[Note: This is a lead-on from another member's post/image of the Classic Golden Nugget B727 Alaska Trijet.]

During one of my two trips to Seattle, I still recall an Alaska Airlines 737, the modern livery, (with that hard-to-ignore smiling-face logo), parked near the Ted/United A320 I'd travelled on (Ted was gone a few years of that trip...),...there was something (endearing yet authoritative) about that face (especially viewing from one plane to the other plane) that has always stayed with me since...

Anyway, mention of Convair and Connie, in the other posts, in connection with Alaska Air, made me look up two aircraft from Alaska's "past"...(i.e. from my depository) and, I found Manfred's Connie and HJG's 990, ready at hand, all I'd to do, was add in an Alaska texture to each...

1. L-1649 Connie: As was noted, Alaska Airlines, had operated Constellations (such as L-1049/L-1649). Here, below, is a L-1649A variant. Alaska Airlines had used two Starliners in the 1960s.
2. Convair 990: This is a 990A variant. Alaska Airlines had purchased Convair 990 PP-VJE from Varig, and operated it as N987AS in scheduled airline service until 1975. Not sure if that was the only one they had....

Pictures, below, (two each) are taken at KSEA and PANC, respectively. And, the (classic) "Golden Nugget" Logo appears on these planes too - a tribute to Alaska's rich history of the gold-rush era.

Hope folks enjoy these 4 "throwback" images of early Alaska Airlines...one pair for the very last Connie Model (built by Lockheed) with those humongous Wright Radials, and the other pair for the incredibly fast 990A (Coronado) that was breaking speed records (and fuel-burn records too...🙂...) years before the iconic Concorde emerged...

Edited August 28, 20205 yr by P_7878

From your "depository."

Love the phrasing. I've never counted but I believe I've got at least 1,000 "deposits" (repaints count) in mine.

John

 

 

 

My first flight on the Connie was from McGrath (PAMC) to Anchorage (PANC).  The flight originated in Nome (PAOM) so we were an enroute stop.  As we settled in after startup and taxi I looked up and saw rows of empty glasses being held aloft by the Nome passengers.

Never rode the CV990 but did fly from Anchorage to Seattle on their CV880 - at the time the fastest ride around.  

Excellent shots by the way, obviously not from XP.

 

Edited August 28, 20205 yr by olderndirt

7 hours ago, John F said:

From your "depository."

Love the phrasing. I've never counted but I believe I've got at least 1,000 "deposits" (repaints count) in mine.

John

John: I know you're quite knowledgeable about finding the little-known sites, where to find the best of the repaints....🙂...have given me a few pointers...in the past...!

 

6 hours ago, olderndirt said:

My first flight on the Connie was from McGrath (PAMC) to Anchorage (PANC).  The flight originated in Nome (PAOM) so we were an enroute stop.  As we settled in after startup and taxi I looked up and saw rows of empty glasses being held aloft by the Nome passengers.

Never rode the CV990 but did fly from Anchorage to Seattle on their CV880 - at the time the fastest ride around.  

Excellent shots by the way, obviously not from XP.

 

Thanks....!! Connie epitomized the Golden Age of Air Travel...glad you were part of it...!!

I understand, Alaska Airline, though eventually "betrothed" to Boeing, but never to be left behind in the Jet Age evolution, had chosen CV880, as their first jetliner (that you flew)....

These are all from "vintage" FSX....🙂...I always have a respectful feeling for folks like Manfred (and JBK, please see AK DC4 model shots below) and those at e.g. HJG/CalClassic - they taught me much...free of cost...🙂...and also showed the value of Freeware to the community...!

 

And, as wrap-up, here, of my Alaska "passion":

The fleet-evolution of historic Airlines (such as Alaska) is always interesting, besides, the norm that it usually goes something like this:

Monoplanes/Biplanes [Alaska had started with a Stinson...] -> Small Props -> Big Props -> Small Jets -> Big Jets (first, with lots of smoke & sound) etc....🙂...

Anyway, here, below, a few more interesting tidbits about Alaska Airlines, I found:

1. Its genetic roots can be traced back to 1932, in the middle of the Great Depression (when Mac McGee started flying around Alaska in a 3-passenger Stinson). The airline struggled financially during those hard economic times. In 1937, McGee came back to the airline (from his mining industry interests), and, to keep his Airline afloat, opened a liquor store, and the airline began flying liquor to the remote Alaskan communities (good idea....cold climate needed that, I guess...🙂...). Alaska Airlines was officially founded, also in the middle of yet another challenging period, in history, WW II. The timing was bit of an oddity, but, was driven by Alaska's strategic location and role, in WW II (support of Alaska Theater in the Aleutian Campaign). It was, in 1942, when "Alaska Airlines" (first) appeared in its name (it was actually "Alaska Star Airlines"), then the middle name would be dropped later in 1944, for it to become "Alaska Airlines" (as we know it today).
2. Because of Alaska's (close) association with WW II, the airline (naturally) acquired and operated many (military surplus) Douglas propliners (DC-3/DC-4/DC-6) - see below for a few images of its DC-4. Alaska Airlines was the first carrier certified to operate DC-3s on skis.
3. In 1957, on its first ever pressurized plane, DC-6, the Airline introduced the famous "Golden Nugget" service (which included an on-board saloon and piano)...so, one could get a hair-cut, maybe, with seat-belts "on", while listening to music being played on the Piano...🙂...The airline was also among the first to show inflight movies. [Side Note: BTW, regular in-flight movie service seems to have begun, first, in July, 1961, by TWA, (New York-Los Angeles), with the first movie shown “By Love Possessed"...I reviewed the plot, complex twists and turns, with many characters involved, and, yes, all "possessed by love"...]
4. As noted in the other recent posts on this topic, Alaska airline was the first carrier to fly the Lockheed L-100 Hercules, the civil version of the military C-130 (the L-100 was used as a commercial freighter, dressed in the same (familiar) "Golden Nugget" uniform).

So, for a bit more flash-back, please take a look at the following 3 images, all taken at PANC, of one of Alaska's DC-4. The registration of this DC-4 is (N-90449). Notice the imprint "Starliner Seattle" on front RHS fuselage, and "North Pole Express" on the LHS fuselage. [Side Note: I came to know, today, that this specific Alaska DC-4, shown below, (after 13 years of service), on March 2, 1957, on a flight from Fairbanks to Seattle, while in VFR, under overcast conditions, unfortunately, ran directly into a range of foothills (the tops of which were obscured by clouds). A total of 5 lives were lost. Alaska is obviously a dangerous territory for flying...!!]

Edited August 29, 20205 yr by P_7878

10 minutes ago, P_7878 said:

John: I know you're quite knowledgeable about finding the little-known sites, where to find the best of the repaints....🙂...have given me a few pointers...in the past...!

 

Thanks....!! Connie epitomized the Golden Age of Air Travel...glad you were part of it...!!

I understand, Alaska Airline, though eventually "betrothed" to Boeing, but never to be left behind in the Jet Age evolution, had chosen CV880, as their first jetliner (that you flew)....

These are all from "vintage" FSX....🙂...I always have a respectful feeling for folks like Manfred (and JBK, please see AK DC4 model shots below) and those at e.g. HJG/CalClassic - they taught me much...free of cost...🙂...and also showed the value of Freeware to the community...!

 

And, as wrap-up, here, of my Alaska "passion":

The fleet-evolution of historic Airlines (such as Alaska) is always interesting, besides, the norm that it usually goes something like this:

Monoplanes/Biplanes [Alaska had started with a Stinson...] -> Small Props -> Big Props -> Small Jets -> Big Jets (first, with lots of smoke & sound) etc....🙂...

Anyway, here, below, a few more interesting tidbits about Alaska Airlines, I found:

1. Its genetic roots can be traced back to 1932, in the middle of the Great Depression (when Mac McGee started flying around Alaska in a 3-passenger Stinson). The airline struggled financially during those hard economic times. In 1937, McGee came back to the airline (from his mining industry interests), and, to keep his Airline afloat, opened a liquor store, and the airline began flying liquor to the remote Alaskan communities (good idea....cold climate needed that, I guess...🙂...). Alaska Airlines was officially founded, also in the middle of yet another challenging period, in history, WW II. The timing was bit of an oddity, but, was driven by Alaska's strategic location and role, in WW II (support of Alaska Theater in the Aleutian Campaign). It was, in 1942, when "Alaska Airlines" (first) appeared in its name (it was actually "Alaska Star Airlines"), then the middle name would be dropped later in 1944, for it to become "Alaska Airlines" (as we know it today).
2. Because of Alaska's (close) association with WW II, the airline (naturally) acquired and operated many (military surplus) Douglas propliners (DC-3/DC-4/DC-6) - see below for a few images of its DC-4. Alaska Airlines was the first carrier certified to operate DC-3s on skis.
3. In 1957, on its first ever pressurized plane, DC-6, the Airline introduced the famous "Golden Nugget" service (which included an on-board saloon and piano)...so, one could get a hair-cut, maybe, with seat-belts "on", while listening to music being played on the Piano...🙂...The airline was also among the first to show inflight movies. [Side Note: BTW, regular in-flight movie service seems to have begun, first, in July, 1961, by TWA, (New York-Los Angeles), with the first movie shown “By Love Possessed"...I reviewed the plot, complex twists and turns, with many characters involved, and, yes, all "possessed by love"...]
4. As noted in the other recent posts on this topic, Alaska airline was the first carrier to fly the Lockheed L-100 Hercules, the civil version of the military C-130 (the L-100 was used as a commercial freighter, dressed in the same (familiar) "Golden Nugget" uniform).

So, for a bit more flash-back, please take a look at the following 3 images, all taken at PANC, of one of Alaska's DC-4. The registration of this DC-4 is (N-90449). Notice the imprint "Starliner Seattle" on front RHS fuselage, and "North Pole Express" on the LHS fuselage. [Side Note: I came to know, today, that this specific Alaska DC-4, shown below, (after 13 years of service), on March 2, 1957, on a flight from Fairbanks to Seattle, while in VFR, under overcast conditions, unfortunately, ran directly into a range of foothills (the tops of which were obscured by clouds). A total of 5 lives were lost. Alaska is obviously a dangerous territory for flying...!!]

My first Alaska Air ride (1960) - DC4 Anchorage to Fairbanks with a stop at Denali Park.  Two Polaroid salesmen on board with their new product -  we all got our pics taken and drinks were on them.

***Super Set*** Love that Classic Connie!!