Category: Gemini Jets

Jumbo Stopgap: Eastern's 747s

3/1/2020

At the end of the 60s the age of the widebody was fast approaching and all the major US airlines were on a new equipment binge. The 747 was the first new widebody and everyone felt they had to have some or suffer the consequences of being left behind. In fact all the trunk airlines operated Jumbos (except for Northeast and Western) although, considering only Pan Am, Northwest and TWA had international routes, they mostly lacked sensible ways to utilise them. Eastern, unusually, went down a more considered path than everyone else but still ended up with 747s for a time.

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Soviet Airbuses in China: Xinjiang's IL-86s

24/7/2019

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Even when it was first put into service the Soviet IL-86 was hardly a picture of modernity or efficiency, so it is little surprise that on the foreign market it was not a popular choice. Nonetheless, a few aircraft did make it out of the CIS and three ended up with Xinjiang Airlines in China, one of China's first non-CAAC airlines.

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Acker’s Gamble: Air Florida 1979-1982

31/3/2019

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With deregulation of the airlines in the USA the expectation was that an intrastate airline like Air Florida would be a force in the new post-regulation world and for a while that was true enough. The story of Air Florida is forever intertwined with the fortunes and wheeler dealing of one man, Ed Acker who took it from obscurity to the big leagues and then abandoned it for its greatest rival.

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The BA Shuttle: Bringing the Regions to Heathrow

19/3/2019

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The Eastern Air Lines shuttle was a pioneering idea in the busy US North-east market offering no-reservation guaranteed seat service between the super busy business destinations of New York, Washington and Boston. There are few markets that can support such a concept but travel from the UK regions to the London Heathrow was always a good contender. In 1975 the new British Airways decided to see if it could replicate the massive success of Eastern’s shuttle in the UK.

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Desert Sun: Fokker 70s in the America West

27/2/2019

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In the early 90s, just prior to the Regional jet revolution, Fokker's line of twinjets were rather squeezed in at the lower end of mainline fleets. This suited the larger F100 more than its smaller, and later, family member the F70. In fact despite its seeming ideal fit the F70 only ever acquired two orders within the vast US market operating for a small regional connected with a much larger one.

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Three Swallows Pt2: Go Getters Go Ozark

28/11/2018

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During its first 20 years of operation Ozark had fulfilled exactly the promise that the local service airlines had been created for. It had started and proved a wide range of feeder services and grown demand to the point that it could sustain not just prop-jets but pure jets as well. Even better it had done so profitably and begun to wean itself off of subsidy and pick-up longer routes that the trunk airlines no longer wanted. All in all it found itself in good position to grow into the 1970s and face the challenges of deregulation to come.

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Aviacsa Pt2: Pakal Falls

6/9/2018

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Aviacsa entered into the 21st Century as Mexico’s leading private airline and a serious competitive force to the nationalised Mexicana and Aeroméxico. Unfortunately it was not able to establish itself as a permanent fixture due to its inability to finance fleet replacement and compete as a low cost rather than a low fares airline with the new breed of LCCs in Mexico such as Interjet and Volaris. Within 10 years Pakal would be dethroned.

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1:400 Review of 2017: Gemini Jets

28/12/2017

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Welcome to my third year of the annual review of manufacturers and their output in 1:400 scale. In this 5 part series we start with Gemini Jets who remain for many the centre of the world in this scale. Not for me however. At the time of writing I have bought 138 new release models in 2017, but only 5 were Gemini Jets. That doesn't necessarily mean GJ produce crap models but sadly all to often that is true. Let's look a little deeper at the good, the bad and the ugly.

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Northwest's Heritage Nines Through the Decades: 1967-2003

26/9/2017

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Whenever I write a history of one of my US Douglas DC-9s in 1/400 scale there is a good chance that it will have ended up with Northwest, and even possibly Delta, through the continual mergers that constituted the deregulated aviation market in the USA during the 1980s. Following the recent release of a couple of nice NW nines by Aeroclassics in this post I'll quickly look at the livery transitions many of these Diesel Nines went through.

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PBA Maxes Out: Provincetown-Boston in the 80s

29/4/2017

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Provincetown-Boston Airways (PBA) started operations in 1949 and was consistently profitable for over 30 years. In 1980 its founder John Van Arsdale reluctantly handed over control to his sons and with deregulation in full swing everything was changing. The future looked bright, but over expansion coupled with a series of fatal crashes led to the death of the airline; although many of its routes and fleet continued on in new colours.

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Cherry Blossom Pacemakers: Piedmont YS-11s

27/4/2017

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In the mid-60s the local service airlines were well into their graduation from DC-3 centric fleets to those based predominantly around Martins and Convairliners and in fact most were beginning to look at jets as well. Piedmont had retired its last Dc-3 in 1963 and had been operating 8 Fairchild F-27s since 1958. It had added a sizeable number of Martin 404s since 1961, but was in the market for fleet renewal. It was interested in jets but also needed new prop-liners and found them in an unusual location.

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Starting from Scratch: The NAMC YS-11

24/4/2017

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The YS-11 programme remains something of a controversial topic in its native Japan. Some see it as an epic adventure and fabulous idea, a monument to Japanese industrial policy; whereas others see it as a folly doomed to failure from the start. Regardless it is clear that the aircraft itself was capable and although it clearly never met the financial targets set for it it sold 182 aircraft, a decent number, and continued in service into the 2010s.

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Skypower Pt1: WAAC to VC10s

5/4/2017

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Throughout the 1960s and 70s Nigeria Airways was one of the strongest and most affluent of the African airlines. The Nigeria state was far from stable however, enduring multiple coups and civil war, and these factors gradually built into the fabric of the state and the state run airline itself. In the long run this institutional weakness would prove terminal but in the 60 and 70s Skypower was a powerful symbol of Nigeria's pride and potential.

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MEA Cedar Jets Pt1: Lebanese Fleet Gifted

27/3/2017

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From the 1950s the history of Lebanon is one of sadness, destruction, and finally from the 1990s rebirth. Through it all the national carrier, Middle East Airlines, has kept flying showing a level of resilience unmatched anywhere in aviation history. The late 1960s was an especially difficult period for the carrier, which due to the hostile action of Israel faced extinction. Tied up in this was MEA's pair of VC10s, both leased aircraft and not the Super VC10s the airline had originally wanted.

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American Out West: AirCal and the San Jose Hub

24/2/2017

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Given the 1980s merger frenzy and increasing power of the richer trunk airlines it is questionable whether AirCal could have survived on its own, but was American Airlines a good fit? History would show that it clearly was not and AA's plans for California would not succeed. Nonetheless the owners of AirCal exited the scene with a decent pay off and American's plans certainly made more sense than USAir's contemparaneous plans for PSA. Here's the story of American's Californian punt.

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<<Previous

Jumbo Stopgap: Eastern's 747s

Soviet Airbuses in China: Xinjiang's IL-86s

Acker’s Gamble: Air Florida 1979-1982

The BA Shuttle: Bringing the Regions to Heathrow

Desert Sun: Fokker 70s in the America West

Three Swallows Pt2: Go Getters Go Ozark

Aviacsa Pt2: Pakal Falls

1:400 Review of 2017: Gemini Jets

Northwest's Heritage Nines Through the Decades: 1967-2003

PBA Maxes Out: Provincetown-Boston in the 80s

Cherry Blossom Pacemakers: Piedmont YS-11s

Starting from Scratch: The NAMC YS-11

Skypower Pt1: WAAC to VC10s

MEA Cedar Jets Pt1: Lebanese Fleet Gifted

American Out West: AirCal and the San Jose Hub

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