Japanese DC-9,s

[husky8675]

I was wondering if you could add some of the Japanese airlines to your DC-9's please. Thank you.

[Tony Madge - HJG]

If no one else takes them on I will do so, however I am working my way east through Europe at the moment, Spanish 9's then Italy then Yugoslavia, Turkey then onwards towards Japan
Have you a list of operators in Japan?

[husky8675]

TDA operated the -40's and leased one 50 from Finnland. JAS only operated the -40's. JAL never operated and DC-9 until it took over JAS and then only flew the 80's and the 90. Thank you.

attached are the liveries i am talking about.

[husky8675]

and this one

[husky8675]

This is the -50 that was leased form Finnland directly from MD so i carries a N*** reg number in the pic.

[Tony Madge - HJG]

Many thanks for the info, hopefully I will get round to them soon

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

TDA operated the -40's and leased one 50 from Finnland.

There was another even more rare/lesser known DC9 leased by TDA for for a period 1 year during 1973 too .... N9331, a series -31 aircraft leased from AIR WEST, and which was operated in a much earlier variation of red/white TDA livery than the first red/green/white delivery scheme applied to its DC9-41's.

This particular aircraft was leased by TDA to gain DC9 operating experience in advance of the airlines DC9-41 deliveries.

Photos of it are probably quite rare !

Mark C
AKL/NZ

[Esa Kaihlanen - HJG Guest]

Hi Mark,

Couldn't find a reference to N9331, but I found a photo of N9333, which according to the caption was a leased machine form Hughes Air West.


The same book (JAL Jet Story) also has a photo of a 727 in the same older Toa Domestic Airlines livery, in case anyone is interested.

(Sorry for the photo quality, just a quick snapshot from the book with digital camera)

-Esa

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

That particular image is a very nice find Esa .... and appears to be the same variation of TDA livery as that applied to N9331 .... the same early variation of red/white TDA livery which I mentioned above.

SO THEN .... it looks like they (TDA) must have leased more than 1 DC9-30 in advance of the the delivery of their DC9-40's .... and which, if that's the case, is something I didn't know !

Mark C
AKL/NZ

[Esa Kaihlanen - HJG Guest]

Hi Mark,

After taking a more careful look at the book, it claims that two DC-9-30 were leased (both from Hughes Air West) along with three DC-9-50 (two from Finnair and one from North Central Airlines).

-Esa

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

This's getting more interesting then .... especially if those NORTH CENTRAL and FINAIR leased DC9-50's ended up in the same early red/white TDA scheme as that applied to both of the DC9-30's already discussed .... as illustrated per the image which you posted above.

Any pictures of the -50's ?

Mark C
AKL/NZ

[Esa Kaihlanen - HJG Guest]

Hi Mark,

Unfortunately no photos of any those DC-9-51s. Just -41 and Super-80 (and that -31 shown above, of course). The book focuses mostly on JAL and these other airlines which eventually became subsidiaries are not covered in such a great detail. The book mentions the year 1976 for the -51 series, though, so I'd assume that they wore the red/green livery.

This page has photo of one DC-9-51, N763NC (which I presume is the one from North Central):
f14.aaa.livedoor.jp/~skycolor/DC-9-41.htm

And to make matters more interesting, here's a fleet list which also contradicts some of the information we've found elsewhere:
www.geocities.jp/rainbow_md81/jal_dc9.html

-Esa

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

This gets better by the day

Thanks Esa !

Mark C
AKL/NZ

[Tony Madge - HJG]

So all we need now is someone to paint them.... I am glad to hand these over to someone who maybe can do them a lot quicker than I can?

[husky8675]

To be honest, I am not the best apinter, but I would like to take a swing at it, but I don't have your paintkits. But I appreciate anyone who does repaint these birds. Thank you.