Through the years, a variety of liquids, other than champagne, have christened a number of our special planes.  Did you know Delta’s first Douglas DC-3, Ship 40, named “City of Atlanta,” was christened with a bottle of Coca-Cola? Actress Jane Withers, a native Atlantan, did the honors.

It took three swings before Miss Orange Bowl Libby Walker smashed a bottle of orange juice over the nose of DC-3 Ship 43, christened the “City of Miami,” on November 26, 1945. On December 1, Ship 43 was the first plane to fly Delta’s new Miami-Chicago route.

Miss San Diego Leona McCurdy christened Delta’s first Convair 880 “Delta Queen” with a bottle of water from various rivers throughout the Delta system in 1960.

Shown below, Mrs. George E. Leach, wife of the mayor of Minneapolis, christening one of Northwest Airlines’ first passenger planes, Stinson Detroiter “Miss Minneapolis,” with grape juice instead of champagne during U.S. Prohibition in November 1926.

Do you know of other unusual airplane christenings?

Marie Force
Archives Manager

Each summer Delta and the Organization of Black Airline Pilots (OBAP) invite more than seventy students to attend the Aviation Career Education (ACE) Academy in Atlanta. During the two annual week long sessions, ACE campers take field trips to different aviation facilities, including tours of World Headquarters and the Atlanta airport, and they hear from a variety of guest speakers.

Today we went to Warner Robins Air Force Base in southern Georgia. It was a long ride down there, but it was well worth it. For the first part, we got to walk around and see the museum by ourselves or with friends. It was sort of like giving ourselves a self guided tour. With plenty to see, I first hit the World War 2 exhibit, where there were countless artifacts pertaining to the war. Something that interested me was on the second level of the museum, where there were many hand carved aircraft models. You could easily tell the distinction between different planes and helicopters used in previous years of the military.

Probably the best part of the self guided tour was when I got to the century of flight, which was one of the hangers at the museum. This hanger had several well known aircraft, such as the SR-71 and MiG 17 Fresco. Also there was one of the aircraft that I hope to fly in the future, the F-16 fighting falcon. This was a new exhibit was very special because their F-16 had been used by the Thunderbirds in actual flight demonstrations.

The second and last part of the day was going on to mission quest. I had been to Warner Robins Museum before, but I had never been to mission quest, so I didn’t really know what to expect. It turned out that mission quest was pretty much the flight simulators. I got the chance to go inside a simulator, equipped that was shaped like a cockpit and had all the bells and whistles. This experience was so much fun because I was getting to fly a F-15 Eagle alongside my classmates. We got to learn several things about flying and navigation, but mostly this experience taught me the need to communicate in life.

Olivia Fisher
Age 15
Yipsilanti, MI

For those of you looking to plan one last vacation before the kids return to school next month, you’re in luck! I’m here to share my top picks for your first time at SeaWorld Orlando Parks in Orlando, Florida.

These are the top five winning activities with my daughter on her first trip to these SeaWorld Orlando Parks: SeaWorld Orlando, Aquatica Orlando, Busch Gardens Tampa and Discovery Cove Orlando.

Wave Pools at Aquatica (“Big Surf Shores”)
First, we were very impressed with the newly opened Aquatica. Lots to do for young and old. The wave pools offer lifejackets for your beginning swimmer to ride the waves (you can also wear these throughout the park). Note that one of the two pools, called “Big Surf Shores” has smaller, more even wave action. Both are located on soft sand beaches – great for castle building for those who have not seen the ocean before (we live in Minnesota .

Lazy River at Aquatica (“Loggerhead Lane”)
Under the larger “Tassie’s Twisters” ride, you can float along a lazy river called “Loggerhead Lane”. This journey features waterfalls and a cave. Inside the cave, you can view the park’s Commerson’s dolphins through large windows. We especially liked that the river has no time limit (do as many laps as you please) and double inner tubes for families to share.

“Kata’s Kookaburra Cove” at Aquatica
This is a great place for starter waterslides located right by the wave pools. There was even a double inner tube slide for us to slide together, plenty of lifeguards, and a nice sandwich shop nearby (“Mango Market”).

“Dine with Shamu” at SeaWorld
Located behind Shamu Stadium, “The Cove” offers a backstage dining experience. This cost beyond the park ticket was worth it for us (I would advise booking in advance). The buffet was good, we got to see the largest of the whales at the park (12,000 lbs.) perform just feet from the table my daughter and I were sitting at. We got to meet a trainer, ask questions, and get her picture taken.

“Serengeti Safari” at Busch Gardens
Located at the entrance to the “Edge of Africa” trail exhibit, the “Serengeti Safari” is an open-truck tour of the plains. We saw zebra and rhino families with new babies. The highlight of this 30-minute ride is a stop to hand-feed romaine lettuce leaves to several giraffe. This is a wonderful opportunity. The cost is in addition to the park ticket but we, again, thought it was well worth it (I would also advise booking in advance). We found the guides to be really fun and entirely willing to take family pictures of us with our own camera or via the professional photographer who comes along for the ride.

I’m happy to share more info and our “runners up”, just let me know in the comments. You can also find additional Orlando activities from our Delta flight attendant’s travel guide here.

Did your favorite Orlando/SeaWorld activity make the list?

Jeannie D.
Delta Vacations