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Post by Erik Ingram - HJG on Jun 11, 2021 21:10:12 GMT
Thank you! This one seemed appropriate to commemorate the retirement of the OC-135B this past week; this is 61-2674 as seen circa 1994, shortly after entering service. The Open Skies treaty was signed in 1992 to promote openness and transparency regarding military operations and allow for mutual surveillance of bases and other sites of activity among members of NATO and the former Warsaw Pact. While the mission could easily be done by satellites, allowing an actual aircraft to do the surveillance was intended to provide a more tangible layer of trust to the agreement. 2674 was the first of three OC-135s to be converted for this purpose; it entered service in 1993 and was retired in 1997, succeeded by 61-2670 and 2672, which featured improved camera systems. The US withdrew from the treaty last November, effectively leaving the planes without a mission. This, combined with their advancing age and frequent maintenance issues, led to their retirement this spring, with 2672 going to the desert in May, and 2670 just last week.
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Post by Erik Ingram - HJG on Jun 15, 2021 22:46:32 GMT
Alright, the next one off the line should complete the Qantas 737 Classics; this is VH-XNH as seen around 2018 in its own StarTrack livery. Today it wears regular "Australia Post" titles as previously done by Tony.
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Post by aerofoto - HJG Admin on Jun 15, 2021 23:17:53 GMT
I think this one more-or-less completes all of the "Kanga-hoppers" .... applicable the B737 models we currently host at least Mark C AKL/NZ
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Post by Erik Ingram - HJG on Jun 24, 2021 19:41:29 GMT
Here's a collection of Nordic MD-80s of various types and operators: I decided to try and complete the Finnair MD-80 fleet, as they were an early adopter of the type and flew them for over 20 years. For a short period in 1988-89, they also leased SE-DHB from Transwede Airways, which featured poorly-covered titles. This particular frame is also notable for being one of a very small number of MD-83s to be built with the original tailcone before the updated one was introduced. Next is SE-DHC in its regular Transwede livery circa 1992. Finnair also had a few "albino" MD-80s, including OH-LMN circa 1998. It had previously worn special "Santa Claus" decals, but after they were removed it was left in this scheme until being sold in 2000. Next up is OH-LPC as seen in Finnair's updated livery introduced in 2002. Finally, here's OH-LPD in another albino scheme circa 2005; it was the last MD-80 to wear the older livery, and received new titles in place of a full repaint. Enjoy!
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Post by aerofoto - HJG Admin on Jun 24, 2021 20:31:20 GMT
That's a nice fleet of Viking Ships Erik We haven't had a Viking invasion here since Camilo and I some years ago added LN-, OY-, and SE- registrations among most of the SAS liveried aircraft textures we offer. Mark C AKL/NZ
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Post by Erik Ingram - HJG on Jun 30, 2021 0:50:25 GMT
I've got a few more planned along those lines In the meantime, here's a pair of semi-related European MD-81s; in the early 1990s, Swissair launched the somewhat-disastrous Qualiflyer alliance with Austrian and a few other European airlines (this being one of the larger contributing factors to their 2001 demise). As an extension of that, Swissair and Austrian operated a specific codeshare on the Vienna-Zurich shuttle route, with a dedicated aircraft receiving markings with a greeting in the respective destination's German dialect. HB-IND's titles read "Servus Wien." OE-LDV of Austrian was similarly given "Grüezi Zürich" titles. Both went on to serve with a multitude of airlines after their original owners, though they are now both out of service.
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Post by Erik Ingram - HJG on Jul 2, 2021 19:04:23 GMT
Couple more Mad Dogs off the line: MD-87 JA8370 of Japan Airlines circa 2005. After the JAS takeover, JAL briefly operated their MD-80 fleet, including the -87s. Initially they were assigned to the JAL Domestic division, which was reabsorbed into the parent in 2006. MD-82 YU-ANC of Inex-Adria Airways circa 1982. Built as N308RC for Republic, they declined to take it and it went to Inex-Adria instead, albeit still in the full RC livery.
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Post by aerofoto - HJG Admin on Jul 12, 2021 20:05:15 GMT
Very nice Erik Mark C AKL/NZ
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Post by Erik Ingram - HJG on Jul 14, 2021 17:58:13 GMT
Thanks! The remaining Jellybeans are coming along nicely, but for now here's the original; N1542 circa 1965 in the delivery "El Dorado" scheme. These colors had been used with varying designs since the early 1940s, and all but the last two 111s were delivered new in this paint job. It didn't last long as the Alexander Girard "Jellybean" scheme was introduced in mid-1965, but it certainly looked good on them!
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Post by aerofoto - HJG Admin on Jul 16, 2021 5:01:43 GMT
Certainly a great livery .... for it's time .... and one that, like many from the early/mid 60's, had evolved out of the 50's Mark C AKL/NZ
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Post by Erik Ingram - HJG on Jul 18, 2021 18:13:41 GMT
Now for a pair of One-Elevens from the northeastern United States; Mohawk (named for the Mohawk River valley of central New York) was one of the many regional carriers operating there throughout the middle 20th Century. In 1970, they decided to update their image from their classy black and gold livery to this orange/ochre design. N1120J, a series 204AF, was one of a small number of aircraft to wear it, seen circa 1971. Mohawk merged with Allegheny Airlines in April 1972, and because it took some time to repaint the fleet, a number of planes received large "Operated by Allegheny" decals, including N1135J. Originally delivered to Braniff as N1552, Mohawk acquired it in September 1970.
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Post by aerofoto - HJG Admin on Jul 18, 2021 20:54:01 GMT
Very "colourful" I can see our next release/website update (actually it may be the one "after" our next .... since we prioritized the DMFS flight line over our own intended July release by deferring it by about a month) is obviously going to be "A BLAZE OF COLOUR" .... featuring Erik's BN's, MO's, along with a couple hands full of equally "psychedelic surprises" I have up my sleeve too Mark C AKL/NZ
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Post by darrenvox on Jul 19, 2021 21:59:13 GMT
wow...im back... nice stuff
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Post by Erik Ingram - HJG on Jul 20, 2021 17:04:36 GMT
Thank you! Here we have two later aircraft in the life of those northeastern-based One-Elevens; first is N1122J in Allegheny's updated "Shades of Rust" livery circa 1978. When Allegheny changed their name to USAir in October 1979, the livery was retained as-is, with new titles applied. This is N1118J as seen around 1981.
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Post by Erik Ingram - HJG on Jul 27, 2021 19:43:02 GMT
And another USAir example from the transitional period; N2111J kept the earlier blue Allegheny livery, but updated with the new USAir logo. It operated this way throughout the duration of 1980, before receiving its full "shades of rust" paint in early 1981.
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