edcoatescollection.com/ac3/A … Index.html
This is a great collection of photos of American airliners. I could spend hours looking at the photos and reading the captions to them.
Good post David, lots of cool stuff.
Very cool…thanks for sharing it with us.
Brings back good memories, (National, Brannif, Eastern etc), of a time when the world was very different.
Great find, loved looking at the PSA “smile” again. I’m still hoping to someday find a pic of the North Central CV580 in freight livery with the package hanging out of Herman the Blue Goose’s (who was actually a mallard btw) bill.
Not a great picture but there is one at hermantheduck.org. Until I discovered this site a few months ago I didn’t North Central had dedicated cargo flights.
The site has lots of first hand information on the employees, history, and aircraft of North Central.
Thanks Dami for the great NC link. I definitely remember either a CV440 or 580 in cargo livery at CMX but The site only mentions C47s. Then again that was about 40 years ago!
One of the reasons for the freighters was that the cargo door/area on the DC9-30’s was too small to accommodate large freight. I used to pick up a buck or two flying air mortuary with the local FBO out of CMX with a Cherokee Six.
Interestingly when I worked as Passenger Services Supervisor for a long since defunct commuter our counter was across the lobby from NC at CMX (we were the only two airlines) and at DET we were right next to Southern so I knew a lot of NC folks.
Was this MVA or Air Illinois or ???
Nothing so grand. BE99 operation named Air Metro operating under the code “JB”. CMX-MQT-TVC-LAN-DET. A/C, crews and maintenance based at CMX. Went defunct in '76 as I recall.
It was an interesting job. Tugged the A/C out on Monday morning, boarded the pax, jumped on with them and spent the week in a DET motel. Back on Friday to do my laundry and repeat. Once in a while I still iron a shirt by hanging it in a steaming shower! I’m sure a few others on here can relate.