SUNSHINE SKIES REVIEWS, ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS
BOOK REVIEWS AND ARTICLES
La Floridiana (January 2006) - "truly a masterpiece"
The Rockdale Citizen (January 2006) - "plethora of details"
The Captain's Log (Spring 2009) - "thoroughly fascinating reading from cover to cover"
Amazon.com (May 2011) - "great book for a limited audience"
AIRLINERS INTERNATIONAL 2009 CONVENTION IN ORLANDO
Orlando Weekly (July 2009)
La Floridiana (August 2009) - William Moriaty's report on AI 2009
RADIO INTERVIEW
Sidewalk Radio (September 2010)- Excellent half hour program about Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE INTERVIEWS
New terminal culminates decades of planning (May 18, 2012)
What to see and do at the new international terminal (May 18, 2012)
New Delta Air Lines Museum set to take off (June 28, 2013)
USA TODAY
Ocean Airways (September 7, 2016)
THE CHATTANOOGAN
Detailed History of Chattanooga Airport Chronicled at Website (July 7, 2020)
Additional articles, videos and radio segments:
ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
It Takes A Vision To See Atlanta's Past (April 7, 2015)
CURBED ATLANTA
Hartsfield History (June 22, 2015)
Recapping Atlanta's 10 Most Dynamite Implosions Through The Years (August 13, 2018) Features my ATL demolition video
COASTAL BREEZE NEWS
Marco Island Executive Airport Plans Expansion (July 2016)
GEORGIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING
How Atlanta Came To Own The World's Busiest Airport (March 14, 2019)
KEYS NEWS
City Prepared For Takeoff, But Lacks An Airline (June 20, 2018)
SAPORTA REPORT - Lance Russell's Stories Of Atlanta
One in 104 Million (October 2018)
La Floridiana (January 2006) - "truly a masterpiece"
The Rockdale Citizen (January 2006) - "plethora of details"
The Captain's Log (Spring 2009) - "thoroughly fascinating reading from cover to cover"
Amazon.com (May 2011) - "great book for a limited audience"
AIRLINERS INTERNATIONAL 2009 CONVENTION IN ORLANDO
Orlando Weekly (July 2009)
La Floridiana (August 2009) - William Moriaty's report on AI 2009
RADIO INTERVIEW
Sidewalk Radio (September 2010)- Excellent half hour program about Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport
ATLANTA BUSINESS CHRONICLE INTERVIEWS
New terminal culminates decades of planning (May 18, 2012)
What to see and do at the new international terminal (May 18, 2012)
New Delta Air Lines Museum set to take off (June 28, 2013)
USA TODAY
Ocean Airways (September 7, 2016)
THE CHATTANOOGAN
Detailed History of Chattanooga Airport Chronicled at Website (July 7, 2020)
Additional articles, videos and radio segments:
ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION
It Takes A Vision To See Atlanta's Past (April 7, 2015)
CURBED ATLANTA
Hartsfield History (June 22, 2015)
Recapping Atlanta's 10 Most Dynamite Implosions Through The Years (August 13, 2018) Features my ATL demolition video
COASTAL BREEZE NEWS
Marco Island Executive Airport Plans Expansion (July 2016)
GEORGIA PUBLIC BROADCASTING
How Atlanta Came To Own The World's Busiest Airport (March 14, 2019)
KEYS NEWS
City Prepared For Takeoff, But Lacks An Airline (June 20, 2018)
SAPORTA REPORT - Lance Russell's Stories Of Atlanta
One in 104 Million (October 2018)
LA FLORIDIANA BOOK REVIEW:
SUNSHINE SKIES: HISTORIC COMMUTER AIRLINES OF FLORIDA AND GEORGIA
January 2006
SUNSHINE SKIES: HISTORIC COMMUTER AIRLINES OF FLORIDA AND GEORGIA
January 2006
In the 1983 movie "A Christmas Story", little Ralphie Parker
received after his family's gift giving "bacchanalia" what he truly
considered to be his prize desire - a Red Ryder B-B Gun.
After spending two separate occasions two weeks ago, one on Christmas Eve, the other on Christmas Day in my own gift-giving "bacchanalia", my most prized gift this year (outside of course of my health, wife, family and friends) showed up on my door step in an unassuming large envelope bearing the words "Cafe Press". My book, "William Moriaty's Florida" is currently printed by Cafe Press, so I was thinking that it would be silly of them to send me a complimentary copy of my own work. As I tore away at the envelope's seal with great abandon, my mind (what's left of it, that is) wandered back several months ago to a series of e-mails that transpired between me and a La Floridiana reader named David P. Henderson of Conyers, Georgia.
Mr. Henderson had seen my five-part articles on Florida's Golden Age of commuter airlines back in issues #214, 215, 216, 217, and 218. He shared with me that he had been researching Florida commuter Shawnee Airlines of Orlando. As a result of our shared interest in this field, we communicated electronically on an "unscheduled" basis.
In a communication written as recently as December 14, 2005, David hinted that he would have his own book out on the commuter airlines of Florida and Georgia "soon".
Once freed from the bondage of its envelope, I beheld one of the loveliest sights that these two eyes had seen in years. On glossy stock paper was a Bob Garrard photo of the silhouette of a Naples / PBA Douglas DC-3 on finals to Miami International Airport in March 1983 against a blazing orange sunset with a row of silhouetted approach light towers beneath it.
Immediately I set aside all other chores and distractions and consumed the contents of this book as if it were Manna from Heaven.
Henderson's heartfelt book is undeniably one of the finest books covering Florida's aviation history.
Incredibly detailed accounts of the operations of commercial aviation's most unique aircraft, most colorful paint schemes and most interesting entrepreneurs make this book one of the most fascinating reads for the person who was ever connected on a professional level, or interested on an enthusiasts level of the 1960's to 1980's commercial airline scenes of Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Key West, Brunswick and other locales in America's two most southeastern states.
Henderson outlines these colorful carriers starting as far back as the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line of 1914 which was founded by pilot Tony Jannus, and considered to be the first regularly scheduled airline in world history. This is then followed up with the chronological history of carriers ranging from the 1919 creation of Chalk's, to the heart-wrenching and unceremonious demise of DC-3 operator Naples / PBA on September 7, 1988. The emergence and fall of commuter heavy-weights Air Florida and Naples / PBA is painstakingly chronicled, of which Naples / PBA earned three separate chapters of its folklore in this unique book.
As I stated in the book's Preface, "This book is your ticket to meeting the people and equipment that defined the last of commuter aviation's true entrepreneurs before industry shakeouts, mega mergers, spiraling fuel costs and time and age replaced them with generic and mediocre carriers sporting the colors and personas of America's major carriers. " Henderson also brought out in this book a factor that also contributed to the doom of these indigenous airlines that I had totally overlooked in my assessment - the completion of Florida's and Georgia's Interstate highway systems.
Henderson's book is truly a masterpiece, told with heart and wit and backed up with tireless research complete with fleet information and passenger statistics as well as incredibly rare photos of these commuters at the ramps and in the air of Florida's and Georgia's airports. Amongst my many favorite photos are the one of Henderson himself, posed at the age of twelve in 1979 at Atlanta Hartsfield (now Hartsfield-Jackson) International Airport; his father boarding an Air Sunshine Convair 440 in Marathon in 1978; and a gorgeous photo he took of a sunset over the Seven Mile Bridge of the Florida Keys taken from a Naples / PBA DC-3 in 1981 (that alone is to me worth the purchase of the book!) ; not to be overlooked are photos of a Red Carpet DC-3, and an Atlantic Gulf Vickers Viscount, both of which were fixtures at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport when I lived about a mile away from that facility from the mid-seventies to mid-eighties. In addition, the book is filled with rare and incredible airline timetable covers and promotional pieces and photos.
This book should not be limited to just the collector and interests of the regional aviation niche. It is possibly the only journal of its kind to showcase to the world a rich yet fleetingly forgotten history endemic to an era and location that produced some of the most magnificent, rare and unique sights in the realm of commercial aviation. A history that we will never know again.
They are undeniably gone, but David P. Henderson's book "Sunshine Skies: Historic Commuter Airlines of Florida and Georgia" eloquently breathes life back into those tropically painted Marco Island Airways Martin 404's; those soothing sounds of the Naples / PBA DC-3's; those wild colors and exaggerated nose-down approaches of the Shawnee and Air South Martin 404; and the stories of America's last independent civil aviation entrepreneurs.
"Sunshine Skies: Historic Commuter Airlines of Florida and Georgia" is available HERE.
After spending two separate occasions two weeks ago, one on Christmas Eve, the other on Christmas Day in my own gift-giving "bacchanalia", my most prized gift this year (outside of course of my health, wife, family and friends) showed up on my door step in an unassuming large envelope bearing the words "Cafe Press". My book, "William Moriaty's Florida" is currently printed by Cafe Press, so I was thinking that it would be silly of them to send me a complimentary copy of my own work. As I tore away at the envelope's seal with great abandon, my mind (what's left of it, that is) wandered back several months ago to a series of e-mails that transpired between me and a La Floridiana reader named David P. Henderson of Conyers, Georgia.
Mr. Henderson had seen my five-part articles on Florida's Golden Age of commuter airlines back in issues #214, 215, 216, 217, and 218. He shared with me that he had been researching Florida commuter Shawnee Airlines of Orlando. As a result of our shared interest in this field, we communicated electronically on an "unscheduled" basis.
In a communication written as recently as December 14, 2005, David hinted that he would have his own book out on the commuter airlines of Florida and Georgia "soon".
Once freed from the bondage of its envelope, I beheld one of the loveliest sights that these two eyes had seen in years. On glossy stock paper was a Bob Garrard photo of the silhouette of a Naples / PBA Douglas DC-3 on finals to Miami International Airport in March 1983 against a blazing orange sunset with a row of silhouetted approach light towers beneath it.
Immediately I set aside all other chores and distractions and consumed the contents of this book as if it were Manna from Heaven.
Henderson's heartfelt book is undeniably one of the finest books covering Florida's aviation history.
Incredibly detailed accounts of the operations of commercial aviation's most unique aircraft, most colorful paint schemes and most interesting entrepreneurs make this book one of the most fascinating reads for the person who was ever connected on a professional level, or interested on an enthusiasts level of the 1960's to 1980's commercial airline scenes of Miami, Tampa, Orlando, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Key West, Brunswick and other locales in America's two most southeastern states.
Henderson outlines these colorful carriers starting as far back as the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line of 1914 which was founded by pilot Tony Jannus, and considered to be the first regularly scheduled airline in world history. This is then followed up with the chronological history of carriers ranging from the 1919 creation of Chalk's, to the heart-wrenching and unceremonious demise of DC-3 operator Naples / PBA on September 7, 1988. The emergence and fall of commuter heavy-weights Air Florida and Naples / PBA is painstakingly chronicled, of which Naples / PBA earned three separate chapters of its folklore in this unique book.
As I stated in the book's Preface, "This book is your ticket to meeting the people and equipment that defined the last of commuter aviation's true entrepreneurs before industry shakeouts, mega mergers, spiraling fuel costs and time and age replaced them with generic and mediocre carriers sporting the colors and personas of America's major carriers. " Henderson also brought out in this book a factor that also contributed to the doom of these indigenous airlines that I had totally overlooked in my assessment - the completion of Florida's and Georgia's Interstate highway systems.
Henderson's book is truly a masterpiece, told with heart and wit and backed up with tireless research complete with fleet information and passenger statistics as well as incredibly rare photos of these commuters at the ramps and in the air of Florida's and Georgia's airports. Amongst my many favorite photos are the one of Henderson himself, posed at the age of twelve in 1979 at Atlanta Hartsfield (now Hartsfield-Jackson) International Airport; his father boarding an Air Sunshine Convair 440 in Marathon in 1978; and a gorgeous photo he took of a sunset over the Seven Mile Bridge of the Florida Keys taken from a Naples / PBA DC-3 in 1981 (that alone is to me worth the purchase of the book!) ; not to be overlooked are photos of a Red Carpet DC-3, and an Atlantic Gulf Vickers Viscount, both of which were fixtures at the St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport when I lived about a mile away from that facility from the mid-seventies to mid-eighties. In addition, the book is filled with rare and incredible airline timetable covers and promotional pieces and photos.
This book should not be limited to just the collector and interests of the regional aviation niche. It is possibly the only journal of its kind to showcase to the world a rich yet fleetingly forgotten history endemic to an era and location that produced some of the most magnificent, rare and unique sights in the realm of commercial aviation. A history that we will never know again.
They are undeniably gone, but David P. Henderson's book "Sunshine Skies: Historic Commuter Airlines of Florida and Georgia" eloquently breathes life back into those tropically painted Marco Island Airways Martin 404's; those soothing sounds of the Naples / PBA DC-3's; those wild colors and exaggerated nose-down approaches of the Shawnee and Air South Martin 404; and the stories of America's last independent civil aviation entrepreneurs.
"Sunshine Skies: Historic Commuter Airlines of Florida and Georgia" is available HERE.
THE ROCKDALE CITIZEN
AVIATION BUFF OFFERS NOSTALGIC LOOK AT HISTORIC AIRLINES
January 22, 2006
By Karen J. Rohr
AVIATION BUFF OFFERS NOSTALGIC LOOK AT HISTORIC AIRLINES
January 22, 2006
By Karen J. Rohr
As a kid growing up in the 1970s and 80s, David Henderson spent an unusual amount of time in airports. Because his father worked as a pilot for Delta, Henderson and his younger sister flew on passes and took several trips a year to Florida to visit with grandparents. Often flying during peak season as stand-bys, the pair sometimes waited up to 10 hours in the airports for a seat on a plane. To pass the time, Henderson not only watched landings and take-offs but also cruised around and picked up commuter airline pamphlets. "I collected maps and schedules like some kids collected baseball cards. I just thought they were cool," said the 38-year-old Conyers resident.
Decades later, with a little prodding from fellow flight enthusiasts, Henderson has transformed all of that nostalgic flight information into a book, "Sunshine Skies: Historic Commuter Airlines of Florida and Georgia."
The self-published book features profiles of more than 60 small independent carriers that flourished from the 1960s to the 80s, the golden age of commuter airlines before deregulation of the industry in 1978 allowed larger airlines to muscle out the smaller ones.
During that commuter airline heyday, major airlines, like Eastern and Delta, transported travelers between large cities while commuter airlines provided service to smaller, more difficult to reach locations. In those days, a passenger could fly from Atlanta to St. Simon's for $37 or from Key West to Marathon Key for $5.40.
In Georgia, a few of the better known commuter airlines included Atlantic Southeast Airlines and Air South, while in Florida, Provincetown Boston Airline, also known as Naples Airlines (which began in Boston but experienced tremendous growth when it expanded to the Sunshine State), and Shawnee Airlines maintained a strong reputation.
Many of the commuter airlines used aircraft recycled from decades past, such as the popular piston engine DC-3, which existed in surplus because of heavy manufacturing during World War II, and the turboprop Twin Otter. The commuter planes typically carried from 10 to 40 passengers.
"There were a lot of them, and you could buy them for next to nothing," Henderson said. "The thing about having these 50-year-old planes is that most flights lasted only a half an hour, and it didn't matter if you were flying a jet or one of these planes, it would still take half an hour."
With both of his parents working in the flight industry (his mother was a flight attendant) and having spent his childhood living in College Park and East Point, under the flight path of the Atlanta airport, Henderson couldn't avoid an interest in aviation.
"By the time I was 3 years old, I could differentiate a 747 from a 727 from inside the house merely by the sound of the engines as they passed overhead," writes Henderson in "Sunshine Skies".
His interest in all things aviation-related grew and so did his collection of old airline timetables, route maps, fleet lists, photos, postcards and histories. He also amassed official airline guides, aviation books, airplane models and other memorabilia.
By the time he was 13, he had saved enough money to buy a $32 ticket for a flight on a DC-3, his first commuter plane ride, that took him from Miami to Marathon Key, then a small fishing village. He flew down to the key by himself, did a little sightseeing and flew back that afternoon. He marveled at the blue waters and white beaches.
"It was a real adventure because I'd never really flown in an old propeller plane, and it was fun. Because the older planes aren't pressurized you have to stay at a fairly low altitude, so it was almost like a sightseeing trip", Henderson said.
As he grew older, being an artist and musician overtook his obsession with flight. He attended the Art Institute of Atlanta for a few years and supported himself by playing bass in Atlanta bands such as Orange Hat and Wild West Picture Show.
But, when it came time for his parents to move and sell his aviation collectibles at a garage sale about eight years ago, Henderson rescued the items. Meanwhile, though he had lost interest in the old airline memorabilia, he found Microsoft's Flight Simulator 98 fascinating. Using the software, he designed his own planes, many of which resembled the DC-3s and 404s he so loved as a child. He uploaded his computer models, set in the old Atlanta Airport (he had also created from memory), onto a Web site.
After a few years passed and he lost interest in the Flight Simulator, he still continued to receive correspondence from other flight enthusiasts about his planes and the airport, which remained posted on the Web and proved to be popular with retired Delta pilots. One compelled him to write a book about the subject.
Having earned his private and commercial pilots licenses by 2003, Henderson finally delved back in those old flight "time capsules", as he calls his thousands of pamphlets, and began the year-long project of researching and assembling the book. He laid out the book and sent it to a Web-based company that prints books on demand.
"Sunshine Skies", which includes not only a plethora of details about the now mostly-defunct commuter airlines but also hundreds of black and white photos of airplanes and graphics of the airline pamphlets, is now available at Amazon.
Henderson's enthusiasm for the old airlines and airplanes makes "Sunshine Skies" take on more of a conversational tone and less of a technical one, a result not totally unexpected when reading the book's introduction.
Writes Henderson, "I approached this project not as a scholar or a historian, but rather as someone who loves aviation and old prop airliners. In short, I did it for fun."
Decades later, with a little prodding from fellow flight enthusiasts, Henderson has transformed all of that nostalgic flight information into a book, "Sunshine Skies: Historic Commuter Airlines of Florida and Georgia."
The self-published book features profiles of more than 60 small independent carriers that flourished from the 1960s to the 80s, the golden age of commuter airlines before deregulation of the industry in 1978 allowed larger airlines to muscle out the smaller ones.
During that commuter airline heyday, major airlines, like Eastern and Delta, transported travelers between large cities while commuter airlines provided service to smaller, more difficult to reach locations. In those days, a passenger could fly from Atlanta to St. Simon's for $37 or from Key West to Marathon Key for $5.40.
In Georgia, a few of the better known commuter airlines included Atlantic Southeast Airlines and Air South, while in Florida, Provincetown Boston Airline, also known as Naples Airlines (which began in Boston but experienced tremendous growth when it expanded to the Sunshine State), and Shawnee Airlines maintained a strong reputation.
Many of the commuter airlines used aircraft recycled from decades past, such as the popular piston engine DC-3, which existed in surplus because of heavy manufacturing during World War II, and the turboprop Twin Otter. The commuter planes typically carried from 10 to 40 passengers.
"There were a lot of them, and you could buy them for next to nothing," Henderson said. "The thing about having these 50-year-old planes is that most flights lasted only a half an hour, and it didn't matter if you were flying a jet or one of these planes, it would still take half an hour."
With both of his parents working in the flight industry (his mother was a flight attendant) and having spent his childhood living in College Park and East Point, under the flight path of the Atlanta airport, Henderson couldn't avoid an interest in aviation.
"By the time I was 3 years old, I could differentiate a 747 from a 727 from inside the house merely by the sound of the engines as they passed overhead," writes Henderson in "Sunshine Skies".
His interest in all things aviation-related grew and so did his collection of old airline timetables, route maps, fleet lists, photos, postcards and histories. He also amassed official airline guides, aviation books, airplane models and other memorabilia.
By the time he was 13, he had saved enough money to buy a $32 ticket for a flight on a DC-3, his first commuter plane ride, that took him from Miami to Marathon Key, then a small fishing village. He flew down to the key by himself, did a little sightseeing and flew back that afternoon. He marveled at the blue waters and white beaches.
"It was a real adventure because I'd never really flown in an old propeller plane, and it was fun. Because the older planes aren't pressurized you have to stay at a fairly low altitude, so it was almost like a sightseeing trip", Henderson said.
As he grew older, being an artist and musician overtook his obsession with flight. He attended the Art Institute of Atlanta for a few years and supported himself by playing bass in Atlanta bands such as Orange Hat and Wild West Picture Show.
But, when it came time for his parents to move and sell his aviation collectibles at a garage sale about eight years ago, Henderson rescued the items. Meanwhile, though he had lost interest in the old airline memorabilia, he found Microsoft's Flight Simulator 98 fascinating. Using the software, he designed his own planes, many of which resembled the DC-3s and 404s he so loved as a child. He uploaded his computer models, set in the old Atlanta Airport (he had also created from memory), onto a Web site.
After a few years passed and he lost interest in the Flight Simulator, he still continued to receive correspondence from other flight enthusiasts about his planes and the airport, which remained posted on the Web and proved to be popular with retired Delta pilots. One compelled him to write a book about the subject.
Having earned his private and commercial pilots licenses by 2003, Henderson finally delved back in those old flight "time capsules", as he calls his thousands of pamphlets, and began the year-long project of researching and assembling the book. He laid out the book and sent it to a Web-based company that prints books on demand.
"Sunshine Skies", which includes not only a plethora of details about the now mostly-defunct commuter airlines but also hundreds of black and white photos of airplanes and graphics of the airline pamphlets, is now available at Amazon.
Henderson's enthusiasm for the old airlines and airplanes makes "Sunshine Skies" take on more of a conversational tone and less of a technical one, a result not totally unexpected when reading the book's introduction.
Writes Henderson, "I approached this project not as a scholar or a historian, but rather as someone who loves aviation and old prop airliners. In short, I did it for fun."
THE CAPTAIN'S LOG
BOOK REVIEW: SUNSHINE SKIES: HISTORIC COMMUTER AIRLINES OF FLORIDA AND GEORGIA
Spring 2009
By William M. Demarest
BOOK REVIEW: SUNSHINE SKIES: HISTORIC COMMUTER AIRLINES OF FLORIDA AND GEORGIA
Spring 2009
By William M. Demarest
Zeus Press, 2008, Second Edition. 8 X 10 inches, 262 pages, Black & White photographs, softbound. ISBN 1-4404-2474-8.
Florida has been proclaimed as the birthplace of the U.S. airline industry when St. Petersburg - Tampa Airboat Line commenced scheduled service on January 1, 1914. Since then, Florida, and our neighbor to the north, Georgia, have been the home bases for an incredible array of airlines operating scheduled and non-scheduled service with everything from single engine prop planes to jumbo jets.
Author David Henderson has captured the history and essence of the commuter and regional airlines from this region by focusing on the airlines in the 1960's through the 1980's. This valuable reference book summarizes the history and aircraft fleets from such long forgotten carriers as Shawnee, PBA, Naples Airlines, Air Florida Commuter, Atlanta Express and many others and makes for thoroughly fascinating reading from cover to cover.
Mr. Henderson shares our excitement of the airline industry. Like myself, and many others, he caught the airline 'bug' at an early age. One hopes that he will follow-up with another edition focusing on the many charter and cargo airlines from Florida and Georgia over the last 20 years.
Florida has been proclaimed as the birthplace of the U.S. airline industry when St. Petersburg - Tampa Airboat Line commenced scheduled service on January 1, 1914. Since then, Florida, and our neighbor to the north, Georgia, have been the home bases for an incredible array of airlines operating scheduled and non-scheduled service with everything from single engine prop planes to jumbo jets.
Author David Henderson has captured the history and essence of the commuter and regional airlines from this region by focusing on the airlines in the 1960's through the 1980's. This valuable reference book summarizes the history and aircraft fleets from such long forgotten carriers as Shawnee, PBA, Naples Airlines, Air Florida Commuter, Atlanta Express and many others and makes for thoroughly fascinating reading from cover to cover.
Mr. Henderson shares our excitement of the airline industry. Like myself, and many others, he caught the airline 'bug' at an early age. One hopes that he will follow-up with another edition focusing on the many charter and cargo airlines from Florida and Georgia over the last 20 years.
AMAZON CUSTOMER REVIEW: GREAT BOOK FOR A LIMITED AUDIENCE
May 30, 2011
By James Pernikoff (Marietta, Georgia, USA)
5 out of 5 stars
If you're an airline buff, especially regarding Florida or Georgia, this little book is for you. Truly a labor of love for the author, it describes the lives of some 50 local service carriers (and a handful of larger airlines) that have done business in these two states. Very few survived for very long, but their stories make for good reading. Some of the better known are Chalk's, PBA, Mackey and Marco Island, and a few, like ASA, are still with us. There is also a chapter on Air Florida, mainly to show how its life and its demise affected the smaller airline business in Florida. There is also a brief chapter doing the same for Southern, Republic and Piedmont.
The text is supported by photos, fleet lists, route maps, timetables and ad copy. Perhaps the only negative is a lack of color photos, but considering the price that is understandable and not really a problem. Perhaps other authors will get the idea and come out with similar books for other parts of the country, like California.
Amazon.com
May 30, 2011
By James Pernikoff (Marietta, Georgia, USA)
5 out of 5 stars
If you're an airline buff, especially regarding Florida or Georgia, this little book is for you. Truly a labor of love for the author, it describes the lives of some 50 local service carriers (and a handful of larger airlines) that have done business in these two states. Very few survived for very long, but their stories make for good reading. Some of the better known are Chalk's, PBA, Mackey and Marco Island, and a few, like ASA, are still with us. There is also a chapter on Air Florida, mainly to show how its life and its demise affected the smaller airline business in Florida. There is also a brief chapter doing the same for Southern, Republic and Piedmont.
The text is supported by photos, fleet lists, route maps, timetables and ad copy. Perhaps the only negative is a lack of color photos, but considering the price that is understandable and not really a problem. Perhaps other authors will get the idea and come out with similar books for other parts of the country, like California.
Amazon.com
ORLANDO WEEKLY EVENTS:
AIRLINERS INTERNATIONAL TRADE SHOW - July 23-25, 2009
Critic's Pick
Discussions, collectibles and exhibits all centered around the history of airlines.
Not since 1991 has the Superbowl of airline enthusiasts touched down in Orlando, and how much has changed in 19 years. Take a read through the “Pilots Briefings” (seminar schedule) for the long weekend affair to get a taste of the proceedings that are part historical, part whimsical and part tragic. The latter arrives in a presentation by the Eastern Flight 401 Survivors Group (2 p.m.-4 p.m. Friday), a flight that went down in the Everglades in 1972, killing 101 passengers. For a special on Florida history, author David Henderson talks about his update of Sunshine Skies, a reported recollection of the state’s commuter airlines (9:30 a.m.-11 a.m. Saturday). His book is rich in photographs, as is the slide show and auction (7:30 p.m. Friday). All that comes as part of the convention package, but it’s the trade show, open to the public for 10 bucks (parking’s free), that packs them in, pushing an astonishing number of collectibles – from postcards to airline cutlery to barf bags. (1 p.m.-6 p.m. Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at Wyndham Orlando Resort, 8001 International Drive; $10; (Staff)
AIRLINERS INTERNATIONAL TRADE SHOW - July 23-25, 2009
Critic's Pick
Discussions, collectibles and exhibits all centered around the history of airlines.
Not since 1991 has the Superbowl of airline enthusiasts touched down in Orlando, and how much has changed in 19 years. Take a read through the “Pilots Briefings” (seminar schedule) for the long weekend affair to get a taste of the proceedings that are part historical, part whimsical and part tragic. The latter arrives in a presentation by the Eastern Flight 401 Survivors Group (2 p.m.-4 p.m. Friday), a flight that went down in the Everglades in 1972, killing 101 passengers. For a special on Florida history, author David Henderson talks about his update of Sunshine Skies, a reported recollection of the state’s commuter airlines (9:30 a.m.-11 a.m. Saturday). His book is rich in photographs, as is the slide show and auction (7:30 p.m. Friday). All that comes as part of the convention package, but it’s the trade show, open to the public for 10 bucks (parking’s free), that packs them in, pushing an astonishing number of collectibles – from postcards to airline cutlery to barf bags. (1 p.m.-6 p.m. Thursday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at Wyndham Orlando Resort, 8001 International Drive; $10; (Staff)
LA FLORIDIANA AIRLINERS INTERNATIONAL
August 17-23, 2009
By William Moriaty
Saturday morning on July 25th was another day of lots of travel and hurried deadlines in the life of William Moriaty.
Over a month earlier, my dear friend "Miami Mike" Hiscano told me over a late lunch at the Airport Diner in Miami Springs that he would have a vendor's booth for this special event. I had not been to an Airliners International convention since the early 1990's when one was coincidentally at the same location in the Orlando area close to 20 years ago.
As "Miami Mike" is one of my favorite people, and as Orlando is only a 40 to 50 minute drive from Plant City, I couldn't miss this opportunity to visit him once again. I would find out within a week after our June get together that David P. Henderson author of Sunshine Skies: Historic Commuter Airlines of Florida and Georgia would also be attending and giving a presentation! As I had never before met the author of this great book (see PCR #302), there was no doubt where I would be spending July 25, 2009, so quick like a bunny I ordered my ticket to attend Airliners International 2009 ("AI2009")!
I arrived around 9:00 A.M. at the venue where the AI2009 convention was being held. Other than getting my registration packet, my first objective was to try to find "Miami Mike" which wouldn't be easy based on the size of the Wyndham Orlando Resort's convention center. The next order of business would be to attend David Henderson's presentation on his book Sunshine Skies: Historic Commuter Airlines of Florida and Georgia which was slated for 10:00 A.M.
Familiar Faces and A New Found Friend
As I received my registration I saw a face from the past that I had not seen in five years. Linda Levine of the South Florida Airline Historic Society (see PCR #190) was there to provide with my registration packet! It as great to see her again and she, along with her husband Don, had not changed a bit over the course of the past half decade. She said that Mike was somewhere in the convention center main room. As I went to look for him, a tall brunette man with a pony tail called to me saying "You're William Moriaty aren't you?" Answering in the affirmative I glanced to see his name badge sporting the moniker David Henderson!
We immediately came to the conclusion that we are kindred spirits! David is a wonderful and intelligent person probably versed in the history of Florida and Georgia's commuter airline history from the 1960's to the late 1980's more than any person living. He said show time had been moved up to 9:45 AM so I really had to move fast to find "Miami Mike" if the three of us had hopes of lunch together before my premature departure to Sanford.
David Henderson, Master Showman!
After leaving the 401 Tribute, it was on to David's power point presentation on the commuter airlines of Florida and Georgia circa 1960's to 1980's. It was one of the most fascinating, informative and entertaining such presentations I have ever seen. David is both an articulate and entertaining showman and, as I stated earlier, has a wealth of knowledge on the subject beyond any one else I am aware of.
(This is an excerpt from Mr. Moriaty's coverage of AI2009. For the full article CLICK HERE)
August 17-23, 2009
By William Moriaty
Saturday morning on July 25th was another day of lots of travel and hurried deadlines in the life of William Moriaty.
Over a month earlier, my dear friend "Miami Mike" Hiscano told me over a late lunch at the Airport Diner in Miami Springs that he would have a vendor's booth for this special event. I had not been to an Airliners International convention since the early 1990's when one was coincidentally at the same location in the Orlando area close to 20 years ago.
As "Miami Mike" is one of my favorite people, and as Orlando is only a 40 to 50 minute drive from Plant City, I couldn't miss this opportunity to visit him once again. I would find out within a week after our June get together that David P. Henderson author of Sunshine Skies: Historic Commuter Airlines of Florida and Georgia would also be attending and giving a presentation! As I had never before met the author of this great book (see PCR #302), there was no doubt where I would be spending July 25, 2009, so quick like a bunny I ordered my ticket to attend Airliners International 2009 ("AI2009")!
I arrived around 9:00 A.M. at the venue where the AI2009 convention was being held. Other than getting my registration packet, my first objective was to try to find "Miami Mike" which wouldn't be easy based on the size of the Wyndham Orlando Resort's convention center. The next order of business would be to attend David Henderson's presentation on his book Sunshine Skies: Historic Commuter Airlines of Florida and Georgia which was slated for 10:00 A.M.
Familiar Faces and A New Found Friend
As I received my registration I saw a face from the past that I had not seen in five years. Linda Levine of the South Florida Airline Historic Society (see PCR #190) was there to provide with my registration packet! It as great to see her again and she, along with her husband Don, had not changed a bit over the course of the past half decade. She said that Mike was somewhere in the convention center main room. As I went to look for him, a tall brunette man with a pony tail called to me saying "You're William Moriaty aren't you?" Answering in the affirmative I glanced to see his name badge sporting the moniker David Henderson!
We immediately came to the conclusion that we are kindred spirits! David is a wonderful and intelligent person probably versed in the history of Florida and Georgia's commuter airline history from the 1960's to the late 1980's more than any person living. He said show time had been moved up to 9:45 AM so I really had to move fast to find "Miami Mike" if the three of us had hopes of lunch together before my premature departure to Sanford.
David Henderson, Master Showman!
After leaving the 401 Tribute, it was on to David's power point presentation on the commuter airlines of Florida and Georgia circa 1960's to 1980's. It was one of the most fascinating, informative and entertaining such presentations I have ever seen. David is both an articulate and entertaining showman and, as I stated earlier, has a wealth of knowledge on the subject beyond any one else I am aware of.
(This is an excerpt from Mr. Moriaty's coverage of AI2009. For the full article CLICK HERE)
