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Ghana Airways was quick to get an interest in the new jets on offer and during 1960 when it was ordering Viscounts and IL-18s it also ordered a pair of Boeing 707-420s and three VC10s. The airline had grandiose dreams of flying the 707s to the United States and Australia but the financial troubles of 1961 put paid to those and instead it had to wait a while longer before it could really join the jet age.
America West was a strong supporter of several sports teams located near its hub operations and it was in fact one of these agreements which kicked off its repainting of its 757s into special schemes. The airline had signed a marketing agreement with the Phoenix Suns basketball team as early as 1989, which renamed their new stadium the America West Arena. It was their colours which were the first to be adopted, upon N907AW, and for many years the team flew an America West 737-100 for their away fixtures. It was the first of three sports team tie-ups, however the second special scheme adopted celebrated America West Airlines and its employees and was named Teamwork... The mid-1980s was a time of significant growth for America West and only three years after starting operations they took on 6 nearly new 757-2S7s which had been delivered to Republic Airlines just prior to its takeover by Northwest. Of the fifteen Boeing 757s that would join America West only three would join them directly and be 757-2G7s. The other twelve were either ex-Republic 2S7s (6), ex-Eastern 225s (4), an ex-Odyssey Int 28A or an AWAS leased series 23A. Two other 757-2G7s ordered new from Boeing were cancelled following the carrier's bankruptcy in the early 90s and not built. Though it only had a relatively small fleet of 757s America West made sure that many of them caught the eye, as in the 1990s it began painting 8 of them into special liveries.
CAAC's fleet during the 1980s was an odd mix of vintage and modern types ranging from IL-14s to Tridents to A310s. One of the new types that was chosen for replacement of the short-medium haul HS Trident 2s and Ilyushin IL-18s was the McDonnell Douglas MD-80. In fact the MD-82/83 was the first western type to be license constructed in China, when in 1987 the first of 35 aircraft were assembled by the Shanghai Aviation Industrial Corporation. This initial success would no doubt help lead McDonnell Douglas down the ill-fated MD-90 Trunkliner path they followed, however despite the Trunkliner's failure and though eclipsed in the 1990s by Boeing 737s, and later A320s, the MD-80 would continue to be a major component of the fleet of several Chinese airlines into the 2000s.
The Fokker 100 (or F28-0100) was, Dutch manufacturer, Fokker's next generation of its popular and steady, if not spectacular, selling F28 series. The F28 was a fine aircraft well ahead of its time pre-dating true regional jets by nearly thirty years. The type was operated worldwide (especially in Australia, Canada and Europe) but usually in only small numbers. Its maximum seating capacity in the extended 4000 series was 85 and by the 1980s the basic design was in need of renewal. Fokker accomplished this by creating a new wing, replacing the Rolls-Royce Spey engines with new Tays and stretching the fuselage to seat up to 107 passengers.
Gulf Air has been flying since 1950 and the Golden Falcon always brightened up my boyhood trips to Heathrow on their lovely Tristars. The airline grew quickly from the mid 1970s through to the mid 1990s expanding its network to cover the Old World continents, including Australia, with a large fleet of modern Boeing and Airbus jets.
For the last twenty years the story hasn't been so happy but that hasn't stopped the carrier delivering to a high standard and introducing a beautiful livery in 2003. Here's Gulf Air's story... National Airlines (N7/ROK, Call sign: Red Rock) was the third airline that used the name, though it bore absolutely no connection to the original holder - the regulated era Trunk airline which operated from Florida primarily up the East Coast and later to Europe which was merged into Pan Am in late 1980. The second National Airlines was a short-lived charter airline that, not content with using the Overseas National name 'borrowed' from the then defunct long serving supplemental ONA, purchased the naming rights from Pan Am for the original National and planned to start up schedule service. It survived using the National name from 1983 to the end of 1985. The third National was a completely different beast and and set up its stall out West in Las Vegas. It only lasted three years itself but burnt brightly all the same. |
AuthorI'm Richard Stretton: a fan of classic airliners and airlines who enjoys exploring their history through my collection of die-cast airliners. If you enjoy the site please donate whatever you can to help keep it running: Archives
May 2024
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