History:

Early in 1977, Paul Collins the founder and self-appointed President of the World Airline Hobby Club decided to have a little get together. A loosely organized fraternity of airline and airliner enthusiasts, the two year old club was informally held together by it’s quarterly journal, THE CAPTAINS LOG. Collins sent out notices and advertised in the log for a proposed airliner show to be held that July at a hotel adjacent to Cincinnati Airport. “About 60 people showed up” recalls Collins. “And we had a pretty good time, swapping and displaying airline memorabilia. None of us back then had any idea of what we were starting.”

From that meager beginning evolved “Airliners International”, A yearly convention that has become the “Super Bowl” of enthusiast shows for those in search of every imaginable form of air transport aeronautica. Bought. Sold, traded, and on display are a myriad of airliner photos, post cards, slides, videos and models plus the more traditional airline collectibles like swizzle sticks, playing cards, luggage tags and stickers, timetables, kiddy wings, china, glass and silverware, menus, uniforms, and badges, books, in-flight magazines, brochures, advertisements, manuals, signs. Even some unlikely examples such as seat pocket emergency cards and airsick bags.

The Club has grown too, and has been renamed the World Airline Historical Society, more closely recognizing its purpose. The Captains Log is a wealth of information on the history of commercial aviation, with columns, articles, and research projects. Plus a wants and disposal section for trading among members. While many members are airline employees, there are quite a few who are not. Collins himself was working for the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad when he formed the club, and has since retired from its successor company, CSX Transportation.

In order to get a bigger draw for the first gathering, members of the Ontario (Canada) Aviation Enthusiasts were invited to attend, and several of that group offered to host another show at Toronto the following summer. But from that point on attendees began voting for future site locations, usually at a hotel close to the airport. Airliners International became the official name a few years later, and matured into a three-day affair beginning on a Thursday in June or July. Open by a Cocktail Party hosted by President Paul Collins and the Society.

Fully registered attendees enjoy an exclusive session in the huge display hall Thursday afternoon, where exhibitors put out their wares for all to see. On Friday the hall is open to the public as well, and the room quickly fills with those eager to buy, sell, or trade their specialties, which to the layman might have been relegated to the attic, or garbage long ago. Little do some realize that the old plastic model airliner kit bought in the late 1950’s for $ 1.98 can now bring in excess of $ 200.00, provided it is in mint condition and still in the originally packing box unassembled.

Throughout the hall, one can enjoy pursuing the history of commercial aviation in hundreds of different forms. As trading and selling picks up steam, continuous slide and video shows begin in adjoining meeting rooms, while entries for model, slide, and photo contests are logged in and put on display. Outside busses begin loading for tours of local airline related attractions such as museums, airline training and maintenance centers, and airport photo tours. (In recent years tours have been scheduled earlier in the convention week to accommodate additional customers). The real hard core trader remains in the hotel not wanting to pass up on further transactions. The display hall remains open throughout the day, closing at dinnertime to allow vendors a short break. Friday evening’s can be unstructured, except for the Airliner Slide Auction, which can be quite spirited among the photographers and collectors.

Saturday Morning we gavel together the official “business meeting”, at the start of the day. There is but one item on the agenda, that being the future site selection. Club members make pitches for each of the candidate cities, followed by a brief question and answer session; balloting follows. As convention size and necessary planning time increased the policy of voting two years in advance was adopted.

A good deal of “walk-in” traffic appears on Saturday; visitors learn of the convention through the media and hobby outlets. Contest judging commences; slide shows continue and in the trenches, last minute

Deals are offered, usually by those who don’t want to carry home what they brought home brought originally. By now, most have accumulated equal or greater amounts, including a souvenir bag provided by the registration, and containing numerous handouts plus a convention program, and official logo baggage sticker.

On Saturday evening everyone cleans up for the awards banquet, highlighted by the announcement of contest winners, and a guest speaker. Also featured are door prize drawings and some unique competitions. During the Name the Plane event, slides are projected, showing minute portions of airliners, usually taken from within the aircraft to test the expertise of the most enthusiastic buffs. The winner last year, (a pilot) got 14 of 20 correct, a respectable score in view of the fact that some slides only showed the very tip of a wing or an aircraft’s shadow outline. The written trivia quiz follows, a mind bender conducted while dinner is being served.

The banquet’s conclusion marks the end of another convention, and can be a bit of a letdown. “People really get into it here,” said a regular attendee. “It’s easy to get depressed afterwards, realizing you’ve got to wait another year for the big one!” (As a spin off from Airliners International, local groups put on similar but smaller shows, throughout the year, which has provided some relief).

By Sunday Morning, most everyone scatters to the Four Corners of the world. However, a select group remains, briefly, for breakfast together. Delegates who have attended all of the previous conventions (only 10 or so people qualify) join past, present and future hosts and hostesses to toast those who have worked so hard to make it happen. Then they too disperse and Airliners International finally closes out.

The 2000 Phoenix Arizona show and the 2001 Miami Florida became only the 6th and 7th cities to host two Airliners International Conventions. Los Angeles, St. Louis, Seattle, Toronto, and Washington DC have also hosted two. In addition to the original host city of Cincinnati , Airliners international has also been hosted by Atlanta, Colorado Springs, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Hartford, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Orlando, and San Jose California.