Erik's 2022 Paint Thread

[Erik Ingram - HJG]

One new one for now:

USA Jet has continued to grow its MD-88SF fleet, and this appears to be the standardized new livery painted on them (as opposed to the one painted on 832, which is some kind of celebratory one-off). N834US is seen at present, and was previously N966DL with Delta.

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

That's a nice addition Erik .... and almost precisely a year since we produced, and released. our new "freighter specific" MD-88SF base pack and its debut texture.

MD-88SF USA JET AIRLINES N832US "The Spirit Of Ascent Unity" (2021)

Mark C
AKL/NZ

[Erik Ingram - HJG]

Here's another unique Long Beach product: NASA's DC-8-72 Airborne Laboratory. Originally built for Alitalia, it later went to Braniff, and has been with NASA since 1986. We have an earlier version of it, but it hasn't had an update in a while, so here's how it looked around 2018. It continues in service today, and I don't believe there are any current plans to replace it anytime soon!

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

Think we had her "down here" (at CHC) a couple of times some years ago

Mark C
AKL/NZ

[alex94]

Absolutely fantastic Erik, I’ve been wanting that updated livery done for quite some time now and no better time than now with the v6 coming out… soon…

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

Erik's latest .... a tribute to FLYING TIGERS DC-8's in the form the SUPER 61CF, SUPER 63AF, SUPER 63CF, and SUPER 73CF .... capturing a number of period and lease-in variations of livery supported by these aircraft between the late 1960's and early 1990's .... and including a couple of lesser know hybrids too. Look hard and one will note white as well as natural metal fuselages; Fuselage cheat lines and no fuselage cheat lines; "FLYING TIGERS" and "FLYING TIGER LINE" titles .... and fuselage surface scarring from former/original titles as the result of transitional name changes between both title versions; Tail logo and Tail titles; and finally .... the transitional change from FLYING TIGERS to FEDERAL EXPRESS after their 1988 acquisition by the specialist air freight carrier ....


DC-8 SUPER 61CF

FLYING TIGERS DC-8-SUPER 61CF N864FT (1981)


FLYING TIGERS DC-8-SUPER 61CF N867FT (1984)



DC-8 SUPER 63AF

FLYING TIGERS DC-8-SUPER 63AF N784FT (1976)


FLYING TIGERS DC-8-SUPER 63AF N786FT (1977)



DC-8 SUPER 63CF

FLYING TIGERS "Jumbo Jet" DC-8-SUPER 63CF N779FT (1968)




This following subject is "a particularly rare FLYING TIGERS hybrid" .... with a shark jaw artwork applied to the nose of this aircraft. Few photographs of it ever appear to have been taken at the time. Precisely what transpired to result in this hybrid livery isn't entirely clear. For many years we/HJG have tried to track down the registration of this aircraft .... since "NONE" of the few photos in existence identified this essential detail. Paul HAAK , and myself, then did some "serious detective work". One of the photos we had was clearly taken at the DOUGLAS Long Beach facility .... and in the background was "a particular about to be delivered BRANIFF DC-8 SUPER 62. We were able to ID the BRANIFF aircraft on the basis of its delivery colour scheme .... and then applying that date to FLYING TIGERS DC-8 SUPER 63 deliveries "we got a match" and with 99% certainty. The aircraft appears to have been "N796FT", C/N # 46104, L/N # 488, and which was delivered to FLYING TIGER LINE on October 3rd 1969. There's no other possible aircraft by the definitions of what's evident in the photos we sourced versus the airlines DC-8 deliveries ....

FLYING TIGER LINE (Tiger Shark) DC-8-SUPER 63CF N796FT (1969)












Just as a matter of interest also .... a similar, but different, variation of shark jaw artwork was also applied to FLYING TIGERS first B747-100F (N800FT, C/N # 20100, L/N # 46) and which delivered to the airline on August 28th 1974 and appeared as revealed within the following link ....
tonymadgehjg.proboards.com/thread/10106/jaws-1974.
These shark jaw artworks did not remain long on either the airlines B747 and DC-8 aircraft .... for reasons related within the above link.

FLYING TIGER LINE DC-8-SUPER 63CF N795FT (1971)



DC-8 SUPER 73CF

FLYING TIGERS DC-8-SUPER 73CF N773FT (1984)


FEDERAL EXPRESS/FLYING TIGERS DC-8-SUPER 73CF N401FE (1990)



"NONE" of these DC-8 textures are identical to any of the FLYING TIGERS liveries we already current offer. All are "different". Each of the above previews are also based on our "NEW" V6.0 DC-8 SUPER 61F, DC-8-SUPER 63F, and DC-8 SUPER 73F 3D models.


FLYING TIGER LINE was founded as NATIONAL FREIGHT SERVICE/NATIONAL SKYWAY FREIGHT during 1945 .... by a group of 10 ex AVG pilots. Based in Los Angeles, California, USA operations commenced that same year using a fleet of USN surplus BUDD CONESTOGA aircraft .... with the airline providing logistical support over a period of 4 years and in regard to the US occupation of Japan under General Douglas MacARTHUR. During 1949 the CAB awarded the first US commercial air freight route authority to the airline .... in the form of transcontinental services from both Los Angeles and San Francisco to Boston/Massachusetts .... and throughout the 1950's it acquired DC-4, DC-6, and SUPER CONSTELLATION aircraft which were employed to operate both trans-Atlantic air freight and group charters .... along with trooping throughout the period of the Korean War. During 1961 the airline acquired CANADAIR CL-44 turboprops .... and became one of the worlds first air carriers to utilize palletized type air freight shipping methods. FLYING TIGERS entered the jet age during 1965 upon acquiring B707-320C aircraft (one airlines B707's established a world record on November 15th 1965 when the it operated the first ever aerial circumnavigation of the earth via the poles over a duration of 62 hours 27 minutes) .... and which it began replacing with higher payload capable DC-8 SUPER 63CF aircraft from 1968 .... to eventually operate a fleet of some 18 DC-8's by 1972 (it actually operated a total some 47 DC-8's including aircraft lease-ins). The Jumbo era then dawned upon the airline from 1974 when it began acquiring B747 freighters. By the mid 1980's it was operating scheduled airfreight and Ad-Hoc charter services to 6 continents and some 58 countries .... and acquired its SEABOARD WORLD AIRWAYS rival on October 1st 1980. The airline continued operating military charters to both Japan and the Philippines, and within the SE Asian region throughout the 1960's, 70's, and 80's .... and between 1969 and 1971 even owned an independent recording company which traded under the HAPPY TIGER RECORDS banner .... producing albums by Count Basie, Mason Profit, Red Rhodes, Priscilla Paris, Paul Kelly, the Anita Kerr Singers, and the post-Van Morrison Them Band. Weekly PAX charter services were also undertaken by FLYING TIGERS between New York, Brussels, and Tel Aviv from 1981 .... using B747 aircraft operated by the airlines METRO INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES subsidiary .... and which was sold to TOWER AIR during 1983. Deregulation of the US airline industry from 1978 resulted in increased competition and which began to adversely impact the airlines profit margins from 1981 .... to result in it sustaining significant and consecutive losses thereafter. During December 1988 FLYING TIGERS was sold and then merged into FEDERAL EXPRESS from August 7th 1989. A number of FLYING TIGERS DC-8 SUPER 63's were upgraded to -73's as the result of a CFM-56 re-engining program during the early to mid 1980's, but, unlike it's B747's these aircraft never remained in FEDERAL EXPRESS service for much duration following the merger. A single BAC ONE-ELEVEN was also operated by FLYING TIGERS between 1973 and 1974 and which was employed as a corporate/VIP aircraft.


"A PARTICULARLY NICE AND HISTORIC CONTRIBUTION" Erik .... capturing the evolution of DC-8's operated by this classic/famous US air freight operator

Mark C
AKL/NZ

[parkave231]

Great stuff on these Flying Tigers jets! I hope to one day find some old cargo OAGs to help me figure out where I want to fly. For whatever reason I'm not very good at picking out a place from which to fly and somewhere to go unless I have an itinerary already planned for me!

Kudos on the investigative work -- I know it's been said many times before, but it's the small, minute details like that which really highlight the efforts of this group!

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

Getting closer to "that time of the year" again and when we need to start preparing for "our last release of the year" .... SO .... the following may be "AMONG", but not necessarily "THE", last to be presented for this 2022 year.

These are Erik's latest masterpieces .... a mixed bag of goodies relating to the B737-400, DC-8-30F, DC-8 SUPER 63F, DC-8 SUPER 72, and MD-82 (a Christmas themed livery), and MD88 SF


ALASKA AIRLINES ("DOT COM" titles) B737-4Q8 N774AS (2004)


EMERY AIR FORCE/EVERGREEN INTERNATIONAL AIRWAYS DC-8-33F N8245U (1978)


CARGOLUX DC-8 SUPER 63CF TF-BCV (1977)


NASA (Airborne Laboratory) DC-8 SUPER 72 N817NZ (2018)


COMPASS II AIRLINES ("Merry Christmas") MD-82 VH-LNK (1992)


USA JET AIRWAYS MD-88SF N834US (2022) .... the operators latest/2022 livery !



"NICE WORK" Erik

Mark C
AKL/NZ

[Nathan Ford - HJG]

I remember that Compass II livery 🫢

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

I remember that Compass II livery

So do/did we too

Got a little "fix" for that one which Erik organized this morning.

Might be a couple of days though before I can replace the image.

This one's intended to be one of a number of "Christmas Themed" liveries I propose using to support/illustrate "something else here" just prior to concluding this 2022 HJG FS year .... just a little "IDEA" of mine

Mark C
AKL/NZ

[Erik Ingram - HJG]

So I have a few requests on hand for the E-3, but while I work on those I figured I'd preview a few related birds in the meantime, which are a little more recent than the current offerings time-wise

First is E-3B 75-0560 of the USAF's 3d Wing at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska circa 2016. While there aren't many units flying the Sentry in US service, I figured we could use a little more diversity among them!



Then we have E-3G 82-0007 of the 18th Wing at Kadena AB, Japan, seen at present. It's actually been assigned to Kadena multiple times, but was also recently upgraded to a G-model. The E-3B, C, and G are virtually identical externally, with the modifications mostly covering the internal workstations and equipment. Only a small number are planned to become Gs, as the Air Force plans to replace the Sentry with the 737 Wedgetail starting in 2027.

[alex94]

Yep, the G’a now sport a “glass cockpit”

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

COMPASS II texture "fixed" now .... as per new preview

Mark C
AKL/NZ

[Erik Ingram - HJG]

Here are a few additions to the CFM-powered E-3 hangar!

1803 of the Royal Saudi Air Force circa 2014. There are a few model compromises required for this one, as the real one has slightly different equipment and no refueling probe (I edited it out here, and it can be retracted in sim), but otherwise it represents them more-or-less as they look these days.


Then we have 905 of the Chilean Air Force; they bought three from the RAF, all of which were delivered this year. One is for parts only, and 905 and 906 are in service still in the basic RAF colors they arrived in. Currently it's not known if they'll be repainted in an official scheme, but if they do, I'll be on it!

[Erik Ingram - HJG]

And a few new additions to the KLM DC-8 fleet we host; these are just the -50s for now, though there are some others in varying lengths in the works as well.

DC-8-53 PH-DCN, 1962. Some of the passenger -50s very briefly wore the angled-stripe delivery colors, but were repainted in the follow-on livery soon after.


DC-8-53 PH-DCM, 1967. As part of KLM and Viasa's extensive interchange operation, a number of DC-8s (and other aircraft) were shared between the two in various forms of split liveries. Others had the scheme reversed, but DCM is typical of the time period.




DC-8-55 PH-DCY, 1972. For a short period, the livery consisted of the same basic design with a new tail (the first 747s were also delivered in this scheme). Soon after, the full blue livery was introduced, but DCY went back to Garuda before that happened.


DC-8-55CF PH-DCS, 1968. The basic late 1960s scheme applied to one of KLM's combi DC-8s.


DC-8-55CF PH-DCT, 1973. Same hybrid scheme as DCY, also on a combi.


DC-8-55CF PH-DCZ, 1978. DCZ was given 'Cargo' titles on the tail at one point, and was the only one to receive them.