SeaTac-Airport

Seattle Tacoma Intl Airport - SeaTac - mid-1960s	Bob Bogash

... and on the take-off roll.

I really like those two pictures!
More Northwest below.....

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport - known locally as SeaTac - offered several features I'd like to point out.

1- It had an Observation Deck - allowing viewing airport operations.

2- In the mid-1960s, although the "Jet Age" had clearly arrived, the piston engine propeller airliner world was not yet dead.

3- And third, like so many other airports I used to hang out at - the fences, badges, security protocols were still somewhere in the (horrible) future. Gaining access to the ramps and hangars unfettered, was still available.

The Jets had arrived - with Mount Rainier as the ever-present backdrop.
From the Observation Deck.

Olympic Mountains too!

But the Propliners were still around

...and not just with the smaller carriers....

later on, I found this airplane had found a new home while I was poking around the backwaters in Alaska

...but with the Majors as well

DC-6s were still very much mainstream

and access to the ramp was very free and open

You can't get access to photograph this Northwest DC-7C from the Observation Deck!

Three airlines called Seattle home. West Coast Airlines - covered on another webpage - was based at Boeing Field.

PNA (Pacific Northern Airlines) and Alaska Airlines were based at SeaTac.
Both flew to Alaska.

PNA flew 749 Connies and straight-pipe Boeing 720s

Their hangar was next door to Alaska Airlines; it eventually acquired a Western sign, and then a Delta sign, and next...???

Western bought PNA and retained the Connies - there were 6, I believe.

Boeing used PNA Connies during the 727 and 737 flight test programs.

Boeing photogs shot through open windows to record the First Flights of the 727 and 737 (727 here.)

PNA had two factory built 720s and acquired a third second hand

N720V at SEA

Flying sistership N720W enroute from Ketchikan to Juneau

N720W on the ground at Juneau (see below in WAL colors).

My good friend and airplane pal Ted Gibson and I kept close tabs on all the local airplane scene. When we heard that PNA was buying a 720 from Braniff, we immediately knew which one it was going to be - N7081 - the Brown Bomber. This was one of three 720s that had been built for Aer Lingus and didn't last long with them. N7081 had a reputation for being a real Dog, and we were sure BNF would unload it at the first opportunity. Sure enough, she showed up on the ramp!

Western wound up flying the PNA 720s after the merger, despite the fact they were a major 720B operator. And - this airplane wound up eventually with Alaska Airlines - as N303AS.

Speaking of Western, they flew Electras and 720Bs into SEA during this time period.

I have a particular affinity for Western 720B's.
I especially like the yellow paint scheme with the Indian Chief head.
In September 1963, I got my very first Jet ride in one.
N93143 (My email address) - from Portland to Seattle.
The airplane was near empty and seemed to take-off straight up!
I was VERY impressed!!!

N93143 was used in many WAL P.R. photo shoots, even with their new paint job.

Over Moses Lake

N93143's cockpit survives today at the Pima Air Museum

My friend Jon Proctor's brother Bob shot this view of the ex-PNA straight-pipe 720 N720V in Western colors.

And I got sistership N720W myself!

Needless to say, Pan Am was a long time operator at SeaTac, having an early Alaska Division that flew to Alaska, and also flying across the Pacific, to Hawaii, and to London.

....along with some other international carriers, such as Japan Air Lines

and SAS

After decades serving Seattle, SAS ultimately pulled one of the biggest marketing screw-ups in history by withdrawing service. Besides a natural large Scandinavian population base in the Northwest, SAS provided an essential service to all of Europe via their Copenhagen terminal. I personally flew innumerable times on their DC-8, DC-10, 767 airplanes, all timed to arrive for a fast and seamless transfer to DC-9/MD-80s that served all the major cities in Europe. The alternative was British Airways or Pan Am via London Heathrow which was a nightmare on steroids.

After SAS left Seattle, Icelandair moved right in (without even saying Thank You), and provided similar service via Keflavik in Iceland.

SeaTac's other resident airline was Alaska Airlines.

In the 1960s, they had a dog's breakfast of different aircraft types.
The Convair 240 shown above was just one.

They also flew Boeing 727s

Convair 880

Convair 990

I think they may have been the only operator to have flown both Convair jets?

Answer from Bob Woodling - part of "Bogey's Army" - Swissair flew both.
More Info: Northeast operated both also.

An assortment of Connies

Note my ramp, hangar and even aerostand access.
I had no airside or ramp access credentials at SEA.

...and even several C-130s (L-100 in civilian use.)

After CAB route proceedings, Eastern, Continental, and TWA began serving SEA.

...and some transiting airlines like Seaboard, flying military traffic to and from Viet Nam and the Far East - like these CL-44s - serviced by PNA or Alaska.
Click here for the Seaboard story.

A Flying Tigers CL-44 with the tail open

Of course, the long time heavy-weights in Seattle have been Northwest and United

Yes - in the middle to late 60s, you could still board a Northwest DC-7C for a trans-Pacific flight. A typical foggy morning at SEA.
N2282 was sold by NWA to Airlift International who promptly crashed the airplane while aborting a takeoff from Tachikowa AFB in Japan 12 Sept 1966.

....and, you could also board a Northwest DC-8

Contrary to what many may think, Northwest used to be a DC-8 operator.

They initially ordered DC-8s in the 707 vs DC-8 sales battle. And like Pan Am, they eventually switched sides to the Boeing. In the NWA case, this happened after they ordered and operated 720B's. These proved so successful, NWA went on to order 707-320B/C series aircraft and eventually disposed of their DC-8 fleet (as did Pan Am.)

Actually, two other early DC-8 customers - United and Eastern - moved into the Boeing camp after being DC-8 operators, also via the Boeing 720 route. So the story goes, the 720 was named solely to placate UAL's William Patterson, who had sworn he would "never buy a 707."

You can read the whole story in my History of the 707 webpage by clicking here.

Speaking of which, how do you like this Northwest 707-320B getting loaded at SeaTac?
What, you say - my aviation pals? That's not a 320B, (you dummy), it's a 320C!
Wrong, wrong, wrong! Well, actually Right in this case, but....

This one is sure to win a few trivia contests.
Northwest bought five 707-320B's with main deck cargo doors.

They were not 320Cs, did not have full cargo floors and structure, extra weight and cost. The interior config was strange since there was a centerline wall and seats on the right side with cargo on the left side. They also lacked the extra door aft of the wing. Don Nyrop (long-time President of NWA) was always thinking ahead - resale you know.

He bought all his airplanes for cash and sold them early.

Boeing 720B

I worked closely with Northwest for many years and in many Stations, and enjoyed my relationship with them immensely. In fact, I count many of my Northwest pals as still my good friends today.

....But, Northwest was cut from a different cloth and had a unique relationship with Boeing. Their President, Don Nyrop, was a character and very hands on - and very "frugal." Yet, Northwest made a profit every year for 10 years - unlike virtually all the other U.S. airlines.

They paid for their airplanes in cash - no financing involved. And sold them early, while they still brought a good price.

A bunch of Minnesota lumberjacks and North Dakota farmboys who knew what hard work was all about. I loved Northwest!

Most major airlines - certainly the big ones - had on-site in-plant offices.
Some had quite large staffs, including contracts people, engineers, pilots.
I don't think NWA had anyone. Or hardly anyone - just someone to sign the papers and pick up the keys for a new airplane delivery.

One good example was test flying.

In general, at that time, Boeing Renton-built airplanes would make their first flight out of Renton and land back over at Boeing Field for final testing and delivery preps. The first flight was called the B-1. The ones I was on flew up the East Channel between Mercer Island and the Mainland, then headed for Tattoosh at the NW corner of Washington State, down the coast to Astoria, OR, inland to Pendleton, then to Moses Lake for some approaches and possible landings, finally back to Boeing Field (BFI.)

A World Airways 707-320C making its First Flight out of Renton

The test crew ran through a First Flight notebook full of test cards that tested all the airplane systems, and wrote up the discrepancies (non-conformities.) Boeing flight line maintenance people would work off the squawks, and depending on their nature, a second confirming test flight would be made. It would be the B-2. Most airplanes had 2 or 3 test flights before they were presented to the customer for his test flying and final acceptance.

First Flights were always emotional events for me.
It was then that a "Machine" became an "Airplane".
The Living, Breathing thing that lived in the Skies and had a Soul.

A customer test flight was labelled (duh) as a C-1; not all customers performed their own test flights, but some were very rigorous with a test crew based at Boeing. I remember very clearly working on a TWA 707 delivery out of the Commercial Delivery Center (located across from the D.C. where that area is now the Military Delivery Center.) This airplane actually performed a C-17 test flight before fly-away!!! Yes, they flew it 17 times before accepting the keys and heading to Indianapolis (for tax reasons) and then on to TWA's Kansas City Main Base.

We did a lot of those "Tax Flights" - some out over the Pacific Ocean, and other strange places; some flew south and clipped the corner of Nevada (without landing) where the people on board could sign the contracts. This particular TWA airplane had Trim problems which could be common and the airplane would roll off left or right when allowed to fly hands-off. These involved the most minuscule dimensional issues, often involving shimming the flap tracks with laminated shims only a few thousandths of an inch thick. A lot of Trial and Error and the only way to confirm rectification was by doing another test flight. (I had the same problem on the RV-12 airplane I built and wound up solving my problem by designing and installing a custom trip tab on the left hand flaperon.)

That's me and my trusty N737G

Rather than perform a bunch of their own test flights, Northwest had a deal with Boeing where Boeing would reimburse the airline for rectifying all the squawks written up during the first 50 hours of line flying. In essence, NWA trusted Boeing to deliver a safe flying machine and the discrepancies would be mostly minor and nuisance items.

The big airlines would also take new airplanes into their maintenance facilities and perform "mods" and customization out-fitting jobs that might take a week or two before the airplane was released to the Line. Not Northwest!

Which brings me to a Saturday afternoon at the Boeing Flight Center hangar at the north end of Boeing Field. There, pushed into the NE corner parking stall sat a brand new Northwest Boeing 707-320C. It was somewhat a rare bird in that it had Passed on its first B-1 flight and was ready for Delivery. It was "newer" than New.

In late afternoon, a little convoy of Northwest servicing vehicles left SeaTac and headed the 4 miles down the hill to Boeing Field. Potable water trucks, lav trucks, catering vehicles, etc. They swarmed the new airplane, servicing the systems, the lavs, stuffing the seat-back pockets with all the usual paraphernalia - in-flight magazines, barf bags, safety cards. The caterers filled the galleys with complete food service needed for a flight. Finally, they trundled back up the hill to SeaTac and the Flight Crew showed up.

Northwest was saving valuable time. After a fast walk-around, they jumped in, fired up, and took-off for the short flight to SEA. Talking to the pilot, he indicated they were under crew duty time constraints for their Tokyo flight and needed to move right along. Yes, they ferried into SeaTac, loaded the passengers and their baggage, topped off the trip fuel and about an hour later, departed for TYO. A brand new airplane with a total of one Boeing test flight, about 2:30 total flight time, maybe two landings, and a planeload of pax headed across the Pacific Ocean for Japan! I was impressed. I'm STILL impressed. Barely hours out of the factory and already in-service. I wondered if the passengers had any idea.....

United

Finally, United. An airline that historically had a huge presence in Seattle, but which then slowly but steadily, for whatever reason, retreated. Even when they bought Pan Am's Pacific routes, their SEA service to Hawaii, Japan, Hong Kong all disappeared. Pan Am's SEA - London/Heathrow - same. North - South service along the West Coast and transcons to New York, all disappeared or were severely cut back - giving the market to others like Alaska, Jet Blue, Air Cal, Reno Air etc. Recall that United was started by, and once was part of Boeing.

Anyhow - looking back allows us to re-live those glory days of Yesteryear, when you could take a United Convair to Eugene or a DC-6 to Reno.

DC-8

Boeing 720

DC-8F

Boeing 727s arrived on the scene
Note the Flying Tiger CL-44 Swing-Tail in the background

OK, you Youngsters - I don't suppose you remember that when the 727 (and other JT8D powered airplanes) came out, you could see them coming from miles away.

Eventually, Pratt developed a mod called "Smokeless Cans" that helped solve the problem.

727 tails got pretty dirty!

Well, in 1968, I moved on to JFK / LGA / EWR and my photo exploits moved on to those airports as well.

Hope you have enjoyed seeing some scenes around SeaTac Airport from the mid-60s.

Other Airports from Days Gone By

Honolulu

LAX

LaGuardia