Braniff Jellybean Pt3: Red

In comparison to the greens and blues red is an easy Jellybean colour since there was only one version used. In fact red didn't even feature as a 'End of the Plain Plane' shade until the 1967 H&G refresh. All the earlier 7 shades were much more pastelly. Despite this late start red would go on to be one of the most popular of the colours used and I must say it does look superb.

The shade of dark red Braniff used was also one of the easier colours to capture with the photographic film of the age which means there are more good photos of red aircraft than for the blues and greens. This also means that the model manufacturers have had it a lot easier in terms of getting the shades exactly correct. Not that they necessarily have always done so!

Here is John Evanich III's (JEE3) entry concerning the Red Jellybeans.

The Red scheme variant was worn by 17 aircraft over the four year period of 1967-71 that the H&G colours were used, before the entry of the 'Flying Colors' livery. These aircraft included 7 727-100s and the first of the new 727-200s.

Again I have four aircraft that wear this colour variant. Three of these are Aeroclassics and I'm pleased to say they all have the same shade. It might be slightly darker than the original but with my eyesight I'm not the best judge. The three aircraft are Boeing 707-138B N105BN, 727-027C N7296 and Lockheed Electra N9709C. Both the 707 and Electra were the only aircraft of their type to wear red.

I also have one of the three BAC One-Elevens that wore the red scheme - this time made by JC Wings as N1551. To me the JC red looks a bit too light but again its not miles away from the real thing and doesn't look out of place against the Aeroclassics.

Please see Part 1 covering the Greens and Part 2 covering the Blues for more Jellybeans. In part 4 we'll move onto Orange.