Convair 580 Memories with Henry Tenby – North Central / Republic / Northwest Airlines
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Join JetFlix TV founder Henry Tenby for a fascinating and personal look back at the history of the Convair-liner Convair 580 with one of the world’s largest operators of the type. Between the late 1950s and late 1990s, the North Central Airlines – Republic Airlines – Northwest Airlines dynasty operated the venerable regional airliner for some 30 thirty years. A total of 36 different Convair 580 airframes were operated and small town feeder routes that spanned the US midwest from historic hubs at Chicago, Minneapolis and Detroit. Henry Tenby was first fascinated with the Republic Airlines Convair operation when he was attending the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks starting in 1983 and he put terrific effort into documenting the operation. Through the fabulous historic images of Rick Wargo, Henry Tenby tells the story from start to end of this American propliner legend.
5 Responses to “Convair 580 Memories with Henry Tenby – North Central / Republic / Northwest Airlines”
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Excellent history of the NC Convairs. I had one flight from ORD to MKE on a NC Convair in 1971 and the airfare was $10. Great job Henry!
Thank you James, amazing it was only $10 to have a flight back in 1971. Seems like a bargain by today’s standards, even if you increase by 10X factor.
My good friend Allen has provided me with the following fabulous comments on my video which I think are worth sharing: Loved the presentation on the North Central Airlines/Republic Airlines/Northwest Airlines Convair 580s! Originally, the entire Northwest Airlines fleet was to be sold to Air Resorts in Carlsbad, CA. That never materialized and only three aircraft made their way to California, N968N, N969N, and N7743U. Me and a friend flew to San Diego regularly to “visit” the aircraft at Carlsbad McClellan-Palomar Airport. We spent a lot of time with these aircraft and they all had the blue interior with the blue curtains. Air Resorts would only serve Tucson from San Diego, however did have a few flights into the old PHX Terminal 3 North Concourse. They parked at the American Airlines first gate closest to the terminal parking garage on the east side. Air Resorts also would have charters to PHX from time to time. We were there when N7743U was taken to the Carlsbad McClellan-Palomar Airport “hill” for scrapping. The “hill” is where Air Resorts parked their aircraft and some were scrapped, others parted out. They loaded the fuselage of N7743U and trucked it away. N968N and N969N, once Air Resorts shut down, were converted to freighters at Hamilton Aviation, Tucson International Airport.
Remember, N968N and N969N had Canadian Armed Forces military careers:)
The last flight of the Northwest Airlines Convair 580 fleet was highlighted in “Top Duck”, a wonderful video tape (Northwest Convair Retirement Committee, 1988) at the time and now on DVD from the Northwest History Center. I had heard about the tape from a Northwest Airlines flight attendant and still to this day have my original copy in the original box!
I’m surprised that Republic Airlines did not cooperate for the article you wrote in Propliners. I have that issue and still use it for research purposes!
The North Central Airlines Convair 580s flew up to YWG and every time we visited the Winnipeg Zoo (near the airport), I would look up as they landed!
Another note about Air Resorts is that they stylized the red logo on the tail to look like “Herman” the duck. We certainly got to know these three Convairs and during the 1990s is was like a second home:)
One last note, the only time I saw a Northwest Airlines Convair 580 in “full scheme” was a graphic on the seating chart brochure that Northwest distributed for the aircraft – looked good.
Great slide presentation of this fine turboprop airliner. Thank you Henry.
Herman
Thank you Herman, it is a type that is near and dear to my heart.