A new page covering the history of airline service at Columbus, GA from the arrival of Eastern Air Lines' DC-3s in 1944 to the present day.

There are 3 new airport histories on the website this morning: Jacksonville International Airport, Marathon Florida Keys Airport and the history of airline service at Sarasota which includes both Lowe Field and Sarasota Bradenton. There are 3 pages for JAX covering the 1960s - 1989, 2 pages about Marathon covering the entire history of airline service there and 2 pages covering Sarasota from the 1930s through the late 1970s.

Here are the links:
Jacksonville International 1960s - 1970s
Jacksonville International in the 1980s
JAX airport guide and terminal maps from 1980

Marathon Airport 1940s - 1980s
Marathon Airport 1990s - 2000s

Sarasota 1930s - 1960s
Sarasota Bradenton in the 1970s

JAX and Marathon are two airports I spent countless hours at during the 1970s through the mid 1990s. The Sarasota pages were prompted by a message I received several years ago requesting photos of SRQ from the 1970s. I found more than I could imagine! These and a dozen other pages were nearly finished a year ago but I had to set them aside for awhile. The others will be posted soon.

Enjoy!

PS - I’m always looking for more photos, so if you have any material you could add to these, please let me know. I’d love to find a photo of a Delta 747 or DC-10 at JAX, or a Florida Airlines DC-3 at JAX. The list is endless.

Added a half dozen photos to the  Air New Orleans page, most of them sent in by Sandy S. Also added some additional information.

I always appreciate feedback about the website from readers. This one made me particularly happy. In reference to PBA DC-3s - Where Are They Now? Diane Valentine Pare wrote:
 
"I had to tell you how much my Dad loved to hear where all the DC-3s ended up. He was the VP in charge of maintenance of PBA. Thank you for this FB page! He knew them all, especially 38 and 39. Also, if you search Frederick Valentine and Doolittle Raiders, you might find an interesting article. Thanks again"

Thanks for the message Diane and I'm happy to hear you and your dad enjoyed the website. I remember reading an article about your dad in the PBA Flyer newsletter many years ago. I dug it out of my files and am posting it below. This originally appeared in the Winter 1981 issue, A higher resolution version can be found HERE.

Added 4 new images to the Vero Beach Airport page. Jim O'Brien sent some fantastic photos of an Eastern Air Lines Lockheed L-188 Electra at VRB in 1972, shortly before Eastern left town. I also added a few old newspaper clippings about Vero Monmouth Airlines that helped determine the exact dates they were operating.

A new page about Atlanta Helicopter Airways, which served points around metro Atlanta during 1960.

It's such a joy to follow the progress of the Breitling DC-3 as it circles the globe in 2017. Here's a collection of photos, a sort of "greatest hits", from the first half of their journey.

Here's a little-known bit of ATL history: when Atlanta's "Temporary" passenger closed in 1961, it was not demolished; it was moved across the airport where it was used by Hangar One until the early 1980s.

A new page about Miami-based Gold Coast Air Taxi / Gold Coast Airways has been added to the website.

The PBA DC-3s - Where are they now? page has been revised with new photos and information on 8 of the 12 aircraft. It's been a busy couple of weeks for several of the former PBA DC-3s. Here are a few highlights:

N137PB, the only DC-3 that retains the late 1980s paint job and passenger cabin, returned to the skies on May 4, 2017. After spending over 2 years on the ramp at Thomaston, GA, N137PB was flown to Cape Cod Airfield near Barnstable, MA where it joins PBA sister-ship N35PB (now registered N61981). Thanks to Richard Hancock for these wonderful photos.

The Breitling DC-3 HB-IRJ, formerly N34PB, is in the middle of a round-the-world tour and is currently undergoing planned maintenance until May 18, 2017 in Kobe, Japan. Here it is above Mount Aso, Japan's largest active volcano, on May 2, 2017.

Check out PBA DC-3s - Where are they now? for the latest news on all 12 planes.

A new page about Del Airways which flew between Jacksonville, FL and Valdosta, GA during 1971.

Something different on the website today: six decades of vintage travel posters advertising Atlanta.

New on the website: a two part look back at the history of airline service at Marco Island, Florida

Part One: 1960s-1970s
Part Two: The 1980s

I'd like to welcome a new contributor to Sunshine Skies: Hans Wiesman, better known to aviation enthusiasts as The Dakota Hunter. Hans has spent a lifetime tracking down DC-3s across the globe and is the author of the excellent book The Dakota Hunter: In Search Of The Legendary DC-3 On The Last Frontiers. He will be sharing his incredible adventures with us in this and upcoming posts. This one holds particular interest for me as I spent a lot of time finding and photographing old mosquito sprayers in south Florida during the 1990s. The yellow and white aircraft in the second photo, Monroe County's ship 13, flew over my wife's and my outdoor wedding ceremony in the Florida Keys in 1995 (luckily with the sprayers off!). We considered it a good omen. Anyway, I'm sure you'll enjoy this and future stories. Thank you Hans! 

The second installment of our five part look back at Panama City Bay County Airport is now online. We take a look at the 1970s and the early effects of deregulation at Fannin Field.

Lots of new material on the Ocean Airways page: additional and larger photos, route map and timetables.

This is the first of a five part look at the history of airline service at Bay County Airport at Fannin Field which served Panama City from 1945 till its closing in 2010. Many thanks to Brent Mooney for his assistance with this!

New page about Sunair, an ambitious Florida commuter airline that stayed in business for less than 24 hours!

A new page about short-lived Ft. Pierce, FL-based commuter airline Golden South, which operated flights in east central Florida during the first half of 1979. Also added a route map to the GP-Express page.