By November 1979, the operator of this aircraft (N40438), whose first flight was in 1952, was Nevada Airlines.  It had been chartered for a tourist flight to the Grand Canyon.  When it was taking off for the return flight to Las Vegas, essentially a combination of downdraft and turbulence brought the plane down to a forced landing just over a mile past the end of the runway.  There were no fatalities (it sounds like a miracle) but the plane was destroyed by fire post-impact.  Unused internet card.  Grade: 1

A different aircraft has this registration number now.  The plane you see in this picture, whose first flight was in 1949, then had registration number N777DC and operated by Thrifty Threads, Inc., apparently crashed into a lagoon at Unguia, NW Colombia in April 1978.  No recorded ftalities.  Unused internet postcard.  Grade: 1

Unused internet card.  The registration number is there, but too small for our old eyes to make out.  Grade: 1

We won’t even try to paraphrase this direct quote from a website called 1000aircraft photos dot com (sorry for the format but we don’t want to create a link and cause them any problem) so here it is, with full attribution:  “06/15/2006. Remarks by Jack McKillop: ‘First of four production trial aircraft and first flown as N1881 on December 6, 1957. After service with Lockheed Aircraft Corp., this aircraft was sold to Friendkin Aeronautics and delivered on April 19, 1961. Friendkin sold it to Pacific Southwest Airlines on May 11, 1961 and it was re-registered N174PS. It was then sold to Regency Income Corp. on October 22, 1969 and re-registered N974HA and immediately leased to Holiday Airlines on the same day. Holiday Airlines purchased the aircraft on July 1, 1973 and sold it to Petroleum Investment Services on May 14, 1974 who leased back to Holiday Airlines on the same day. This 188A was withdrawn from service and broken up at Oakland, California, USA, in 1975′”  Unused internet card.  Grade: 1

There’s no vivid story to tell about this aircraft, but Robinson Airlines later became Mohawk Airlines.  This photo dates from about 1949 and the registration number now belongs to a Piper J5A.  Unused card.  Grade: 1

Originally a military aircraft in 1942, N1301 went over to Shawnee Airlines (Florida Airlines) by the mid-1970s.  Unused card.  Grade: 1

Sometime after this aircraft–whose first flight was in 1944–left Slick Airways, it went to Pan African Airlines.  On 28th September 1968, after leaving Lagos Ikeja Airport in Nigeria, it attempted landing at Port Harcourt airport, also in Nigeria.  Though runway lights were on, and the crew reported visual sighting, the left wing struck the top of two trees and the plane crashed into a village.  As reported by Aviation Safety Network, “the plane carried munitions, which caused explosions and a massive fire.”  All crew and passengers, and at least one person on the ground, were killed.  Unused postcard.  Grade: 1

The registration number isn’t entirely visible.  Unused card.  Grade: 1

Not too much available about SE-ERE except that it had also been Eastern Airlines N822D, and was dismantled in Malmo, Sweden, in June, 1969.  Unused card.  Grade: 1 

This (mostly) charter airline went through an extraordinary series of ownership changes.  No registration number visible.  Unused card.  Grade: 1

Two cards are available.  One was mailed in 1949 with stamp and postmark, and some postmark ink transfer on the front (Grade: 3, $4).  The other was mailed in 1948 with stamp and Seattle postmark, and very minor abrasion on upper right corner (Grade: 2, $5).

Unused card.  Grade: 1

Unused card.  Grade: 1

Universal Airlines came, and went, as did this aircraft.  Unused card.  Grade: 1

Not postally used, but with message and name written on the reverse.  Grade: 4

Pre-name change, a card mailed in 1964 with 4-cent stamp and full but smudged postmark.  Grade: 2

From this very remote location in the Aleutian Islands, an unused card.  Grade: 2

Of all the unusual stories why aircraft go out of commission, this one stands out.  After Air Niagara, N8104N was sold to either Kenya or Zambia as Aero Zambia (5Y-BMW) in December 1997.  In June, 1998, the plane was in Asmara (Eritrea) delivering supplies when a wing was damaged by a fuel truck.  Waiting for repair, it was (as Aviation Safety Network tells us) “strafed by a MIG fighter … and damaged by small calibre gun fire.  Wiring damage behind the cockpit was of such nature that the whole area needed to be re-wired.  It was decided not to repair the plane,” which was then stripped.  Unused Mary Jayne card MJ412.  Five are available.  Two are Grades: 1 ($5) and three are smudged on the reverse (Grades: 2, $3).

Unused card T151-12, issued by American Airlines and showing Canadian Falls at left, and American Falls beyond the Rainbow Bridge.  The card goes on to say that “Many of American’s flights fly over Niagara Falls.”  Grade: 2

Thanks to alert reader David for letting us know our original description of this card, from an online source, was wrong.  When someone tells us we’ve made a mistake, we’re going to fix it.  NC16005 appears clearly on the card, but we’re deleting the information we got regarding this particular number or aircraft.  The card itself was issued by American Airlines, with logo, and captions in Spanish and English:  “The speed that only wings can give cuts time and distance to fractions.  It certainly is faster by Flagship.”  Mailed in 1947, with one-cent stamp and Texas postmark.  Grade: 4