DEL.ICIO.USAirlines collectibles show flies into to Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Call it “Antiques Roadshow” for the aviation crowd.
Nearly 600 people meandered through the 22nd-annual Atlanta Airlines Collectibles Show and Sale. It was held Saturday in an out-of-service Delta hanger just a few hundred feet from the runways at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
CHANDLER BROWN / AJC
Elie Law of San Francisco poses in front of an engine on a retired Boeing 767 as Mike Chew, also from San Francisco, takes her picture.
CHANDLER BROWN / AJC
George Hoffman, 3, looks at airline pins with his father, David Hoffman, and brother Charlie, 5, Saturday at the Atlanta Airlines Collectibles Show and Sale near the Atlanta airport.
The crowd browsed for deals on old Western Airlines pins, model airplanes, old aircraft parts — anything and everything aviation.
“It’s really cool,” said Mike Chew of San Francisco, an American Airlines mechanic who travels the country attending similar events.
This was the second year the show, set up like the flea markets featured on PBS’ wildly popular “Antiques Roadshow,” was held in Delta’s Air Transport Heritage Museum. The sprawling facility features several vintage planes and a retired Delta Boeing 767 that people can walk through.
“I thought it was really cool,” Aiden Murphy, 3, of Kennesaw said after touring the massive jet.
His grandparents, Kim and John Conti of Rockmart, had so much fun at the show last year, they decided to come back this year and bring the family.
“Having it here with a real airplane is so cool,” Kim Conti said, noting that the show was previously held at a hotel ballroom.
Her husband agreed, saying, “Yeah, you can’t get anywhere close to an airplane these days, so this is really nice.”
David Hoffman, a Delta pilot from Alpharetta, brought his boys Charlie, 5, and George, 3, so they could learn about what Daddy does at work.
The boys stuck close to their father as they navigated the crowds and booths. But they let loose when he let them on the plane, which was retired in 2006 and turned into a museum.
“I want to be the driver,” George screamed as he ran through the first-class aisle.
“I don’t have to wear my seat belt,” his older brother yelled just as loudly.
The event raises money for the Delta museum, a non-profit group separate from the airline itself. Organizers feared a low turnout Saturday because their event fell on the same day as the Wings over Marietta Air Show at Dobbins Air Force Base.
“With all that’s going on, we’re very pleased with our numbers,” said Tiffany Meng, curator of the museum. She said the $5 entry fee and vendor fees would likely bring in $10,000, making it one of the museum’s largest fundraisers.
Bill and Terri Pero of Woodstock also had money on their minds.
The couple are long-time vendors at the show. They’ve put two kids through college by buying old airline memorabilia — everything from seat belts and life vests to pilot pins — for pennies on the dollar, and selling them years later for a huge profit.
“It’s a fun way to make a living. And you get to meet a lot of great people,” Terri Pero said. “Everybody wants a piece of nostalgia.”
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