In the 1960s, American Airlines partnered with Pratt & Whitney to refit their Boeing 707s with new turbofan engines, ditching the old turbojet engine, which greatly increased the efficiency of the aircraft. The jets were also physically altered, with differently shaped wings and vertical stabilizer, and an added fin beneath the tail of the plane, to adapt to the added performance demands of the new turbofans. American painted these 707s with a special bare metal and red livery, dubbing them “Astrojet”, and they were the shining flagships of the second stage of the jet age. As an homage to these flagship airplanes, when American was delivered their 50th Boeing 737-8 in 2000, N951AA, they painted it in the Astrojet livery. 951 carried the livery until last year, when concerns about the plane’s age and remaining service life prompted American to transfer the Astrojet heritage livery to this airplane, N905NN.

diana’s favourite heroes:

Steve Trevor (Wonder Woman)