Allegiant Airlines Boeing 757 (N901NV) with full livery
A while back I was able to get a hold of a photo of a Boeing 757 with only the winglet painted with Allegiant Livery. Today I was sent a photo of the whole (ok, minus the nose) plane decked out in Allegiant livery.
As reported previously, Allegiant is looking to fly the planes to destinations in Hawaii. To date, they have not announced where they will fly.
I do not know when or where this photo was taken, but I do know the Allegiant livery looks dang good on a Boeing 757 in my opinion.
Yesterday I talked about tracking down the history of N724PA and how it was used on two different airplane types. Today, I look at why the heck was Alaska Airlines flying a different Boeing 707 over the summer, for four summers in a row.
I was able to learn from Ron Suttell, Alaska Air Group director of facilities planning and administration and company historian (can that title even fit on a business card?) about Alaska and Boeing 707s. He explained that Alaska has operated four different Boeing 707s, which were all leased over the summers from 1970-1973 to provide chartered flights to Russia and provide additional capacity for passengers and cargo for regular domestic flights during the peak summer season.
N724PA with green/gold livery with Eskimo on the tail. Photo by Ron Suttell
N705PA with black “Alaska” on the plane. Taken in Anchorage during the summer of 1972 by Ron Suttell
N727PA with the “Golden Jet” on the tail. Photo from Alaska Airlines Collection
The photos above (which you can click on to see a larger version) shows three of the four Boeing 707s used. Here is a little history on each of the four aircraft:
Boeing 707-321 (N724PA) leased from Pan Am sporting Donaldson Airways (a non-scheduled charter airline) dark green / gold stripes scheme and Alaska-added Eskimo on the tail blended in. Suttell says, “I remember this plane very well while working as an air freight agent in JNU. In fact, I took a couple photos myself right from the freight shed as it taxied by.” N724PA brought much needed lift of cargo backlog SEA-KTN-JNU on flight 69 about three or four times a week in the summer of 1973 and provided the same needed capacity for passenger volumes at peak season. Unlike the other three Boeing 707’s, N724PA didn’t actually fly to Russia due to the poor economy. As discussed yesterday, N724PA was given back to Donaldson Airways and given a new registration number. Pan Am, then gave N724PA to a Boeing 747-200.
Boeing 707-331 (N705PA) leased from Pan Am with Air Florida reddish-orange stripes scheme and “Alaska” in black helvetica letters on the tail and sides. The aircraft was flown during the summer of 1972 for Alaska. After being with Alaska N705PA went to Globe Air and then hit the road and traveled the world. Last record I can find of her is a photo in 1981 of her being stored in Kuala Lumpur.
Boeing 707-321 (N727PA) leased from Pan Am. Red stripe with familiar “Golden Nugget Service” logo on the tail. This was the 707 that Alaska used on the inaugural charter flights to Russia beginning on June 6, 1970. There was great fan-fare in the local Seattle media news media about the whole Russia ground-breaking flights. This Boeing 707 flew until 1980 when it crashed on landing in Bogota. Like N724PA, the registration number was used by Pan Am again and given to another Boeing 747-200.
Boeing 707-320 (N793SA) the odd one of the bunch. This aircraft was not leased from Pan Am and Alaska had no information other than it was listed as an aircraft they have previously used. I did find some information on the aircraft on AussieAirliners.org and it shows it started life with Qantas. The aircraft was leased by Pacific Western Airlines before going to Alaska during summer of 1971. The plane flew until 1979 when it was used for spare parts for KC-135, so it might be the only one of the four with part of it still currently flying. The registration number is now being used on a Southwest Boeing 737.
Alaska Airlines also operated the Boeing 720 for a number of years in regular service on their route system until about 1975. Even though the Boeing 720 looks very similar to the 707, it is not as well suited for international flights and was used for a few years until 1975 on domestic routes.
You guys were rock stars providing more information on N724PA yesterday, so if you find any more about these four aircraft, please share them in the comments!
Here is PanAm Boeing 747-200 N724PA taken in 1990, about a year before Pan Am went out of business.
A while back after I blogged a photo of a Pan Am Boeing 747-200 taking off at Seattle, an ex-pilot that flew for Pan Am emailed me and thought the registration number had to be wrong. He remembered quite clearly that N724PA was not for a 747, but it belonged to a Boeing 707-300 that flew for Pan Am. This was curious for me, since when I looked up photos of aircraft belonging to N724PA there was a photo of a Boeing 707 in Alaska Airlines livery. It is common for airlines to re-use registration numbers, but I felt a story involving a Pan Am Boeing 747 and 707 used by Alaska needed to be told.
It turns out he was right. N724PA a Boeing 707-300, which Pan Am called “Clipper Mercury,” went into service on December 8, 1959 and served Pan Am well, until 1971. Mercury was leased to GE, then Donaldson International Airways until being leased to Alaska Airlines for the summer of 1972. After Alaska’s lease was up it went back to Donaldson and the registration number was changed from N724PA to G-BAEL.
When Mercury’s registration number was changed, it allowed Pan Am to “re-use” the number and register a new aircraft. When Pan Am got a Boeing 747-200 in 1984 from Sinapore Airlines, they gave her the name “Clipper Fairwind” and the registration number N724PA, which previously belonged to the Boeing 707.
I can’t find where the Boeing 747 ended up, but based photos taken in 2005, I am guessing she is no longer flying (can anyone else confirm that?).
So, that explains the confusion of the registration numbers, but left me wondering why the heck Alaska was flying a Boeing 707 for only one summer. For that answer you will have to wait until tomorrow!
If you like wings, you are going to love the Caproni Ca.60 Noviplano. It had nine wings and was set to be a 100-passenger flying boat. To help get the 100-passenger aircraft and its nine wings off the ground, it had eight engines.
The plane was 30 feet tall – about three stories – and only 77 feet long. One would think the plane might not be the most stable and it wasn’t. It took flight one time, got up to 60 feet before crashing on March 4, 1921.
There was quite a bit of lead ballast in the aircraft and it is assumed they got lose and caused the aircraft to nose dive into the water. Luckily the test pilot survived.
The Caproni Ca.60 Noviplano might not have been successful, but it is one unique looking airplane.
Colby on a recent flight. Imagine if the seat were reclined. He can't even make the tray table go flat.
A while back Colby, a 7 foot tall man, emailed me asking to look into what airlines could do to make flying for tall people easier. At first I didn’t think too much about it. “Why should airlines be concerned about taller passengers?”
Then I got thinking. Why not? We have heard a lot recently about the passengers of size issue, where larger passengers are required to purchase two seats. Yes, it can be harder for some people, but for almost all, there is that choice (coming from someone who is larger myself). If someone can’t help their large size, they can get it documented and then the airline does have to accommodate them at no cost to the passenger. Now, being short is considered a disability, but not being tall. Our culture seems to love tall people. From athletes to people wearing taller shoes and even having surgery to get taller. People might look up to you (pun intended), but it doesn’t make flying an easy task.
So, I pose the question: Should Airlines Accommodate Tall Passengers? I say yes.
I am not talking about letting tall passengers get first class seats for free, but what about letting taller passengers have first dibs on exit row or bulk head seats? I believe there is a no-cost solution for airlines here and I really want to explore possible solutions more.
When flying, Colby tries very hard to try and get an exit or bulk head seat, but he doesn’t always get one. Every time he flies he arrives to the airport early to see if he can try and get a seat with additional leg room. He will first talk to the person at the ticket counter. If that doesn’t work he will try and see if someone at the gate can help him out. If that doesn’t work most times people sitting at the bulkhead or exit row seats are happy to change seats with him when they see him hunched over walking down the aisle. He flies quite a bit and sometimes it doesn’t matter how hard he tries, there are quite a few times he will end up in a normal seat and having to endure the flight.
It's not Colby's fault he is 7' tall. Should airlines help the little guy out?
So what could be done? Colby is looking for airlines to be a bit more consistent with with how they deal with tall passengers. Some are very accommodating others are not. Certain airlines charge passengers more to sit in the bulkhead or exit and giving up those seats for free to tall passengers would mean loss revenue. Others , you have to pay to get a seat assignment or it is open seating and it is mad-dash for prime seats.
Thing is Colby is a pretty out going guy and has no problem asking a bunch of people if he can get a seat with more legroom. He sees other, not as outgoing tall people, who don’t ask and are constantly stuck crammed in a seat during their flight.
I plan to try and help out Colby and others that are in his same situation. At 6’1″ I am not a short person, but am still able to make sitting in standard seats work. I plan to talk to people in the industry to see what solutions airlines might be able to offer tall passengers and hopefully get some feedback from you, my readers.
What are your thoughts on this? Should airlines provide solutions? If so, what solutions should they provide?
