Electra Airbridge
There's lots of love for turboprops at RMAG, and the FS-KBT freeware Lockheed L-188 Electra II is of such worthy quality as to be given some attention and flight ideas. Presented here are the lost airbridges of yesteryear. There's lots of 60-90 minute up-and-downs to be enjoyed, making these ideal for group flights on your favorite server. The aircraft is for FSX/P3D, and it is understood that there is a MSFS compatibility mod for this model available.
Air California began in 1967 as an Orange County-to/from-San Francisco shuttle service. Dig the lack of area codes published. Download the complete Air California aircraft as a base package.
Air California was merely filling a void in the lucrative SoCal-to/from-San Francisco market. PSA had been flying out of Burbank, Los Angeles and San Diego to the City by The Bay. The 1965 timetable was flown in this 1959 livery that can be added to the Air California base pack.
This image is of the FS2004 model from J.R. Lucariny, available as a whole aircraft at Cal Classic (scroll down for Air California textures to this model). PSA would go on to re-acquire Electras in the 1970's for Lake Tahoe services that were not "airbridge" in nature.
All of these flights are just the beginning of the fun that other historical timetables can provide.
One of the most famous air bridge/shuttle operations in the world is Rio de Janeiro-to/from-Sao Paulo. The Electra was the backbone of the Varig operation into the 1990s. This schedule shows its date, and a host of code-shared flight numbers. Jet-age services saw action between Rio-Galeao and Congonhas, the downtown airport in Brazil's most populous city. The turboprops served Rio-Santos Dumont-Congonhas, as shown.
By the date shown, aircraft flying the "Ponte" were unmarked in Varig colors. There are several Varig liveries available for this terrific airplane:
PP-VJL
PP-VJM
PP-VJV
PP-VLA
Each of these may be edited into the California basepack linked above, or the broader one linked below, which contains PP-VLA.
Simply put, this is The Shuttle, as pioneered by Eastern Airlines. By the date shown, the Electras were giving way to the newly arrived DC-9s, as the carrier moved towards an all-pure-jet fleet.
This schedule enables the pilot to fly either the latter-day "hockey stick" livery, included in this complete aircraft basepack or the original Golden Falcon livery.
Real MSFS2020 screenshot:
