By Fons Schaefers

Introduction

Which subjects are shown on safety cards? There is a minimum set of mandatory subjects appearing on all safety cards. Additionally, there are subjects many airlines add, and some only a few carriers choose. Particularly the latter appetizes collectors who seek unique samples. This article is a structured examination of the common items, complemented with examples of those one-offs.

The mandatory items can be divided into those that apply to each flight (the routine subjects) and those for emergencies only.

Routine Subjects

The routine subjects often appear first on the cards. They include baggage stowage, seat belt use, and subject to much recent development, the use of electronic devices. Some airlines add regulations about not smoking, specifically in lavatories.

Almost all cards show baggage stowage under seats, and some also show putting it in overhead compartments. The fastening and unfastening of seat belts is a standard item on all cards. Recent restraining developments now found on cards are shoulder harnesses and seatbelt-mounted airbags. They result from stricter safety regulations introduced since the late 1980s, generally known as the “16 g” rules.

Some airlines add instructions to keep the safety belt fastened, or fasten it, during turbulence. Canadian North uses a telling symbol for turbulence.

Another routine subject increasingly shown on safety cards is the restraint method for children and infants. Here, a difference exists between the U.S. and other continents (including Europe). The FAA prohibits the use of infant loop belts, while it is promoted in Europe. In either case, the better option is the use of a “child restraint device,” but this requires a separate seat, which not everyone is willing to buy.

An area in which safety card contents changed significantly over the past few decades is transmitting devices. In the 1980s TVs and remotely-operated toys appeared as prohibited items on safety cards. More devices were prohibited in the 1990s and 2000s, such as illustrated on a 737-400 card from an unidentified Spanish operator (believed to be Air Europa, c. 2000).

Other companies listed them in text format only, such as Cubana.

In those decades there was a specific concern about such devices as Nintendo games as they could affect the airplane’s navigation equipment. The prohibition was extended to mobile telephones when they appeared, and their successor, the smartphone. The mobile phone industry reacted and created the “airplane mode” option that switches off signal transmission. This allowed passengers to use them on board. From 2010 onwards, tablets have been popular. As they also have an “airplane mode” their use onboard was also allowed. The information displayed on safety cards for electronic devices varies from virtually nil to extensive lists of what is allowed. Typically, this is split into taxi/take-off/landing phases and the cruise phase but VLM in 2017 recognized six distinct flight phases.

Emergency Subjects

Emergency subjects on safety cards address four scenarios: (1) the in-flight decompression, (2) the crash landing, (3) escape on the ground and (4) escape and survival on water. Additionally, some cards include other emergency equipment.

Oxygen

For the in-flight decompression emergency, the main concern is the provision of oxygen. Most airplanes have a system that deploys automatically. The card shows how to grab and don the mask, often with an extra panel showing an adult administering a mask to a child, but only after first securing their own mask. Some airlines add a clock to these diagrams explaining the time needed for each step. Typically, the final step – an adult donning the mask of a child – should be concluded within 10 to 15 seconds.

Oxygen masks should be available wherever passengers may be during the flight. Some cards specifically show oxygen masks in lavatories. An airline that grouped the lavatories on the lower deck (below the main cabin) added a page with safety instructions specific to that deck, including the use of oxygen masks in the waiting area.

Airplanes with limited ceilings, typically turboprops, may have a non-drop-out system. Passengers need to plug a mask into an overhead outlet connected to a piping system. The masks are either handed out or need to be retrieved from under the seat.

Yet, other airplanes do not even have that and their cards therefore lack any oxygen instructions. Next to airplanes that stay low, this also applied to some early European jets such as the BAC 1-11 and the Caravelle, in spite of their ceilings of up to 35,000 ft. Even though these airplanes suffered decompressions, the absence of oxygen did not lead to fatalities.

Brace For Impact

The main instruction associated with a crash landing is the “brace for impact” position. Airlines use a range of different positions. This not only varies for the type of person (adult, child, adult with infant, pregnant woman) but also the method of bracing varies. While most agree the body should be flexed forward, instructions on how to hold arms, hands, and feet differ. These reflect the results from various research studies into this area and the absence of internationally agreed standards. This concerns forward-facing seats; for aft-facing seats, there is more consistency.

Evacuation on Land

Instructions for escape on the ground typically address four elements: (1) the path from a passenger seat to the exits, (2) the locations of the exits, (3) the opening and use of the exits, and (4) the use of a slide or other descent device.

Path to the exits

The escape path from a passenger seat to the exit is formed by the aisle, the same as used during normal operations. Many cards show a diagram of the airplane revealing the aisle, or aisles in the case of a wide body. An aisle is typically identified by a red line (rarely, it is green or another color) leading to and through the exits. For twin-aisle airplanes, some airlines identify each aisle, while others do not care and show one line symbolizing both aisles. American Airlines shows something in between. Some airlines go further and show in their diagram the floor-mounted emergency lighting which runs along the aisle, with offsprings in exit rows. Where the airplane diagram does not show the floor lighting, often the card has a separate panel explaining it.

Exit signs help passengers identify where the exits are. The only cards I am aware of showing them are those of the Boeing 787. This airplane type has the symbol of the green running man instead of the traditional red, lettered, EXIT sign which is common in the U.S. To explain the symbol to the American audience, the FAA required the safety card explain it. Other countries, even those where the green symbol is very common, adopted this condition. EU country Poland is an example.

The largest airplane without an aisle is the Trislander, a development of the ubiquitous Islander. In its absence, it has as many as five emergency exits for 16 passengers. Each exit serves one or two rows, as Aurigny (the Guernsey airline) correctly displays. Other Islander users such as OFD, which serves the Frisian islands of Germany, incorrectly suggest there is an aisle.

The overall airplane diagram often is a bird’s eye-view rendering from the left front. Another way to show the aisle and exit location is a top view, either displayed horizontal or vertical. In 1984, Transavia rarely rendered an elevated view from behind.

Exits

The next step in the escape journey to outside safety is the exit, where the main challenge is how to open it. Airliners typically have two kinds of emergency exits: non-floor level exits which are located in passenger seat rows, and floor level exits, where cabin crew sit adjacently. The non-floor level exits are always located over the wing and have a hatch that comes free from the fuselage. It is to be opened by a passenger and is therefore also known as a “self-help exit.” The exits with cabin crew next to them consist of a door, often of the hinged type.

Particularly for the first category, the hatch-type exits, instructions vary significantly. Until the mid-1980s, these exits were underrated on safety cards. But an accident on a Boeing 737-200 in Manchester, UK, in August 1985 revealed these exits are vulnerable to passengers not knowing how to open them. This highlighted the importance of properly instructing passengers seated adjacently. Some airlines, mainly in the UK where the accident had happened, ordered cabin crew to verbally brief those passengers before the flight. Other airlines, in Europe and beyond, introduced separate cards with detailed instructions, only given to passengers in those rows. They form an interesting find for collectors.

In yet other cases the all-airplane cards are enhanced with detailed overwing exit opening instructions. In the U.S., as discussed in Part 6, the cards display criteria for who may sit in those rows. Where in most cases the cards explain how the exits are opened, U.S. cards focus on who may open them.

The hatch-type self-help exits that come completely free are not ideal, especially when they are heavy. They can weigh as much as 30 kg/66.14 lbs (on a 767). This important information is rarely mentioned on the card. Gradually, airplane manufacturers applied designs where the weight of the hatch no longer needed to be negotiated by the passenger. They hinge open and thus require less of an effort. The first airplane type so equipped was the Boeing 737 New Generation in the late 1990s. More recently, new types such as the Airbus A220, Embraer E2 and A321neo are also so equipped. More often than not, the hinge feature is not well shown on cards, but Panamanian carrier Copa does this well.

While the self-help exits are in view of the passengers, the door exits often are not. They are meant to be opened by cabin crew. However, safety cards still show how to open them. This is to cover the remote case that cabin crew are unable to do so. Some airlines do this in an abbreviated form, but companies that make cards for a living take pride in explaining every step. For older airplanes, this amounted to up to six or seven steps, such as shown on a Falcon Express 727 card.

Slides and Other Descent Means

On all airplanes where the exit sill is higher than 6 feet (1.8 m), there is a slide or an alternative descent means such as a set of steps. Similarly, where the escape route over the wing exceeds this distance, off-wing slides are provided. Cards show these slides twice: on the airplane diagram and in a close-up meant to emphasize their proper use: jump into the slide rather than sit on the sill and then move forward. Few airlines manage to convey this clearly, but Singapore Airlines’ attempt is a good one. The most dominant color of the slide on cards is yellow. However, since the mid-1980s, when it was found that an aluminium coating would make the slide more fire resistant, they are actually silver or grey. Some cards correctly represent this, but many still show yellow.

A good post-sliding practice for evacuees is to move away from the airplane. Very few airlines show this. I found one where the text instructs passengers to move away at least 300 meters. On propeller-equipped airplanes, a warning to stay away from the propellers is common.

Evacuation and Survival on Water

Much of what is described above, also applies to the emergency scenario where an airplane has come down in water. But there are differences: some exits cannot be used as they would be below the (theoretical) water line, life vests are provided for individual flotation and for collective flotation the slides can be used. On twin aisle airplanes the slides are formally certified for that use and then called slide-rafts. Some airlines still use separate rafts.

Many cards dedicate a separate section for the water scenario, displaying an airplane diagram similar to that for the land scenario, but now with a blue background instead of green or blank (see Czech Airlines above). Typically the same exits are shown. The slides now float, serving as rafts. For some aircraft types, the diagram shows blocked exits as they will not be above the waterline. This applies to most high-wing airplanes such as the Antonovs, ATR 42 and 72, Fokker 50, Dash 6 (Twin Otter), Dash 7, and some Dash 8 series. The high-wing BAe 146 has a different flotation pattern, as its cards show both aft exits as unusable as opposed to the forward pair, although one airline admits that the airplane may alternatively float nose low so that the forward exits may not be usable.

As high-wing airplanes would list to one side, with one wing tip down in the water and the other up, they render exits on the low side unusable. On their Antonov-24 card, Air Moldova International shows this nicely with a cross section of the fuselage, but they forgot to add whether the view is looking forward or aft. In the seating diagram they added dotted lines, the meaning of which I do not understand. Any ideas?

On the Fokker 50 and Dash 8 series, even the exits on the high side may be below the waterline. Their manufacturers improvised dams or sill raisers in an attempt to prevent massive water influx during the evacuation. Some of these operate automatically, but the Fokker 50 has loose boards that need to be secured in place before opening the doors. Some Fokker 50 users show them, others do not. The right forward exit of the Q400 has a split hatch. In case of a water landing, the passenger next to it needs to secure its lower part so that it stays in place and forms a sill above the water line. This is shown on the safety card, but I doubt whether naïve passengers will obey.

To my knowledge, these water barriers have never been put to practice as there were no water landings where they could have been put to use.

Interestingly, quite a few cards of airplanes regularly flying over water have no escape instructions specific to the water landing scenario at all. An example are Winair’s Twin Otters that commute between the Dutch Caribbean islands of Sint Maarten and Saba, both prone to an emergency landing on water.

Many cards use a lot of space for explaining how to don the life vest and occasionally that of children and infants. An alternative to life vests are flotation cushions. They are particularly popular in the United States.

They are inferior to life vests as they do not passively support the wearer but require the passenger to actively hold on to it, which in cold water is a challenge. The U.S. fondness for flotation cushions can be traced back to a ditching accident in 1956 near Seattle when a stewardess impromptu advised passengers to use their seat cushions for flotation. It prompted a U.S. requirement for seat cushions to be equipped for such use. On many domestic flights in the U.S., they are the only flotation devices on board. Few airlines have any flotation devices at all. An example is Ethiopian Airlines which does not carry them on airplanes flying only domestically. Ethiopia is landlocked and only has a few lakes.

Emergency Equipment

Airlines rarely display other emergency equipment than those described above. When they do, it is for smaller airplanes (where no cabin crew is required) or VIP airplanes. The location of fire extinguishers, first-aid kits, and portable oxygen bottles is then indicated. Russian-made aircraft form an exception. They often have a diagram showing all emergency equipment on board, including axes, ropes, ladders, megaphones, emergency beacons, and transmitters. Although dated, Balkan’s Tupolev Tu-154 1980s card is an interesting example.

Unusual Features

Some airlines add items that are unique or rare, making them special finds for collectors. This includes unusual language scripts. The Latin script is not the only script that is widely used. Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, Indic, and Japanese scripts are used by many people and thus frequently found. Rarer scripts include those from Arctic Canada, Georgia, and Laos. They only appear on a few cards.

Examples of safety-related unusual subjects spotted on cards are how to use a slide with a child or infant, the prohibition to sleep on the floor, the prohibition to wear nylon stockings (for which the card is too late, as the passenger is already on board and will not change), or what to do if a smartphone is lost in a seat, or damaged.

Other finds include a person reading the safety card, information about service initiation and termination times, and a warning not to take away life vests.

Following a 2003 federal law, U.S. safety cards must mention the airplane’s country of assembly. The aim is protectionist: discourage imports from outside the U.S. (and specifically Airbus aircraft from Europe). But the world is not black-and-white. The rule backfired when, in 2016, Airbus started an assembly line in Mobile, Alabama, negating its original intent. As more and more aircraft are built there, safety cards saying the final assembly of an Airbus was in the USA become less unusual.

On a final note, I invite collectors to examine their safety cards and report which unusual features their collections hide.

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Fons Schaefers / November 2024

e-mail: [email protected]

By Fons Schaefers

This part is the final chronological edition of the history of safety cards, which, as we will see below, is now a century old. The next and last part will examine in-depth the subjects shown on the cards. The previous part ended around 1990. This part gives an overview of how safety cards evolved since then. It reviews developments in their general appearance, layout, artwork, and the special cards that emerged.

General Appearance

Under general appearance, I sort such characteristics as size and weight, orientation, folds, and paper quality. I’ll start with the latter – paper quality. Until the 1960s, safety leaflets were part of a package of documents that included menus, stickers, maps, postcards, and advertisement brochures. They were collectively held in a folder, called a flight kit, which was handed out to passengers. The safety leaflets were made of thin paper. As they were not subject to repetitive consultation by many passengers, this worked well. But when they became more common, and even mandated (see Part 4), they were no longer issued in the folder but stowed in seatbacks for repeated consultation by multiple passengers. This exposed them to wear and tear, so they needed to be more sturdy. Initially, this was done by using heavier paper. Later, cards were wrapped in plastic to provide durability, but were more commonly laminated, and eventually, printed on synthetic paper.

Size and weight – there is no standard for the size of safety cards. Many different sizes are in use, as long as they fit the seatback pocket. One of the largest was those by Ethiopian Airlines, measuring 22.5 cm by 33 cm (8.9 by 13 inches). Air France probably tops the smallest cards, at only 10 cm by 21 cm (4 by 8.3 inches). To ensure they do not disappear in the large seat pocket, Air France specifies a separate holder on seatbacks that uniquely fits their card.

Consistent with size and choice of material, the weight of cards varies. Most weigh between 20 to 40 grams (0.71 to 1.41 ounces), with outliers as light as 5 grams (0.18 ounces) as is the case with Aerogaviota’s An-26) or as heavy as 88 grams (3.1 ounces) with the Qantas 747-400.

Orientation – as none of the cards are square, they have a long side and a short side. This presents a choice between displaying the contents ‘portrait’ or ‘landscape’. The former is by far the most popular; few airlines use a landscape orientation. In some cases, a combination is used, with the front being portrait and the back (or the inside in the case of folded cards), landscape.

Folds – the multi-fold leaflets of the 1960s were replaced by cards with a double or a single fold or, more frequently, no fold at all. Some airlines use a folding method resembling French doors. In the Western world, where one reads from left to right, the fold is on the left side. In countries that read from right to left, such as some Arabic countries and China, cards may be folded on the right.

Layout

Layout is a generic term including the choice of text and illustrations, the type of illustrations (photographs, drawings, etc.), color, order of presentation, headings, use of space, etc. The trend of illustrations replacing text continued in the 1990s. All cards use illustrations, most with a minimum of text and some with text in support of illustrations.

Text-only cards have disappeared. However, all U.S. airlines use a large amount of text to explain who may sit next to overwing exits. This is a direct result of a regulation that was introduced in 1990. Although many believe this regulation was aimed at instructing passengers how to open these self-help exits, its origin was different. That was a federal law that prohibited discrimination in air transportation based on handicap. There was an exception, though, and that was safety. The FAA defined the agility criteria exit row occupants must have to open the exit.

The airlines copy-pasted these written criteria on their safety cards. Some other countries adopted this practice and now such criteria are found on cards from Singapore Airlines, Brazilian, and Chinese airlines. Few of these airlines realize that the rule was aimed at hatches that come loose and are difficult to handle rather than easy-to-operate, powered doors such as on the A380. The text “awkward to lift, push, pull and manoeuvre,” used by Singapore Airlines, does not apply to such doors.

The use of photographs, which was quite popular in the 1970s through 1990s, particularly with U.S. airlines, has subsided. Among the last airlines to use them were American Airlines and China Eastern, but they also stopped using them. Cards using only black and white illustrations were still in limited use in the 1990s but have since disappeared. Color is the norm for the illustrations, with the card’s background normally white. In some cases, colors are used to link exit operation instructions to the exit locations on the airplane diagram.

The front page carries the name of the airline (or other organization, as the case may be), typically at the top, together with a description of the purpose of the card (safety information/for your safety/safety card/passenger briefing card/safety on board/safety instructions/important passenger safety information, etc).

Some airlines do not print their name. This challenges the collector to look for clues to identify the airline. This may be a code (e.g. ATL for Air Atlanta) or even a language script. Normally, the front page has safety information, but in a few cases, it is decorative only, such as by Canadian North, which uses photographs reflecting the Canadian North.

The most common form of illustrations are still drawings made by graphical designers. A new trend is computer-generated animations. An example of a computer baby is on the Xiamen 737-700 card.

Artwork

Artwork is about the style of the illustrations. One would think that the number of ways to show how to open a door or grab an oxygen mask is limited, but a study of safety cards proves the opposite. Each graphic artist has his or her way of rendering reality. This allows the collector to gather a nice collection of styles and fashions.

The most distinctive feature is how they portray humans. Overall, there is a slight preference for females over males. This may have to do with the dominant gender of cabin crew. The majority of persons being portrayed are white. While this makes sense for the Western world, even airlines in many other countries follow this, notably in Africa. Conversely, Japanese, Indian, and Iranian airlines are among the airlines representing local ethnicities and dress habits. In the U.S. and the UK, there is a tendency to portray persons of color. Most artists use photographs to make their drawings. As a result, some draw well-recognizable humans. The “Southwest woman” might be familiar to those who know her.

Other airlines apply more generic humans or even what some call “humanoids,” figures resembling humans. In the early 1990s British Aerospace sketched humans in black with a perfect ball as head. EasyJet copied this style 35 years later. Some airlines have managed to reduce humans to just a few lines.

Other artwork expressions consist of grouping the drawings over the cards. Most use a grid pattern which allows an orderly presentation of subjects. Air Baltic on its Avro RJ 70 card uniquely uses a different, relational ordering.

Artists also set their signature through the use of color. A nice example is the 2019 generation of Aer Lingus cards, designed by an Irish graphic designer.

Special cards

New Equipment

In the early 1960s airplanes were introduced with drop-out oxygen masks, and some airlines issued separate cards to explain these (see Part 3, TCA). Twenty years later, Delta printed a unique card to explain the floor lighting system, which they called “emergency exit indication.”

Categories of Operator

The use of safety cards is not restricted to regular airlines but extends to other cases where persons are transported by air. As with other collectibles with a vast range of samples, some collectors focus on subsets. This may be certain airplane types, operators from specific countries only, certain periods, or categories of operators. As to the latter, there are safety cards for government operators, business and VIP operators, military transport operators, and nostalgic operators, flying such classic airplanes as the Constellation, Catalina, or even a converted B-25 bomber. Additionally, there are cards for special operations such as zero gravity flights, research flights (e.g. the SOFIA 747SP), and the flying hospital (Orbis DC-10). Airplane manufacturers make safety cards for use during demonstration flights or as an example for their clients. They even make dedicated cards for evacuation certification tests, which are a one-off.

Often, non-airline cards display unique cabin elements. The VIP airplanes display luxury
arrangements, including bedrooms with showers. One military card mentions bailout instructions.

User Group

Initially, airlines only used one card per airplane type which was good for all passengers.
Gradually, cards came about aimed at specific passenger groups. These groups include cockpit
riders, non-cockpit jumpseat riders (with a warning that unauthorized access to the cockpit may be
met with deadly force!), passengers in exit rows, 747 upper deck passengers, passengers in seats
with seat belt mounted airbags, the sight impaired (with the card, or a book, in braille), physically handicapped, and children and infants. In the latter case, the cards are specific to life vests and handed out to the accompanying adult.

Kind of Operation

Few cards are specific to the kind of operation. In the 1950s there were leaflets specific for overwater operations explaining the ditching and life rafts. In the early 1960s extra cards appeared to explain the new oxygen drop-out systems were needed for high altitude operations. These are no longer in use. A more recent area of operation-related example is the Arctic survival card as used by Greenlandair.

First safety leaflet?

Finally, I recently obtained a safety leaflet I believe is among the oldest ever. It was made in 1924 by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, but it does not say so explicitly. How do I know it was from that year? The leaflet gives several clues. It describes a method of communication using ground signals that pre-dated the use of onboard radios, which KLM introduced later that year. The leaflet, which is in English, is a literal translation of an earlier Dutch version which claims KLM never had a fatal accident. But by the time it had been translated into English, this was no longer true and thus now omitted. The first KLM fatal accident was in April 1924. This confirms the first safety card was issued a century ago.

Fons Schaefers / November 2024

e-mail: [email protected]

By Gary C. Orlando

All photos by the author.

In 1994 I sadly learned Mesaba Aviation, dba Northwest Airlink, had shrunk its Fokker F.27 fleet down to just one aircraft. Their once proud fleet of 15 Fokkers had been slowly replaced with DeHaviland Dash 8-100s. Their last F.27 in the fleet was N278MA, a vintage 1965 series 200 model originally built for Ansett Australia. It flew for Ansett, Airlines of South Australia, Air Niugini, back to Ansett, and then to Luxair. Mesaba took ownership of the aircraft in November 1989. With that in mind, I aimed to fly on their last Fokker F.27.

I accomplished that feat with a flight on February 2, 1995. I flew from Rockford, IL (RFD) to Minneapolis/St. Paul (MSP) on an Express I/NW Airlink Jetstream J31. I used my travel agent pass privileges for both Express I and to fly on the Mesaba Fokker, which had a mid-afternoon flight between Minneapolis/St. Paul and Wausau/Central Wisconsin Airport (CWA).

The flight would be a quick trip over and back to “C-WAY” as the Mesaba agents called it. This would not be my last time flying ole N278MA, as later in 1995 I would be invited as a guest on its final revenue flights. I’ll share more about that trip in Part Two.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy my photos of the roundtrip to C-WAY.

Stay tuned for Part Two.

By Marvin G. Goldman

A warm welcome to Texas. I hope you enjoy our postcard trip through the skies of the Lone Star State as well as the Airliners International™ 2023 show and convention at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

Let’s start with postcards of airlines that served Texas and are now history, followed by leading airlines that continue to operate in Texas skies.

Now let’s turn to some of the leading airlines currently serving Texas. We start with American Airlines which has the longest continuous operating history in Texas and maintains its headquarters in Fort Worth near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

We close with the airline that, along with American, is most associated with Texas skies – Southwest Airlines, also headquartered in Dallas. Southwest commenced operations in 1971 from its base at Love Field, Dallas. At first, it was an intrastate Texas airline, but in 1979 it started expanding to other states and eventually to international destinations as well. Today Southwest is the third largest airline in the U.S. (behind American and Delta) in terms of passengers carried.

NOTES: All postcards in this article are from the author’s collection unless otherwise noted.

Below is my estimate of the rarity of the above postcards:

• Rare: Trans-Texas DC-3 with hostess, Braniff DC-3 over Dallas, and Eastern DC-2 over Houston;
• Uncommon: Central Airlines, Trans-Texas DC-3 over San Jacinto Monument, Continental 727-200 Houston, American DC-3 at Meacham Field, American Convair 240 at El Paso, Delta Convair at Jefferson County Airport, and KLM DC-8 at Houston;
• The rest are fairly common.

I hope to see you at Airliners International™ 2023 DFW, June 22-24, 2023, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, next to Terminal C at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. This is the world’s largest airline history and collectibles show and convention, with more than 200 vendor tables for buying, selling, and trading airline memorabilia (including, of course, airline and airport postcards), seminars, the annual meeting of the World Airline Historical Society, annual banquet, tours and more. 

Follow this link for more information on entering the postcard, model and photograph/slide contests.

Until then, Happy Collecting, Marvin

By David Birkley

Sierra West Airlines was founded by Dan Brumlik and Scott Bekemeyer as a commuter airline that would compete with congested Northern California’s highways and existing carriers with a focus on low fares and frequent service. Utilizing Oakland International Airport as a hub offered easy connections to other airlines like Shuttle by United, Southwest, and others.

Headquarters and HUB operations were to be located at the Oakland International Airport. Sierra West Express chose the reliable 19 passenger British Aerospace Jetstream 3200s with plans to serve 12 cities in Northern California and Southern Oregon with a predicted start date of May 1995. Seven beautifully painted J3200s with updated interiors joined the small airline. Aircraft and support came from British Aerospace and JSX Capital of Sterling, VA. 

The airline received its certificate on August 11, 1995, as Sierra Expressway. With much fanfare, service began on August 18 from Oakland to Eureka/Arcata, Monterey, Sacramento, CA, and to Medford, OR. Service to Redding, CA started in October.  Monterey was dropped in December and new service to South Lake Tahoe was started.

Photo Courtesy: Author’s Collection

The airline attempted to follow the success of ValuJet and Southwest Airlines by offering ticketless, no interline or baggage agreements, and peak and off-peak pricing structure. Low-cost walk-up fares were offered with few restrictions. You could purchase a roundtrip ticket Oakland-Medford for $218 which was less than one-third of the competing airlines. The airline offered two fares Off-Peak (6:00A-8:00A and 7:00P-12:00A) and Peak (8:00A-7:00P).

Once at the airport, one could expect friendly and enthusiastic service at check-in. When complete you were given a heavy thick plastic boarding pass with a story on it why you should be flying. No seat selection was offered onboard. Each out-station staff included a station manager and a small staff of ticket and ramp agents. Stations were also crew bases with three captains and three first officers. The airline employed over 250 personnel in December 1995: pilots, mechanics, and airport staff plus, administration.  

Item Courtesy: Author’s Collection

However, after the brief expansion in late 1995 and a slow reduction in service in early 1996 the airline continued to lose money and load factors hovered around 30%. As hard as the management team tried with enthusiasm, low fares and promotions were not enough.  The airline never achieved its predicted load factors of 50%, and other unforeseen expenses had eaten away at the airline’s operating capital. No choice was left but to close the doors on Friday, February 16, 1996.

Item courtesy: Author’s Collection

By Robert G. Waldvogel

As one of the first generation of regional jets that flew some two decades before those produced by Canadair, Embraer, and Dornier in the 1990s, the Aerospatiale SN.601 Corvette straddled the line between the business and regional markets and was consequently the smallest to have served commercially.

Its seed was planted when the French government, continuing its strategy of re-establishing the country’s post-war aviation industry began with piston airliners such as the Breguet Deux Ponts, the Sud-Est Armagnac, and the Sud-Ouest Bretagne requested that aircraft manufacturers submit proposals for a compact twin-turbofan liaison/trainer.  Then-separate Sud-Aviation and Nord-Aviation elected to jointly develop an executive jet designated the SN.600 Diplomate in January of 1968 when French indigenous SNECMA designed a suitable power plant for it, the M49 Larzac.

Displayed for the first time in model form at that year’s Hanover Air Show, it featured what became the standard business jet configuration—a low wing, a narrow fuselage, a forward, left door, swept aerodynamic surfaces, and two aft-mounted turbofans.  It most closely resembled the Cessna Citation 500.  It also had very early and very small-capacity regional jet application.

Predicted sales, which later proved unrealistically inflated, were expected to number some 400 from worldwide operators over and above the initial 60 expected from the French military.

Reflecting its joint Sud- and Nord-Aviation company origins, the aircraft, with its “SN” designation, first took to the sky in prototype form on July 16, 1970, but the lengthy development of its intended M49 powerplant necessitated the use of two 2,200 thrust-pound Pratt and Whitney Canada JT15D-1s instead.  While its maiden flight was successful, its test program did not continue in this vein.  During stall trials eight months later, on March 22, 1971, it crashed, ending in its demise.

A protracted period of redesign, before which Sud- and Nord-Aviation merged to form Aerospatiale, resulted in a 5.5-foot longer fuselage, giving the now re-designated SN.601 Corvette 100 a 45.4-foot overall length; a 42-foot wingspan, to which tip fuel tanks could be optionally installed to increase range; two 2,300 thrust-pound JT15D-4 turbofans; and a 13,450-pound gross weight.  Range, with its maximum payload, was just over 1,000 miles.

So-configured, the second and third prototypes respectively flew on December 20, 1972 and March 7, 1973.  The first production example followed suit eight months later, on November 9, 1973, and French certification was received another six months after that, on May 28, 1974.

The type’s problem-plagued program was hardly helped by competition, particularly on its executive side.  The similarly-configured, French-designed Falcon 20, distributed through Pan American Falcon Jets, enjoyed a brand name recognition advantage and was able to penetrate the coveted US market.

Attempts to conclude similar agreements were unsuccessful, specifically with Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV), Piper Aircraft, and its own Atlanta-based US Corvette Incorporated North American aircraft completion, sales, and distribution center.  Although its final one, with Oklahoma-based Air Center, Inc., seemed more promising, it never received a single production-standard aircraft out of the intended seventy.

As the third most expensive business jet after the Cessna Citation 500 and the Learjet 24, it was subjected to cost overruns and the French government gave serious thought to canceling the program.

After receiving only 24 orders, Aerospatiale did just that.  A report produced by the government’s Court of Audit stated that the company’s management lacked an adequate understanding of the risks involved in the face of competition from comparable US, British, and other French designs, saying, “It is certain that the Corvette program is, and will remain, a major commercial and financial disaster.”

In its regional jet role, it found limited application by third-level carriers seeking to offer point-to-point, hub-bypassing service on routes too thin to support larger aircraft.

Air Alpes, for example, which took delivery of two Corvette 100s in 1974 and another two in 1975, operated routes on its own behalf from Paris and those, such as Lyons-Brussels, on Air France’s, its aircraft appearing in its livery on one side and its own on its other.  Accommodating a dozen passengers, they featured two rows of single seats next to the five oval windows on either side, divided by a central aisle.  The cockpit count was two, but there were no flight attendants in the cabin.

Other operators included Air Alsace, Air Champagne, and TAT Touraine Air Transport in France, and Sterling Airways in Denmark.  Airbus Industrie used five aircraft as corporate shuttles between 1981 and 2009.

Although an 18-passenger, Corvette 200, with a 6.7-foot fuselage stretch, was proposed, it never proceeded beyond the concept stage, since its original 100 series ceased production in 1977 after 40 aircraft had been built, ending France’s second-worst commercial airliner program after that of the 150-passenger Dassault-Breguet Mercure 100, whose production run was only 12, including two prototypes.

Plagued by prototype accident; along, corrective development period; a change in power plant type; costly operation; failure to establish a North American distribution venue; strong competition; management ignorance; and capacity that proved inadequate, the Aerospatiale SN.601 Corvette nevertheless served as an example of one of the three regional jet origins: an all-new design, the conversion of an existing turboprop one, or the use of a business jet platform.

Air France/Air Alsace SN 601-100, F-BVPF seen at Basel-Mulhouse (BSL) in April 1976.
Note the lack of wingtip tanks.
Photo Courtesy: Eduard Marmet

TAT – Touraine Air Transport
Aerospatiale SN-601 Corvette 100, F-BTTT seen on May 31, 1978, at Basel-Mulhouse (BSL).
Once again note the lack of wingtip tanks.
Photo Courtesy: Eduard Marmet

Aero Vision SN 601 Corvette, F-GPLA seen at Hamburg, Germany on October 10, 2007.
Photo Courtesy: Christian Muller

Uni Air SN 601 Corvette, F-PVPG seen at Faro, Portugal on November 30, 1987.
Photo Courtesy: Pedro Aragao

Sterling Airways Aerospatiale Sn-610 Corvette, OY-SBT seen at Copenhagen, Denmark on September 22, 1984.
Photo Courtesy: Dirk Grothe | Aviation Photography

Sterling Airways Aerospatiale Sn-610 Corvette, OY-SBR seen at Copenhagen, Denmark on September 22, 1984.
Photo Courtesy: Dirk Grothe | Aviation Photography

Former Sterling Airways Aerospatiale SN-610 Corvette, OY-SBR seen at The Fly Museum in Stauning, Denmark on August 27, 2018.
Photo Courtesy: Dirk Grothe | Aviation Photography

Flight deck of former Sterling Airways Aerospatiale SN-610 Corvette, OY-SBR seen at The Fly Museum in Stauning, Denmark on August 27, 2018.
Photo Courtesy: Dirk Grothe | Aviation Photography

This article is a part of The Captain’s Log, Issue 40-4, Spring 2016
Written by Lane Kranz

To celebrate the Captain’s Log 40th Anniversary we have put together a list of the World’s 40 Rarest Junior Wings. I have collaborated with the world’s greatest junior wing collectors to assemble this list. Many thanks to Dave Cherkis, Bill Gawchik, Jose Gonzales, Cameron Fleming, and Bryan Mellon for sharing wings from their outstanding collections as well as their expertise. Together, the six of us voted on the Top 10 and we present this list to celebrate 40 Years of collecting. Also, a very honorable mention to long time collector, mentor, and friend Stan Baumwald for being the “godfather” of junior wings and his contributions, as well.

Collecting junior wings is certainly a ‘niche’ hobby. WAHS member Bryan Mellon shared his story on how he got started collecting junior wings. In 1980, Bryan was five years old and his family moved to Japan. He flew four different airlines between Richmond and Tokyo. At the end of the trip, he had four different junior wings (Eastern, Delta, Western, and Northwest) and he was hooked on collecting. Today, Bryan is a pilot for Alaska Airlines and he still has those original four wings from his trip.

My experience started in the early 1980s as a young teenager. I started collecting timetables, post cards, junior wings, and just about anything airline related. In 1985 I attended my first Airliner’s International convention in San Jose, California. I was in heaven. These were my kind of people! I was hooked. Over the next few years I began to realize that I needed to narrow my focus to junior wings and timetables. One story comes to mind from my early days as a junior wing collector. I was a college student in 1989 and I didn’t have much money. I ran into Stan Baumwald at an airliner show and he was selling a Texas International junior wing for $40. He told me it was really rare and hard to find, but $40 was just too much for my college student budget. I passed on that one. I spent the next 20 years regretting my decision as that wing is extremely rare and hard to find. I eventually found another one, but it cost me a lot more than forty bucks! I guess they call that perspective. Today, I’m a pilot for Delta Air Lines and collecting junior wings is still one of my greatest passions.

I realize this list is quite subjective and everyone will have their own opinion. However, the purpose of this list is to showcase the best of the best from the world’s greatest junior wing collectors. Here are the 40 Rarest

Junior Wings in the World:

Keep Collecting,

Lane