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My Life and Times at Tampa International Airport
Anyone who knows me knows that one of my chief interests has always been commercial aviation.
I was thrust out of my beloved hometown of Tampa at age three when my mother and sister and I boarded an Eastern Air Lines DC-7B at St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport bound for Detroit Willow Run Airport.
In 1961, when I was a small boy, my family lived approximately 500 feet south of one of the major runways of Dayton Ohio’s J.M. Cox Municipal Airport at a place called the Yendes Motel in Vandalia, Ohio. I marveled at the three-tailed Lockheed Constellations of Trans World Airlines, as well as the four engine Douglas aircraft flying for American, United and Delta, and the gentle sound of the Lake Central DC-3 as they flew 35 feet over our apartment on finals.
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My mother and sister and I left the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport in 1958 to Detroit Willow Run Airport in an Eastern Air Lines DC-7B. That same type of plane and same airport are shown in this old postcard. |
It was here that I was introduced to the Jet Age when Trans World Airlines introduced Boeing 707 service to New York Idlewild and London Heathrow. This fascination as a child would turn into a life-long obsession. As an outgrowth of this interest, I have airline schedules dating back to the early 1960’s up until present times, and have annually attended the Southern Florida Airline Historical Association’s Collectibles Show (http://www.wahsonline.com/SFAHA.htm)
since 1995.
A Taste of Home
As I was not fond of Yankeeland, my mother and I ventured back to the place of my birth on July 18, 1970. We boarded what will always be my favorite airliner, the Delta Air Lines Douglas Super DC-8. Considered the first “Jumbo Jet”, this long, sleek aircraft was the largest commercial jet in the world until the advent of the Boeing 747 in 1970.
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This is a postcard of the old Tampa International Airport main terminal on Westshore Boulevard that was used from the 1950s until the new terminal was completed in April 1971.
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We landed on Runway 36 Right at Tampa International Airport on a hot and humid midnight after a flight from Atlanta Hartsfield. Upon riding to my Aunt Barbara’s house on Villa Rosa Park in South Tampa, we drove down Bayshore Boulevard. This land was vastly different than the east and Midwest that I had experienced as a child. Live Oaks draped with Spanish Moss lined the roads like a tunnel. I then knew I was back home! About ten minutes later at my Aunt’s house (which regrettably was razed in 1986), we watched Frankenstein Versus the Space Monster on Shock Theater. A perfect end to a perfect day!
A Taste of Miami
At this same time, my stepbrother, Patton Preston Pender II, was a co-pilot on National Airlines Boeing 727-200’s. He was stationed at Miami International Airport and resided with his wife and two children in Perrine, just south of Miami.
During this same vacation, my mother and I flew on a National Airlines DC-8-51 over a stormy Everglades down to Miami International Airport.
My stepbrother toured me around the National Airlines training center that was located on N.W. 36th Street in Miami Springs (hometown of Florida Folk Hero and T.R.E.E. Inc. Vice President Bob Scheible) next to the Pan American Airways complexes.
He then took me to the Miami Seaquarium on the Eddie Rickenbacker Causeway out on Key Biscayne. I will never forget how blown away I was when we made it to the Interstate 95/Dolphin Expressway interchange in downtown Miami. I had never seen a city as large or dynamic before.
We wrapped up the day watching the National, Eastern and Pan American jets conduct operations on Runway 09R/27L from the southern perimeter road. Tri-jets were not yet flying and I was seeing the last days of America’s first generation of jets in their full glory.
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This ancient postcard is of the Yendes Motel in Vandalia, Ohio, where my love of aviation took wings as a very small child between 1960 and 1961. |
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Happiness Is A New Terminal
Almost as if I was involved in a change of the guard, in April 1971 I flew from Detroit Wayne County Metropolitan Airport in a Delta DC-9-30 to visit my Aunt Barbara once again for the Easter Holiday. Ironically, in that same flight I landed on the same runway at J.M. Cox field in Dayton where my love affair with commercial aviation was born. Out the aircraft’s window I saw that the Yendes was gone and replaced with a shopping center.
When I deplaned in Tampa, it was still at the old terminal on Westshore Boulevard north of Spruce Street. On my return flight, A Delta Air Lines DC-8-54, I left from the brand new $81-million dollar terminal that is used to this very day.
My love affair for commercial aviation now had a jealous mistress - - Tampa International Airport. In addition, I found out that the place of my birth was also the birthplace of scheduled commercial aviation. As Nolan says with regularity, “This is the bucket of ironies that is my life!”
The Prodigal Son Returns
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A view of the new terminal, tower and hotel at Tampa International Airport, circa May 1978. Photograph by Greg Van Stavern.
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My family finally got back to its senses and moved back to God’s own Tampa in November 1971. My sister would also join us by flying the first Boeing 747 jumbo jet to Tampa, which wore the livery of Delta Air Lines and had its maiden voyage on December 15, 1971. Her flight was four hours late due to engine problems so I found myself watching a Shock Theater movie feature called The Time Travelers with my Aunt Barbara.
From that point on Tampa International Airport became an almost weekly visiting spot for airline spotting for me from 1972 to 1985, most of the visits with my former colleague Greg Van Stavern. I had personally flown in and out of this almost sacred landmark innumerable times. Many flights were joyous and memorable vacations, and others were more sobering, such as flights associated with the death of my sister. As my friends of old will also tell you, I did some serious Hell Raisin’ there when I was in my late teens.
Will’s Brush with Fame and First View of An Air Tragedy
In addition to numerous arriving and departing friends and relatives, I had a few close encounters with the rich and famous. Twice I saw Colonel Harlan Sanders of KFC fame there. In June 1973 my sister and I were trapped in an airside shuttle with the British rock band Jethro Tull for about half an hour due to an electrical problem. In February 1985 I saw "Blondie" writer and owner Dean Young deplane from a Delta Air Lines DC-8-7. As he recognized me from my being at several previous meetings with him and Denis, he waved to me - - something Harlan Sanders and Ian Anderson didn't do (proof positive that cartoonists are cool people - - and friendly!)
By the late 1970s, Greg and I became so serious about airliner-spotting at T.I.A. that we bought and marked up books devoted to listing every commercial airliner flying, its type, registration number, operator, line number, date of manufacture and status. On one tragic occasion while plane-spotting on Sunday July 20, 1986, Greg and I witnessed the crash of a Beechcraft Bonanza that killed three people. We were both interviewed by the Tampa Tribune, appearing in an article about the crash in the next morning’s paper.
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That's me in one of the windows of this Delta Air lines DC-8-61 at Tampa International Airport as we prepared to leave for Atlanta Hartsfield on my May 1981 vacation to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Greensboro, North Carolina! Photograph by Greg Van Stavern.
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End of the Glory Days
It was a wondrous two-decade-old love affair that I had with Tampa International Airport. By the last days of the 1980’s, however, much of the aircraft that I had grown up with and admired so deeply were virtually all but retired. Airlines and flying were no longer the same. In my youth flying was almost a reverent experience where you were treated like royalty - - by the late 1980s, however, the airline industry was subject to hostile takeovers, bankruptcies, and became an industry lowered to that of flying people like sardines in busses on wings.
Orlando took much of Tampa’s traffic and airline diversity away by the late 1980s. Sadly, by the early 1990s Tampa International Airport no longer held the incredible magic that it did for so many years. My interest in commercial aviation moved further south to Miami International Airport due to its heavy reliance on older air cargo aircraft and its incredible array of international carriers.
Also, the tragic events of September 11, 2001 irreparably tainted my outlook on commercial aviation in the United States as our airports have been degenerated to operating more like prisons due to the, at times, over-the-top security measures due to the fear of terrorist activities. The perimeter road at Miami International Airport where I viewed airliners up close and personal for over three decades has curtailed parking with concrete barrier walls, as has Orlando International Airport on Conway Road.
Guess what? The terrorists won….
Tampa International Airport (TPA), the airport of the city of my birth, will nevertheless always hold many cherished memories and a special place in my heart and soul.
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A chronology of carriers and equipment at Tampa International Airport from 1970 to 1986: | |
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1970-1972
Air Canada- Douglas DC-9-30; Boeing 727-200; Douglas DC-8-61/63; Lockheed L-1011; Boeing 747-200
Braniff- Boeing 727-200; Douglas DC-8-51/62
Delta- Douglas DC-9-30; Boeing 727-200; Douglas DC-8-51/61; McDonnell/Douglas DC-10-10; Lockheed L-1011; Boeing 747-200; Convair 880
Eastern- Douglas DC-9-10/20/30/40; Boeing 727-100/200; Douglas DC-8-20/63; Lockheed L-1011; Lockheed L-188 Electra
Florida Airlines- Douglas DC-3
Naples, Provincetown, Boston Airlines; Douglas DC-3; Beechcraft 18
National- Boeing 727-100/200; Douglas DC-8-51/61; McDonnell/Douglas DC-10-10
Northeast- Douglas DC-9-30; Boeing 727-200;
Northwest Orient- Boeing 727-100/200; Boeing 707-320; Boeing 747-200; McDonnell/Douglas DC-10-10
Trans World Airlines- Douglas DC-9-10/20/30; Boeing 727-100/200; Boeing 707
United Air Lines- Boeing 727-100/200; Douglas DC-8-51/61; McDonnell/Douglas DC-10-10
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1973-1976
Air Canada- Douglas DC-9-30; Boeing 727-200; Douglas DC-8-61/63; Lockheed L-1011; Boeing 747-200
Air Florida- Lockheed L-188 Electra; Boeing 727-100
Air Sunshine- Douglas DC-3
Braniff- Boeing 727-200; Douglas DC-8-51/62
Delta- Douglas DC-9-30; Boeing 727-200; Douglas DC-8-51/61;Lockheed L-1011; Convair 880
Eastern- Douglas DC-9-10/20/30/40; Boeing 727-100/200; Lockheed L-1011; Airbus A-300
Federal Express- Desault Mercure
Florida Airlines- Douglas DC-3
Naples, Provincetown, Boston Airlines; Douglas DC-3
National- Boeing 727-100/200; Douglas DC-8-51/61; McDonnell/Douglas DC-10-10; Boeing 747-200
Northwest Orient- Boeing 727-100/200; Boeing 707-320; Boeing 747-200; McDonnell/Douglas DC-10-10
Pan American- Boeing 707
Trans World Airlines- Douglas DC-9-10/20/30; Boeing 727-100/200; Boeing 707
United Air Lines- Boeing 727-100/200; Douglas DC-8-51/61; McDonnell/Douglas DC-10-10
Vero-Monmouth- DeHavilland Dove
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1977-1981 (*airline deregulation enacted by the United States Congress in 1978)
Airborne Express- Aerospatial Caravelle; Douglas DC-9-10
Air Canada- Douglas DC-9-30; Boeing 727-200; Douglas DC-8-61/63; Lockheed L-1011; Boeing 747-200
Air Florida- Boeing 727-100; Douglas DC-9-10/30; Boeing 737-200
Air Sunshine- Douglas DC-3
Allegheny- Douglas DC-9-30/40; Boeing 727-200;
American- Boeing 727-200; Boeing 707
Bahamasair- B.A.C. 1-11
Braniff- Boeing 727-200; Douglas DC-8-51/62
British Airtours- Boeing 707
Cayman Airways- B.A.C. 1-11; Boeing 727-200
Continental- Boeing 727-200
Delta- Douglas DC-9-30; Boeing 727-200; Douglas DC-8-51/61;Lockheed L-1011
Eastern- Douglas DC-9-20/30/40/50; Boeing 727-200; Lockheed L-1011; Airbus A-300
Federal Express- Desault Mercure; Boeing 727-100/200
Florida Airlines- Douglas DC-3
Naples- Douglas DC-3; Martin 404
National- Boeing 727-200; McDonnell/Douglas DC-10-10; Boeing 747-200
Northwest Orient- Boeing 727-200; Boeing 747-200; McDonnell/Douglas DC-10-10
Ozark- Douglas DC-9-20
Piedmont- Boeing 727-200; Boeing 737-200
Pan American- Boeing 707; Boeing 727-200
Republic- Boeing 727-200; Douglas DC-9-30/40
Southern Airways- Douglas DC-9-30
Trans World Airlines- Douglas DC-9-20/30; Boeing 727-100/200; Boeing 707
United Air Lines- Boeing 737-200; Boeing 727-200; Douglas DC-8-51/61; McDonnell/Douglas DC-10-10
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1982-1986
Airborne Express- Aerospatial Caravelle; Douglas DC-9-10
Air Atlanta- Boeing 727-100
Air Canada- Douglas DC-9-30; Boeing 727-200; Douglas DC-8-61/63; Lockheed L-1011; Boeing 747-200; Boeing 767-200
Air Florida- Boeing 737-200
Air New Orleans- N/A
Altair- Fokker F-28; Douglas DC-9-20/30
American- Boeing 727-200
American International- Douglas DC-9-40
Arrow Air- Boeing 707; Douglas DC-8-61/62/63
Best- Douglas DC-9=10
British Airways- Boeing 747-200
Cayman Airways- Boeing 737-200
Continental- Boeing 727-200
Delta- Douglas DC-9-30; Boeing 727-200; Douglas DC-8-61/71;Lockheed L-1011; Boeing 757-200; Boeing 767-200
Dolphin Airways- Embraer Banderante
Eastern- Douglas DC-9-20/30/40/50; Boeing 727-200; Lockheed L-1011; Airbus A-300; Boeing 757-200
Emery- Douglas DC-8-55/61/71; Boeing 727-200
Federal Express- Boeing 727-100/200
Florida National Airlines- Nord 262
Frontier Horizon- Boeing 727-200
Marco Island Airways- Martin 404
National- Boeing 727-200; McDonnell/Douglas DC-10-10
New York Air- McDonnell-Douglas DC-9-50; McDonnell-Douglas MD-82; Boeing 737-300
Northeastern- Douglas DC-8-51; Boeing 727-200;
Northwest - Boeing 727-200; Boeing 747-200; McDonnell/Douglas DC-10-10; Boeing 757-200
PBA; Douglas DC-3; Martin 404; N.A.M.C. YS-11
PeoplExpress- Douglas DC-3; Boeing 727-200; Boeing 737-200
Piedmont- Boeing 727-200; Boeing 737-200; Fokker F-28
Pan American- Boeing 727-200
Republic- Boeing 727-200; Douglas DC-9-30/40
Trans World Airlines- Douglas DC-9-20/30; Boeing 727-200; Boeing 707
United Air Lines- Boeing 737-200; Boeing 727-200; Douglas DC-8-61/71; McDonnell/Douglas DC-10-10; Boeing 767-200
U.S. Air- Boeing 737-200; Boeing 727-200; Douglas DC-9-30/40/50
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"La Floridiana" is ©2003 by William Moriaty. Webpage design and all graphics herein (except where otherwise noted) are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2003 by Nolan B. Canova.
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