What regular planes in old article?

Question

I recently read a 1950s article in which a woman was complaining about an airport near her house and the noise it made. She said that the planes taking off from there were not "regular planes, but jets" (at least I think this was the exact wording).

Being that I was born into the world of modern aviation (as a passenger, not that my family is into piloting) I cannot recall a plane that I got on that WASN'T a jet. Now that we live in a world where the regular planes ARE jets, just what sort of 'regular planes' was she talking about?

Answer 1

She's talking about airplanes with propellers.

Generally these phased out around the 80s, as far as "big planes" are concerned.  Many airlines still use small (say, 20 seats) propeller planes.  But back in the day, you could fly cross-country or across an ocean on a propeller plane.

For more info, look up a major airline on Wikipedia, and look through the history.