About Bluegrass Virtual Airlines

Bluegrass Airlines came into being in March 1998 when W (Joe) Deering and Ray Yarnell, both natives of Kentucky (KY) USA, decided to model a V.A. on the real Bluegrass Airlines that was started in Bowling Green KY in 1944 by a doctor and his two sons and which had its routes incorporated into the schedules of Imperial Airlines in 1946.    Imperial was eventually taken over by Delta Airlines.

Using the routes originally flown by Bluegrass Airlines, Joe and Ray started out flying DC-3's.    They were soon attracting other pilots with similar interests in flying aircraft from the "good old days" when flying was done by the seat of your pants.

It wasn't long before there were hubs in Bangor (Northern) and Alaska and with an ever increasing number of pilots coming on board, and another hub was soon established in the Southern regions.    Since then these hubs have become Divisions of the airline operating more or less autonomously and further expansion has seen a division opened in Australia.

Each Division more or less replicates the routes and aircraft in existence during the 1940's and 1950's but is encouraged to use "artistic license" to create other flights of interest within their area of operation.

Bluegrass boasts a number of very talented people as members from people who design and paint aircraft to those who design scenery with the result that Bluegrass has a very comprehensive library of purpose-built aircraft and scenery.

Our rules are simple.    #1.  We ask that you make at least one flight every two months, so we know you are still interested.    #2.   Have fun.    We don't have strict qualifying limits.    You can fly whatever aircraft you like on whatever route you like. We have a ranking structure but pay little attention to it.

Bluegrass enjoys a reputation second to none in the Virtual Airline "industry" for its attention to detail (check out the special flights available including the Berlin Airlift re-creation) and its consistent approach to using aircraft that have more or less been long forgotten.    Remember the Catalina?  the Constellation?  the B314 Clipper?  the DC-3?  the DC-4?  the Convair?  our list of aircraft goes on.   If it has a prop and wasn't turbocharged we probably have it in out hangar.

We invite you to take the Bluegrass Tour.    Stop by each of our Divisions and check out what they have to offer - every one of them is different and offers a good variety of interesting flights.    Please feel free to take a few of our flights and, if you like what you see, why not come and join us as a member of the most relaxed and down-to-earth V.A. in the business?

One of the first Bluegrass Airlines web-pages.