Reading the article in NetLetter nr 1368 about Elvis Presley in “Alan's Space” has prompted this memory for Norman Hogwood in New Zealand and he is sharing it with us -
A couple of items in that issue resonated with me. The Elvis Presley aircraft is one. I attended seminars in Memphis, hosted by FedEx, on two occasions. On the first visit I joined a group one evening on
a tour of Graceland. Sickening! All the young girl tour guides could do was to keep weeping, and of course the master bedroom was sacrosanct!
I got the most pleasure out of an inspection of his fleet of aircraft in the back yard, especially the CV880 with a circular bed and other features. On my second visit I skipped the Graceland tour! Never again!
The Pan Am item brought back some very happy memories. I had a very good friend working for them in NYC and he gave me (and Cary if she was accompanying me) fantastic passes for travel out of
AKL to SFO, and to LAX when they changed the routing. Being invited to dine upstairs in the bubble was really special!
On one occasion a couple of ground staff approached me while I was in my 1st Class seat to ask where in Pan Am did I work. I just told them I worked for Air NZ and asked why their inquiry. It was because they hadn’t seen such a high priority pass before!
The other good thing about the PA service was the routes were operated by B747SP which meant non-stop to SFO or LAX, thus cutting out the 90 minute transit at HNL on NZ. Unfortunately the pax numbers increased and they were replaced by B747-100’s which meant lobbing into HNL!
Norman.
Ken Pickford sends this comment -
Wardair Boeing 727 item in "Wayne's Wings" in NetLetter nr 1370 - comment from Doug Keller that "Stromfjord" (actually "Sondre Stromfjord) in Greenland is now "Sondrestrom" is a bit out of date. The current name is "Kangerlussuaq". They adopted the local Inuit name Kangerlussuaq in the 1990s, much like many communities in northern Canada (e.g. Frobisher Bay, now Iqaluit etc.).
The IATA code is still SFJ. During WWII when it was built as a US air base, it was originally known as "Bluie West-8". By the way, in addition to that 727 being the first 727 in Canada, it was also the first Boeing jet sold to a Canadian carrier.
Ken