we close in on Airliners International 2025, looking back on this journey feels so surreal to me. From what started as a pretty rough go at it with not finding friends, it turned into moments of learning and growing through many different life experiences, and eventually finding those friends I’ve longed to have. All of those experiences have made me who I am today. Attending my first Airliners International convention three years ago, and meeting a friend I had known for over a year and a half at that point for the first time, and having so much fun doing it, enabled me to come back to the show in future years, and bring more of our friends out to the show. 

With all the fun Connor, Anderson and I have had at the last couple conventions, it allowed us to explore opportunities to do our own travels outside of the convention, of which we did for the first time last year. That has made me more comfortable traveling anywhere, and we will probably be back together traveling somewhere else in the future. I can’t wait for what’s next and I am ready to attend Airliners International again this summer.

By Marvin G. Goldman

In 1925, the owner of Coca-Cola, Asa Candler, leased to the City of Atlanta his abandoned auto racetrack site for development into an airfield named Candler Field.

The first airlines to serve Atlanta were Florida Airways which operated from 1926 to 1927; St. Tammany Gulf Coast Airways, 1927, which became a division of Southern Air Transport System in 1929 and in turn part of American Airways in 1930; Pitcairn Aviation which started in 1927, was renamed Eastern Air Transport in 1930 and then became part of Eastern Air Lines in 1934; and Delta Air Service (later named Delta Air Lines) in 1930. During the 1930s, both Delta and Eastern expanded their routes into and out of Candler Field and became the main airlines serving Atlanta at the time. 

In 1929, the City of Atlanta purchased the airfield from Asa Candler on favorable terms, and though the airport was officially renamed Atlanta Municipal Airport in 1942, it continued to be popularly referred to as Candler Field. 

Here is my earliest postcard of Candler Field showing an airline:

In March 1939, Candler Field built its first control tower in a six-story building with administrative facilities. The control tower can be seen in this next card:

In 1940, Delta Air Lines acquired four DC-2s, but these were retained only until the end of that year, being replaced by DC-3s.

During World War II, Candler Field also became a U.S. air base, and it doubled in size. In 1941, Delta moved its headquarters from Monroe, Louisiana, to Atlanta, and for decades it has been the dominant airline there. 

Passenger numbers continued to grow, and in 1948 the airport closed its old terminal building and moved operations into a Quonset hut war-surplus “temporary” terminal while it developed plans to build a larger permanent terminal. That year saw more than 1 million passengers pass through Atlanta airport. 

The “temporary” terminal proved to be not so temporary. It served until May 1961, when a new terminal designed to accommodate the jet age finally opened. Here are three postcards from the “temporary” terminal era (1948-1961) at Atlanta Municipal Airport.

On May 3, 1961, Atlanta Municipal Airport finally opened its new Jet-Age terminal, publicizing it as the largest single terminal in the U.S. The terminal was designed to accommodate 6 million passengers a year, but in its first year, 9.5 million passengers utilized it! 

Long-time Mayor William B. Hartsfield, the driving force behind the development of Atlanta Airport as a major airline hub, passed away on February 22, 1971, and on February 28, 1971, the airport name was changed to William B. Hartsfield Atlanta Airport. On July 1, 1971, following the launch by Eastern Air Lines of the airport’s first international service (to Mexico and Montego Bay),  the airport was again renamed to William B. Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport. 

On September 21, 1980, Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport opened the Midfield Terminal. It was the world’s largest air passenger terminal complex at the time, designed to accommodate up to 55 million passengers each year. It replaced in stages the old terminal and its concourses A through F.

In October 2003, to honor former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson, the Airport was again renamed, this time as Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. 

Since 1998, Atlanta Airport has been the world’s busiest passenger airport. It serves on average 2,700 departures and arrivals daily by airlines operating nonstop to more than 150 U.S. destinations and over 70 international cities in 50 countries. In 2024, Atlanta airport handled 108.1 million passengers (an average of about 295,000 a day), the second-highest year in its history. This represents nearly a full recovery from the general decline in passenger traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020 and followed the airport’s record 110 million passengers in 2019. 

Delta is by far the dominant airline in Atlanta, with about 73% of the passenger traffic. Southwest is second with 8%, followed by Spirit, Frontier, Endeavor Air (operating as Delta Connection),  American and United. 

Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport is now engaged in a major 20-year capital improvement program, which includes modernizing its domestic terminal, expanding concourses and cargo operations, replacing parking facilities, and eventually developing a hotel and mixed-use facilities. 

We close this Atlanta postcard article with a beautiful card showing the very aircraft that now resides in full splendor at the Delta Flight Museum, the site of Airliners International 2025 ATL, June 25-28, 2025, adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Notes: The originals of all postcards shown are in color and from the author’s collection. All are in standard or continental size. I estimate their rarity as Uncommon: The Candler Field card with an  Eastern DC-2; the ‘Temporary’ terminal card with a Delta DC-3 in the center; the Piedmont Airlines card; and the card showing Delta aircraft at the rotundas and gates added in 1968. The rest of the postcards are fairly common. This article is an update and revision of an earlier one by the author on Atlanta airport postcards published in the Spring 2015 issue of The Captain’s Log, vol. 39, no. 4. 

Airliners International 2025 ATL Postcard Exhibits by Collectors: The AI 2025 show at the Delta  Flight Museum, Atlanta airport, will again feature a display of airline and airport postcard exhibits.  Whether you’re an experienced collector or a beginner, please consider submitting an exhibit. It’s a lot of fun, and the postcard displays stimulate greater interest in collecting airline and airport postcards. This year’s Postcard Exhibit Guidelines can be found at airlinersinternational.org under the tab Contest Information (even though it’s an exhibit, not a contest). I look forward to seeing you at Airliners International 2025, Atlanta, June 25-28. 

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References: 

www.sunshineskies.com/atlanta.html. This is a great website with hundreds of pictures, many postcard views, and extensive information on the history of Atlanta airport. 

www.atl.com. Official site of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport 

www.deltamuseum.org. Official site of The Delta Flight Museum, Atlanta airport, where  Airliners International 2025 will be held June 25-28, 2025. 

golldiecat.tripod.com/atl.html. History of Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport from 1961 to 1980, illustrated with postcard views. 

Cearley, Jr., George W., Atlanta (1991) and The Delta Family History (1985), each self-published. 

Davies, R.E.G., Delta: An Airline and Its Aircraft. Paladwr Press (1990). 

www.wahsonline.com. Official site of the World Airline Historical Society.

Until next time, Happy Collecting. Marvin.