Pan Am dinner argument with my Dad

[maninblack]

At the parents for dinner tonight, after a Scotch and a few Reds discussion turned to travel. Dr Maninblack (my dad) claims that in 1983 he flew LAX-MEL direct on a Pan Am 747SP service (in First Class). I argued that he was...er...wrong, and the flight would have gone via Sydney. He was adamant that it was non-stop and my mother concurred. Does anyone remember if Pan Am ever operated this service?

 

[SeaWolf]

And I thought this question would be impossible to answer...
Here's a route map from 1985:
http://www.airchive.com/Timetables and Maps/Pan Am Compressed/PAmap-COMP8502 copy.jpg
And one from 1980:
http://www.airchive.com/Timetables and Maps/Pan Am Compressed/PA_NA MAP8001 COMP.jpg

In both cases Melbourne is serviced, but not directly. On top of that, the 747SP had an operating range of 7650miles, placing an LAX-MEL route just outside of its range:
http://gc.kls2.com/cgi-bin/gc?PATH=...&RANGE-STYLE=best&RANGE-COLOR=navy&MAP-STYLE=

 

[maninblack]

As all the posts went missing from this afternoon, I can confirm my dad was correct. I won't go through it all but Pan Am did operate LAX-MEL non-stop for a time.

 

[oz_mark]

As all the posts went missing from this afternoon, I can confirm my dad was correct. I won't go through it all but Pan Am did operate LAX-MEL non-stop for a time.

Oh come on, tell us about the itinerary, the phone call etc etc

 

[maninblack]

Oh come on, tell us about the itinerary, the phone call etc etc

Ok :!: He still had the itinerary filed with his conference papers from the trip and it showed the flight as 'non-stop' and the departure/arrival times LAX-MEL showed it to be 15 hours travel proving that he was correct. The year was 1984 not 1983 as in my original post.

Just an addition, I seem to recall that when QF began the same service (roughly 10 years ago?) they claimed it as a 'first' and the longest ever regular scheduled flight. That claim would seem to be incorrect. Apparently Pan Am ran this service for about 2 years.

 

[oz_mark]

Just an addition, I seem to recall that when QF began the same service (roughly 10 years ago?) they claimed it as a 'first' and the longest ever regular scheduled flight. That claim would seem to be incorrect. Apparently Pan Am ran this service for about 2 years.

I seem to recall that Pan Am ran a couple of quite long haul flights with their SP's.

 

[Arthur Hodgson]

I seem to recall that Pan Am ran a couple of quite long haul flights with their SP's.

Surely you mean Pam Ann.