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Weekend Trivia -- Saturday

thinman
11 years ago

Good morning and happy weekend, my cottage friends. I was too easy on you all the last two weeks, and promised a humdinger for today. It's easy enough to come up with a stumper, but if no one has a prayer of getting it, then it won't be fun for anyone. I think it's possible that one of you will get this one immediately, but I think it's likely that some clues will be needed. I am ready to be amazed though.

In honor of Cynthia's trip to France and back, this is an air travel question. A major US airport was originally not so major, and was known as Orchard Field. In 1949 the name was changed to the current one, but some remnant of the original designation still exists and is used all the time by pilots and many members of the flying public.

What is the remnant I mentioned, and what is the current name of the airport?

Your turn now. Make me proud. :)

TM

Comments (22)

  • aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
    11 years ago

    I think I have an idea of what one of the answers is but will be waiting for clues, I'll check back later, much later. I have a busy day planned in the garden it's not too sunny and not too hot, my kind of day.

    Annette

  • midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
    11 years ago

    Oh goodness sake - former travel agent here, who was always fascinated with airport codes and their origins!! Would it be fair to give a clue, and say they both start with the same letter??!!

    I wonder if Cyn flew into CDG or ORY??

    Nancy, who is home from work because her back is sore, and she can't sit very long!!

  • thinman
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    And here I was thinking that this might not be a fair question for you two, being about a US airport. Ha! Sure, Nancy, I think that is totally fair. We'll see if Annette can take it from there.

    TM

    P.S. Anyone need a bouquet? I came home from the market with five unsold ones. I probably can't deliver. Sorry.

  • midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
    11 years ago

    Oh, that would be nice - maybe you can share a pic?? Then we can pretend we have one!!

    Since I blew it and said airport code (sorry), here is some more trivia: All Canadian airport codes start with Y, later Z when we ran out of combinations. It was Y and the radio code. The Canadian band Rush is one of my favourites, and their instrumental, YYZ, is one of my favourites of theirs, I always thought of it as their 'Homesick Blues'. YYZ is the IATA airport identification code for Toronto Pearson International Airport, located in Mississauga, west of Rush's hometown of Toronto. It is common practice for air navigation aids to broadcast their identifier code in Morse code using VHF omnidirectional range (VOR). A plane using VOR equipment would then always know it is tracking the right station.
    Drummer and lyricist Neil Peart has said, in reference to the airport code, "It's always a happy day when YYZ appears on our luggage tags."
    The song's introduction, played in a time signature of 5/4, repeatedly renders the letters "Y-Y-Z" in Morse Code using various musical arrangements.

    And I have more airport/airplane trivia - used get sent all kinds of this stuff!!

    Nancy, who got sick of standing.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    11 years ago

    I'm back! Great question, TM. Since you thought ONE of us might know this, I am wondering if you meant Bobbie as she is the only other regular here who lives in the US other than you or me. Sure isn't me who has the answer! ;) Wonder if Chuck would know, being a former pilot...

    Nancy, we flew in to and out of CDG, but went to Orly to pick up our rental car. Fun, fun trip. I am ready to go back already. Gardened a little today (weeded), but it is too hot now, so taking a break. I am still on Euro time, so have been awake since 5 am.

    TM, yes, do post a picture of your bouquets. They are always so pretty. I stuck a couple of stems in Ball jars and put them on our exterior window sills (a la Francaise, don't you know).

    I'll be back for clues...or have you given them and I completely missed them? Uhoh.

    Cynthia

  • midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
    11 years ago

    Hi Cyn - nice to 'see' you!! lol. I am watching silly You Tube videos, after finding some Rush videos. Watched Martin Short with Bill Maher, and then Jim Carrey on being Canadian. That you say Ball jars is funny - would you not call them Mason jars? We would even though I thought 'Mason jar' was an Americanism. Hmmmm. I thought.

    Also interesting that you would have to go to Orly to pick up your car.....hmmmm, again!!

    Another interesting thing about airport codes are the cities with multiple international airports, as that gave rise to city codes. Which are really moot now, as they were an instrument from the old days when we actually had to hand write airline tickets!! lol - yes, I am that old. London, England, for example, has 2 major international airports, LHR and LGW, Heathrow and Gatwick, but also several smaller airports that are used to the continent, etc.: LTN Luton, STN Stansted, LCY London City. When writing fare breakdowns, you had to use the city code - LON, as the airports could be interchangeable. Stansted is interesting: The airfield opened in 1943 and was used during the Second World War as RAF Stansted Mountfitchet by the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Force as a bomber airfield and as a major maintenance depot. Although the official name was Stansted Mountfitchet, the base was known as simply Stansted in both written and spoken form.
    The station was first allocated to the USAAF Eighth Air Force in August 1942 as a heavy bomber airfield. Think 12 O'Clock High. It became a civilian airport after the war. Canadian charter airlines used to use it because landing fees were cheaper, so they could sell cheaper tickets! No name change. Unlike TM's airport in question.

    Nancy.

  • mnwsgal
    11 years ago

    I haven't flown in years and don't know the airport code designations. Cynthia's inadvertent clue indicates it may be a midwestern city and Annette's airport code clue gives me the current name which starts with O, which is how I have always referred to this airport, but that's as far as I can go. Perhaps I knew this 40+ years ago when my brother-in-law worked in the marketing department there. I think we flew in and out of this airport once many years ago. Mostly we fly direct from MSP, also an international airport, including to London.

    Interesting info about the band Rush and their YYZ song, Nancy, as well as other airport code info.

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    11 years ago

    Boy, I must really be jet-lagged. If I gave a clue, it was most definitely "inadvertent!"

    We didn't have to go to Orly, Nancy, but since it was south of Paris and we were driving south, we thought it would be easier. Big mistake. Getting out of there was a nightmare. Took us eight hours to get to Meyrals and five hours to get back to Paris. Of course, it is easier heading to a big place than a small place.

    I guess I said Ball jars because the name was on them, but I usually would say Mason jar now that I think of it. :)

    Okay, so just had another idea. Guessing it starts with O and I am wondering if the airport is named after a war hero...

    Cynthia

  • thinman
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Welcome back, Cynthia!

    This question shows all the signs of not being a humdinger, but I hope you're all having some fun with it anyway. I think you are all pretty much homed in on the current airport name. (Annette too?) If not, think of an Irish rabbit and that may help. Yes, it is named after a war hero.

    Still looking for the three letter designation, though I know Nancy must know it. Boy, does she know it! Go, Nancy! :)

    TM

  • thinman
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    I meant to post a couple of photos of my left-over bouquets. I don't know why this one didn't sell. A little hodge-podgey maybe, but that's the way I do 'em.

    I made this one near the end of the market with what I had left. I can see how color-wise it might not have connected with the right buyer.

  • midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
    11 years ago

    Those are gorgeous!! I'da bought one!! Yes, Nancy does know it!! lol. In those days, they were all 'Fields'. The private part of Ottawa International, now Macdonald-Cartier, or YOW (see again with the Y)is still called Lindbergh Field, cause he landed there ONCE!!! lol. I've been there, and though there. Busy, busy place. Boeing knows it well, these days. Interestingly, the other airport in this city has a WWII related name as well!

    Nancy.

  • aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
    11 years ago

    Gorgeous is right, I'd be in there duking it out for one of those bouquets.

    So glad you had a good time Cyn and that you have arrived back home safe and sound.

    Got some weeding done and set up a frame to grow a second round of Shiraz snow peas, these are a black purple in color and oh so tasty I think we have enough time for another crop. Then.... DH and I went up island and bought 5 small Koi, gone are the days I'd pay 50 bucks a pop. Some of these small cheaper Koi actually turn into nice looking fish that is if some critter doesn't get them.
    Oh... by the the way did I ever mention in passing we used to raise Belgium Hare's along with several other breeds of rabbits back in the 80's. Sorry I digress, now what would that have to do with today's trivia question, word association I guess :).

    Annette

  • thinman
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Does anyone want to pop in with a final answer? I'll wait a while and see.

    TM

  • aftermidnight Zone7b B.C. Canada
    11 years ago

    Right or wrong the only thing I could come up with was O'Hare.

    Annette

  • cyn427 (z. 7, N. VA)
    11 years ago

    I was just reading the travel section of the Post and now I am going to go with Oakland! The writer was giving advice about flying into smaller airports and mentioned Oakland. Orchard...trees...Oakland. Lots of orchards in CA also. However, I kind of still like O'Hare because it is really major. Oh jeepers. I don't know! No stars for wishy-washy me.

    I love your bouquets, TM. I would have bought one for sure!

    Cynthia

  • midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
    11 years ago

    Yes, O'Hare is the answer, now the 4th busiest ap in the world!! 2nd in the US in Atlanta?? I think.

    Nancy.

  • mnwsgal
    11 years ago

    O'Hare, DH says the code is ORD.

    Great bouquets, TM.

  • mnwsgal
    11 years ago

    O'Hare, DH says the code is ORD.

    Great bouquets, TM.

  • thinman
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Answer 1) The remnant of Orchard Field is the three letter designation ORD from ORcharD.
    Answer 2) O'Hare airport is it's current name, named after naval aviator Lt. Cmdr. Edward H. "Butch" O'Hare, a Medal of Honor recipient from Chicago who died in World War II.

    People sometimes wonder why O'Hare is designated ORD. That's why.

    So, what the heck, for Nancy, Annette, and Bobbie, though no one specifically wrote ORD.

    Glad you're home safe and sound, Cynthia. I hope it was an outstanding trip.

    Thanks for playing, y'all.

    TM

  • midnightsmum (Z4, ON)
    11 years ago

    Thanks for the memories, TM. I loved being a travel agent before 9/11. And for some reason, I thought you'd already said ORD - shows how my mind works!! Travel is a world of code!! 2nd largest internet program at one time was Sabre, American Airlines booking system. I used it most of my career, even having travelled to DFW(Dallas-Fort Worth) to train. The system is still probably DOS-based at the airline level, and it is the most used in the world. Not only can you book air travel, you can invoice and use it as your 'back-room' accounting system. Most other airlines in the world use it too - Air Canada has for years, and bragged that by using it, they knew to the penny how much a flight had made the second the plane took off. Sabre became so large, American had to separate it in the 80's, I think, due to anti-competition laws in the US. Ahh yes, the days of DOS code and dot-matrix printers - I do very much miss it. It was an honourable business, then.

    Nancy.

  • thinman
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    It looks like I was in the middle of composing my last post while Bobbie was posting her complete and correct answer. I'm glad I had already given her the four stars. :)

    TM

  • mnwsgal
    11 years ago

    In under the wire, ha,ha. Probably shouldn't get credit for ORD as that came from my DH.

    Brought back good memories as we visited about O'Hare though neither of us can remember where we were going when we flew through there. In the early days of our marriage, long, long ago and far, far away.

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