Tag: Bonanza

DC-3 and DC-4 Aircraft Gallery Pages now on line!

We are plugging away on significant expansions to our website offerings in 2026, supporting updates to our physical displays at our museum in Bloomington, MN, as well as bolstering our usefulness to researchers, historians, and everyone interested in aviation history.

In our substantial Aircraft Gallery “wing” of the website, already this year we’ve added pages for the early Waco and Laird biplanes – very fitting to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Northwest’s founding. Now in early April 2026 we can add the venerable Douglas DC-3 and Douglas DC-4 to our album of 65 different aircraft types!

The DC-3 page alone has more than 120 images posted, with most coming from our own archive housed at Flying Cloud Airport, which includes big collections from the family of North Central Airlines’ longtime leader Hal Carr, and former Northwest Airlines pilot James Borden.

There are just a few more aircraft type galleries left for us to complete and we are racing towards the finish line! There are also many other new features for our online presence in development that we’ll be telling you about in upcoming months.

We are always on the lookout for more and unique photos of aircraft, airport facilities, office and maintenance work, employees, and anything else that can help us better tell the stories of commercial aviation in the Northland. If you have photos or digital files, or can contribute in other ways, see our options at our Memberships and Donations page.

REFLECTIONS Extra – Phoenix Airport Museum, Summer 2021

Departing from the Airliners International conference in July 2021, we had given ourselves plenty of time to explore Phoenix International Airport’s pair of landside terminals and the excellent photography options made available by the airport’s elevated inter-terminal tram system. While food and shopping options pre-security were still severely limited due to combination of COVID spacing concerns and the overall labor shortage, the airport’s commitment to displaying art nevertheless made for a visually interesting expedition, and one that we will be keen to repeat when the pandemic is finally under control.

Below are a collection of Phoenix Airport Museum flyers and photos from several exhibits, with the “Style in the Aisle” installation of special interest to the Northwest Family of course due to the colorful display of uniforms, bags, and service materials from Bonanza, Air West, and Hughes Airwest.

This installation is located on the ticketing level of Terminal 3 (Delta, United, Frontier, Spirit, Alaska, Hawaiian) at the base of the escalators heading up to security and the concourse/inter-terminal tram levels.
This photo installation is on the concourse level of Terminal 4, pre-security, at the bottom of the escalator bay to get up to the inter-terminal rail station.
The gallery location on the concourse level, pre-security in Terminal 4 was closed for updates and staffing shortages at the time of our visit.
As can be seen in the background, the pair of “Style in the Aisle” kiosks are located on Terminal 4’s ticketing level, with Southwest’s counters on one side and American’s on the other.
Wow, every single line of this page is tasteless.
Gate area in Phoenix' Terminal 3, serving Delta Air Lines. This building replaces the 1960s-era structure which housed Bonanza, Hughes Airwest, Republic, and Northwest through the decades.
The NWAHC is coordinating a transfer of some relevant surplus materials to the PAM, as we do with many other airline and airport museums
Our display of interest!

REFLECTIONS Extra – Early 1960s Bonanza Headquarters Candid Slides

The NWAHC Archives received a cache of over 250 photo negative slides back in 2008 but they were not converted to positives until a few years ago by our previous editor Robert DuBert. Only a few came with captions to identify people or events, but you can see these were taken in the 1959-1962 era at the company’s headquarters in Las Vegas, and most were candid or lightly staged shots of everyday business. We’ll debut a large number of them here now – many pictures were shot of particular scenes, so we’ll show the highlights. If you can help us identify the folks and their roles in these pictures, or share stories about your time at Bonanza, please leave a note in the comments!

Seeing double? Model F-27 meets its life-size original on the ramp at Las Vegas, 1959. Slide from Bonanza archives at the NWAHC.
Santa descending F-27 N148L at Las Vegas, 1959. From the NWAHC archives.
Handing out gifts on the Las Vegas ramp, Christmas 1959. From the NWAHC archives.
Handing out gifts on the Las Vegas ramp, Christmas 1959. From the NWAHC archives.
1960 action in Bonanza’s Las Vegas hangar with F-27 overhaul. From the NWAHC collection.
1960 action in Bonanza’s Las Vegas hangar with F-27 overhaul. From the NWAHC collection.
1960 action in Bonanza’s Las Vegas hangar with F-27 overhaul. From the NWAHC collection.
1960 action in Bonanza’s Las Vegas hangar with F-27 overhaul. From the NWAHC collection.
1960 action in Bonanza’s Las Vegas hangar with F-27 overhaul. From the NWAHC collection.
1960 action in Bonanza’s Las Vegas hangar with F-27 overhaul. From the NWAHC collection.
F-27 flight deck detail, 1960. From the NWAHC collection.
Gladys Pyles, 1960. From the NWAHC archive.
Bob Hill, 1960. From the NWAHC archive.
“Spoor, undated” From the NWAHC archive.
George Schleifer, Feb. 1960. From the NWAHC archive.
Caption: “Puskarich, 1960.” From the NWAHC archive.
Anne Sanderson, no date noted. From the NWAHC archive.
B. Ryan, 1960. From the NWAHC archive.
Maintenance staff, 1960. From the NWAHC archives.
Maintenance staff, 1960. From the NWAHC archives.
Maintenance staff, 1960. From the NWAHC archives.
Maintenance staff, 1960. From the NWAHC archives.
Group photo of the “Olympic-France” tour group with a chartered company DC-3 in 1960. From the NWAHC collection.
Leo Stec, 1960. From the NWAHC archive.
Dick Neal, 1960. From the NWAHC archive.
“We Give” charitable campaign promo photo, undated. From the NWAHC archive.
A series of Flight Attendant application promotional photos, August 1960. (Bonanza called them “hostesses.”) From the NWAHC archive.
FA-interview photograph, August 1960 from the NWAHC archive. Can we identify these individuals?
FA-interview photograph, August 1960 from the NWAHC archive. Can we identify these individuals?
Modeling the cabin uniform, August 1960. Photograph from the NWAHC archive.
Modeling the cabin uniform, August 1960. Photograph from the NWAHC archive.
Modeling the cabin uniform, August 1960. Photograph from the NWAHC archive.
Modeling the cabin uniform, August 1960. Photograph from the NWAHC archive.
Louise Wagner, Nov. 1960. From the NWAHC archive.
Jim Jenks, 1960. From the NWAHC archive.
N491 at Las Vegas in February 1961, getting its paint stripped as the ship is prepared to leave company service. The slide caption notes, “Tillie washing off paint.” From the NWAHC collection.
Ron Jackson, 1961. From the NWAHC archive.
Captioned “Ed Converse presents 15-year pens to Pilots, Apr. 11, 1961.” From the NWAHC collection.
Ruth Jordan, Dec. 6, 1961. From the NWAHC archive.
Art Taylor, photographed March 1, 1962. From the NWAHC archive.
Frank Smith, 1962. From the NWAHC archive.
George Moulton, October 10, 1962. From the NWAHC archive.
Captioned “Jim White and Reynolds, Oct. 5, 1962.” From the NWAHC Collection.
Ed Converse at his desk, Nov. 1962. From the NWAHC collection.
George Moulton and assistant stuffing tourism flyers into sales promotional folders, November 1962. From the NWAHC archive.
George Moulton showing off the banner welcoming the American Society of Travel Agents to Bonanza HQ, November 1962. From the NWAHC archive.
Ed Converse at his desk, Nov. 1962. From the NWAHC collection.
“Route discussion with Ed Converse, Nov. 1962.” From the NWAHC collection.
Signing of the BAC One-Eleven order, Nov. 1962. From the NWAHC collection.
A post-signing snapshot at BON’s Las Vegas headquarters, November 1962, with the model front and center. From the NWAHC Archives.
Dan Mills, December 1962. From the NWAHC archive.
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