#400scale

Pan Am Twilight at the Chickenport…..⁣ ⁣ Pan Am was the first US airline to operate the Airbus A310 on 28 May 1985. The airline operated 21, with a mix of A310-200s (seven examples) and the longer-ranged A310-300 version (fourteen examples). They were used primarily on trans-Atlantic routes out of JFK, with the A310-200s being used on either shorter trans-Atlantic runs or on domestic runs like JFK-MIA or JFK-West Coast. Pan Am at the time was on the ropes financially and the A310s were a more cost-effective aircraft to fly to Europe than the Boeing 747. ⁣ ⁣ The Pan Am Airbus order was part of a $1 billion order that also included A320s with options to convert the A320 orders into A310s. Pan Am was leasing about a dozen A300s for its Caribbean/Latin American routes but the plans at the time of the order were for the A310s to replace the A300s on the Caribbean/Latin American routes, use the A320s as replacements for the 727 on both domestic and European internal services (like the Internal German Service), and keep the 747s for trans-Atlantic services. ⁣ ⁣ As Pan Am’s financial state deteriorated in the late 1980s, the A310s ended up being more cost-effective on the trans-Atlantic market than the 747s. The A320s never arrived- their delivery slots were sold to Braniff as the Pan Am scrambled to meet its financial obligations. ⁣ ⁣ This particular model depicts N812PA “Clipper Freedom”. Originally built for KLM but not taken up, it was delivered to Pan Am in 17 June 1987 and later went to Delta when Pan Am sold its European division to Delta. In 1996 it then went to Aeroflot and then in 2004 went to S7 Siberia Airlines and crashed at Irkutsk on 9 July 2006 after overshooting the runway with a loss of 125 lives. ⁣ ⁣ #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #airlines #planeporn #TheChickenport (follow this tag to see more of my collection) #airlines #Airbus #A310 #N812PA #PanAm #PanAmerican #aerosanctuary #400Scale #DragonWings #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation #TeamAvGeek https://www.instagram.com/p/B3iPQCzBcMA/?igshid=1wvhp5crg64fn

Lufthansa took delivery of its first Airbus A300 on 2 February 1976- this particular model depicts that first A300, D-AIAA. The airline inaugurated its A300 services on 1 April 1976 between Frankfurt and London Heathrow with Frankfurt-Paris Charles de Gaulle services just days later. The following week Frankfurt-Madrid was launched. Once enough A300s were in service, domestic A300 services were also launched to Hamburg, Hanover, Dusseldorf and Stuttgart. Lufthansa’s A300s were configured initially with 24 first class seats and 229 economy class seats. Lufthansa’s initial order was for three A300s with options for nine more- the airline had long resisted the West German government’s insistence the airline order the A300 as West Germany was one of the founding nations of the Airbus consortium. Lufthansa felt the A300 was too big and preferred an aircraft of 200 seats, but eventually acquiesced and ordered the A300, but a smaller order than the West German Ministry of Transport had initially wanted. Lufthansa retired its A300s in 2009 with the last A300 Lufthansa service operating on 1 July, LH 3853 from Rome to Frankfurt. #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #airlines #planeporn #TheChickenport (follow this tag to see more of my collection) #airlines #Airbus #A300 #DAIAA #Lufthansa #DeutscheLufthansa #aerosanctuary #400Scale #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #Avgeekery #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge

It’s sometime in the late 90s and an Air Wisconsin BAe-146 is readied for it’s milk run from Denver to Aspen. Though flying into Aspen even in good weather may not exactly be most pilots’ definition of a milk run! For years, the BAe-146 was the only passenger jet that could fly into Aspen/Sardy Field (ASE). There are noise sensitivities in the area, naturally, and aircraft are restricted in wingspan to 95 feet or less due to the non-standard displacement of the parallel taxiway from the runway. But most challenging, ASE sits in a box valley at 7800 feet elevation with mountains on three sides rising to 13,000 feet. For the longest time, the BAe-146 was the only commercial jet that could meet ASE’s most stringent restriction, being able to execute a missed approach with one engine out seeing as to how an engine out in a 146 is only a 25% loss of total thrust. Air Wisconsin (flying as United Express) and Mesaba (flying as Northwest Airlink/Northwest Jetlink) were for quite a time the main operators at ASE. Newer aircraft now serve Aspen that have more powerful engines that can safely accommodate the engine out requirement, but many miss the BAe-146’s four engines and STOL capability that was once a staple of ASE passenger services. #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #airlines #planeporn #TheChickenport (follow this tag to see more of my collection) #airlines #aerosanctuary #BritishAerospace #BAE #BAe146 #UnitedExpress #AirWisconsin #N292UE #400Scale #GeminiJets #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #Avgeekery #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge

Feels a bit like sunset at Denver International in the late 1990s with a United Express Bae-146 getting unloaded after arriving from Aspen while a Boeing 727-200 is prepared for its evening departure to Los Angeles……. United’s “Battleship Gray” livery debuted in January 1993, the first aircraft painted in these colors was a Boeing 747-400. They were part of a rebranding under CEO Stephen Wolf to project a more professional business-like image over the earlier Saul Bass-designed livery. Joke then was that Stephen Wolf had a thing for dark liveries as before he came to United, he was at US Airways and was at the helm there when they rebranded from the bare metal/red/blue US Air colors to the dark blue colored US Airways livery. I’d read that ATC and United crews disliked the Battleship Gray livery as it was hard to see at night and on a gray winter/rainy day. From a historical perspective, these colors cover a turbulent time at United- from the massive losses in 1991-92 following Desert Storm/Gulf War that resulted in the ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) that gave the employees 55% control fo the airline which made United the largest employee owned company in the world at the time. The livery was superseded by the United’s final pre-merger livery in 2003 after United filed for bankruptcy and the ESOP was terminated. When United cancelled its pension plan in 2005, I believe it was the largest pension default in US history. #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #airlines #planeporn #TheChickenport (follow this tag to see more of my collection) #airlines #aerosanctuary #BritishAerospace #BAE #BAe146 #UnitedExpress #AirWisconsin #N292UE #Boeing #727 #United #N7291U #400Scale #GeminiJets #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #Avgeekery #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge

Alaska Airlines took delivery of its first Boeing 727 in 1966 to replace its first jet, a Convair CV-880 (though there was a single 727-100 leased from Eastern in 1965). Twenty-eight 727-100s were operated at various times by Alaska between 1965 and early 1990s. The last Alaska 727-100s were used to support oil exploration in Alaska. The model depicted here shows a smiling Eskimo on the tail- the first Eskimo tail made its debut in 1973 as part of the four Alaskana or Icon Tails- there were four tails- an Eskimo, a Prospector, Onion Domes (referring to Alaska’s Russian heritage) and a Totem Pole. The Eskimo tail stayed on as the airline’s standard tail design but in 1976 a subtle tweak to the tail design had the Eskimo smiling as he does to this day on Alaska’s jets. This particular model is one of the -100 late comers to Alaska’s fleet, N7829A. Originally flew for Braniff International, the Mexicana, then AeroTal in Colombia before it was picked up by Alaska in 1987 and retired in 1992. #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #airlines #planeporn #TheChickenport (follow this tag to see more of my collection) #airlines #aerosanctuary #Boeing #727 #N7829A #Alaska #AlaskaAir #400Scale #Aeroclassics #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #Avgeekery #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge

This 1/400 scale model of a Horizon Air Fokker/Fairchild F-27 depicts N217PH, the airline’s first aircraft when it was established in 1981. With the passage of the Airline Deregulation Act in 1978, airlines were no longer bound by the Civil Aeronautics Board as to what cities they could serve and from where, those decisions were now left to free market forces. As a result, many small communities in the Pacific Northwest saw their air services dropped by the larger airlines. In May 1981, Milt Koult gathered a group of Seattle entrepreneurs to fill this gap with a new regional airline named Horizon Air. Operations were launched on 1 September 1981 using three Fairchild F-27 turboprops (license built versions of the Fokker F-27). This model depicts the first of those three F-27s, the other two being N272PH and N273PH. The first services were from Seattle to Yakima, Washington, followed by services the following week from Seattle to Pasco, Washington. In those days, the general offices of Horizon were located in an old house behind Sea-Tac Airport. Struggling financially, Horizon merged with Air Oregon in June 1982 and then again the following year with Transwestern of Utah. A stock IPO was floated in 1984 to help keep the airline afloat. In the summer of 1985, Horizon entered a code share agreement with United Airlines which attracted the attention of Alaska Airlines which was looking for a regional partner to increase its passenger feed into Seattle. In November 1986, Alaska acquired Horizon and the rest, shall we say, is history! #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #airlines #planeporn #TheChickenport (follow this tag to see more of my collection) #airlines #aerosanctuary #Fokker #Fairchild #F27 #N271PH #Horizon #400Scale #Aeroclassics #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #Avgeekery #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge

Closer look at my model of a Wien Air Alaska Boeing 727-100. The airline was founded by Noel Wien, considered to be the father of Alaska aviation. After several years of flying for a barnstorming outfit, Wien flew to Alaska in his biplane and set up shop, giving rides and barnstorming for the locals in Anchorage. He soon turned his sights to passenger transport, making the first flight between Anchorage and Fairbanks. For at least two years, Noel Wien was the *only* pilot operating in Alaska and by the time other pilots arrived in the state to offer their services, Wien was already carrying passengers around the state. He offered his passenger services all year round, quite a feat given the harsh Alaskan weather. He flew north of the Arctic Circle and set records all over Alaska. And this was *before* had a pilot’s license! This was remedied in 1925 with the 39th pilot’s license which was signed by Orville Wright himself. With his brothers joining him in the business, Wien merged with Northern Consolidated in 1968 and got their first jet equipment, the Boeing 737 which they pioneered in operations from gravel strips. With deregulation, Wien expanded out of Alaska into the Lower 48 states and got the Boeing 727-100 to support new services throughout the western US with connections to Alaska starting in 1981. But Wien was overextended and fell to the corporate raider James Flood who bought Wien in 1984 and liquidated the airline for a profit with the second oldest airline in the United States at the time shutting down for good in 1985. #avgeek #aviation #aircraft #airlines #planeporn #TheChickenport (follow this tag to see more of my collection) #American #airlines #aerosanctuary #Boeing #727 #Fokker #F27 #Alaska #Wien #HorizonAir #400Scale #Aeroclassics #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #Avgeekery #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge

RMS TITANIC (1912) #rafprohobbies #rafpro #400scale #400scalemodel #titanic #titanic1912 #rmstitanic #titanicmodel #titanicmodelship #shinkingship #titanichistory #whitestarline #whitestarlinetitanic @white.star.line.official https://www.instagram.com/p/CRZeKILhrAD/?utm_medium=tumblr