Been busy lately tossing ideas around with our curator about a new permanent exhibit at the Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum to celebrate Delta’s 80th anniversary next June. That means looking at a lot of Delta’s early images, and here’s an interesting one. You see a Delta porter loading passenger bags into a compartment in the nose of a Lockheed 10 Electra, ca. 1937:

Click on this birds-eye view of a Lockheed 10 Electra and you can see how the bag bins were located under the wings and in the nose. You also see that the plane’s interior held 2 pilots, 10 passengers and a rear lavatory.

The Lockheed 10 Electra was a big step forward in modernizing Delta’s aircraft fleet. Delta’s second CEO Charles Dolson, who was a pilot in the 1930s, commented years later that the Electra brought Delta out of the barnstorming era for the first time and raised it to the status of a full-fledged airline.

This was Delta’s first all-metal aircraft. Earlier Delta planes were metal frames covered with a skin of fabric and epoxy. It carried the most modern instrumentation of its day and was faster (cruise speed of 190 miles per hour), larger and more comfortable than the Stinson A and T models it replaced.

To learn more about the Model 10 Electra, including the most famous one owned by Amelia Earhart, visit Lockheed’s website.

Marie Force

Archives Manager

After weeks of regularly taking the 6am back to Atlanta, I’ve gotten to the point where I recognize fellow frequent fliers in the TSA line. Shoes-off and sleepy-eyed each Monday morning we exchange knowing glances and try not to fall back asleep until after boarding.

This week my equally frequent traveling seat mate and I woke up enough to begin pooling tips on how to shave minutes off our morning check-in routines. Here were our favorites:

Online check-in (approx one to two snooze buttons) Sometimes we’re just not as on time as we thought we’d be. Frequent fliers know you can check in up to 24 hours before your flight, including when traveling internationally and with bags.

Use baggage drop off points or carry on only (approx one snooze button) We agreed that mini shampoo bottles are worth skipping straight to TSA any day. I like Aveda’s security friendly lines.

Try not to confuse the security scanners (approx one half snooze button) 3.2oz means 3.2, but anything that looks bigger will undoubtedly slow you down, especially if it’s not in a one quart size plastic bag. Smaller airports tend to take this very seriously. More tips on surviving security from FO Robin here and news from today’s Atlanta Journal Constitution here about speedy security lanes.

What is your fastest check-in time? Share your tips?

Katie
Delta Blog

For all you Memorial Day travelers taking to the skies this weekend… here’s one of Delta’s prettiest luggage labels promoting our flights to Miami, ca. 1953 – 1955.

Delta was the first airline to offer non-stop Chicago to Miami service – our “the trunkline to sunshine” route, 1946 and we were also the first airline to offer packaged summer vacations to Miami in Summer 1947. The vacation packages, called Delta’s Millionaire Dream Vacations (later Delta Dream Vacations), greatly increased tourism to Miami, and helped change tourism in Florida from mainly the winter months to a year-round activity.

Have a great weekend!

Marie Force

Archives Manager