Crew Lounge: Beat the #AvGeek, Forgotten Airfields and the Bad Old Days of Air Freight

AC-U-KWIK's sister publication Aviation Week & Space Technology has published its 100th anniversary issue, which features renderings of past, present and in-development aircraft on a special gatefold cover.

When we received it, we played a little game: Which of the #avgeeks on the AC-U-KWIK and Aircraft Bluebook teams could identify the most aircraft on the cover without peeking at the legend inside the issue?

We'll simply report that the average score was 74 percent correct. Some of the defense aircraft and new technology stumped the business aviation-centric avgeeks. Nevertheless, the novice avgeeks on staff who can spot the lunar module, space shuttle, SR-71 and only a few others were impressed. 

Aviation Week is designing a game based on the cover, which we'll link to later this summer, so you can test your aircraft identification skills.

In the meantime, the AC-U-KWIK staff recommends two other diversions:

• Abandoned & Little-Known Airfields – We were surprised to learn a small general aviation airport called Glenwood Airport or Glenwood Landing Field was located less than 1 mile from AC-U-KWIK's home office until about 1962 or 1963.
• "A Little Night Freight Music" – The author tells a first-person account of living through the Wild West period of Part 135 freight hauling and learning to occupy a seat in the cockpit of a Learjet by the seat of his pants.