Golden West
Airlines DHC-6 Twin Otter N7711
(c/n 109)
Golden West Airlines was formed
in 1969 as a result of a merger between Cable Commuter
Airlines,
Aero
Commuter, Skymark Airlines and the original Golden West
Airlines It wasn't so much that Golden
West absorbed the other lines, but
rather that a new line was incorporated by combining the four smaller
airlines. All of them
were among the first of the new "Third Level Carriers" which had
developed in the
1960s. When it was
done, Golden West was actually the largest of these in the
US. The above shot
was
taken at Long Beach in 1969 where the Twin Otters were congregated for
absorption into the new
fleet. Initially, as shown here, the original
liveries were kept and merely overpainted with "Golden West":
In fact, this is the same aircraft as that shown in
the entry for Cable Commuter.