Recently I put up a post about a trip to Alaska in 1966 on a Pacific Northern Airlines Boeing 720. In the collection of photos from that trip I have this picture. That’s me in the tie at the top of the airstairs. This was taken by my dad in Anchorage as we boarded for the return trip to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The photo in the earlier post shows a B720 in the official PNA livery; white over silver with blue and red trim. So, what is this airplane?
The article in current issue of Airways Magazine does mention any other Boeing aircraft owned by PNA. My recollections of this trip are that we flew one way on a B720 and the other way on a B707. So, does this mean we are looking at a Boeing 707? The reason I remember this so well is that the onboard branding of the aircraft clearly stated it was a 707.
Of course, the B720 was a variant of the B707, an aircraft of less busy routes, so it is possible that the airplane had 707 interior makings, but, still ….
A bit of online research turned up this site http://www.worldhistory.biz/contemporary-history/78933-pacific-northern-airlines-1-united-states-1945-1967.html, where we discover that, indeed, PNA purchased a Boeing 720 from Braniff in June of 1966! The kept the ochre color of Braniff, but added their own labels. In fact, on this Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/braniffflyingcolors/posts/1079927655409872:0, there are even more details and an actual photo of this airplane when owned by Braniff, or at least that is what they say it is. I have no reason to doubt that.
But, what I want to know is this, “How did I figure this was a Boeing 707?” I do not recall flying on a 707 at any other time. Obviously, this could be a case of the memory going faulty over a long period of time. That makes sense. However, I have found some references online to a Braniff 707 in ochre ended up at PNA. Is that possible?
I don’t know, but it will be interesting to see if I can find out more.
Oh, and yes, “back in the day” we really did dress up to take a flight, and, come to think of it, to go to the mall, too! We wouldn’t have wanted to look like bums on an airplane, eh?