Delta hosts airline memorabilia sale

Seriously. People have been known to drag in first-class seats, air-sickness bags, aged maps, uniforms, flight pins and other items to the sale, which helps keep the nonprofit museum operating. Some stuff is old, other stuff is new, and all of it is a must-have item for someone. You just have to match the article with the enthusiast.

No one may be a bigger enthusiast than Jim Galloway. He collects airliner models, "the kind that sit on the shelf, collect dust and the cat knocks off the shelf." Galloway must have a busy cat. The retired air-traffic controller has 800 to 1,000 models in the basement of his Jonesboro home. He has an additional 7,000 or more waiting to be assembled. "I guess I'm an optimist that I'll get to them," said Galloway, 68.

On Saturday, he'll be offering 200 or more models for sale at the museum show. And, he freely admits, he may bring home a few items, too. "I have a big basement," he said.

The sale is in two historic hangars at Delta's headquarters. The buildings, which resemble monstrous shoeboxes, served as the Delta's airplane garages for about 20 years until the airline moved its fleet to facilities nearby. Inside the buildings are reminders of an age when your pilot wore a white silk scarf and a swagger. The hangars house three antique airplanes, including a shimmering DC-3 that Delta put into service in 1940. The airline discovered the old plane nearly 20 years ago, island-hopping in the Caribbean, and brought it back for a thorough restoration.

Also on display is "The Spirit of Delta," which airline employees bought in 1982. A Boeing 767-200, the plane traveled the skies for 14 years before the airline retired it in 1996. Its interior is a walking history display of an airline that began in Monroe, La., and landed in Atlanta, its home since 1941.

That plane is a favorite of self-described "airline junkie" Hank Halter, Delta's senior vice president of finance and controller. His office is a testimony to his love of wings. It contains about 35 models. "I squeeze in some financial reports between them," he said.

His home? It holds about 350 model airliners, resting on table tops and shelves. "We're running out of gate space, so to speak," he said.

IF YOU GO

Airline Collectibles Show and Sale

Saturday at Delta Air Transport Heritage Museum Inc., 1060 Delta Blvd. Building B.

Admission: $5, or $10 for early birds (before 9 a.m.) Children under 12 free.

Information: 404-715-7886 or www.deltamuseum.org.