GUEST REVIEW: Royal Canadian Air Force Airbus CC-150 Polaris (A310-304) VIP

Today Yesterday's Airlines brings you a special guest review by Dan R (ACPIlot from DAC and 400ScaleHangar) of a great new release that he had personal involvement in getting realised in 1/400 scale on Aeroclassics' excellent new A310 mould. It doesn't fit my collection criteria however its a wonderful piece and I want to thank Dan for letting me republish his great review.

So over to Dan it is:

AeroClassics AC-CC150  1/400 Scale
Royal Canadian Air Force Airbus CC-150 Polaris (A310-304)            
RCAF 15001 "Canforce One"
437 "Husky" Squadron, 8 Wing, Trenton, Ontario
V.I.P. Paint Scheme​

Threshold Aviation Exclusive: Aeroclassics CanForce One A310 (CC-150 Polaris) - Threshold Aviation

Five Airbus CC-150 Polaris (A310-304) were purchased by the RCAF in 1993 from Canadian Airlines (originally delivered to Wardair in 1988) as a replacement for the Boeing CC-137 (B707).

Four of the five aircraft were converted in 1997 to Combi Freighter standard with reinforced floors and a side opening cargo door. The fifth aircraft (15001) was modified as a V.I.P. Transport for Government Executives (such as the Prime Minister, Governor General or members of the Royal Family). All five aircraft wore an overall grey paint scheme until the V.I.P. aircraft, as part of a regularly scheduled maintenance period, underwent heavy maintenance which included getting this new paint scheme. The Government of Canada decided in 2013 to repaint the aircraft with a colour scheme and design that is more reflective of Canada's national identity and more in line with patterns displayed by other countries aircraft in similar roles.

Whenever the Prime Minister of Canada is carried the callsign used by the aircraft is "Canforce One".

The attractive red, white and blue paint scheme was designed by RCAF Service Member Jim Belliveau, who has designed several of the attractive CF-18 Hornet Air Show Demonstrator schemes seen over the years. When the scheme was fist revealed to the public the Opposition Parties cried foul that the colours overtly represented the ruling Conservative Party. However one needs only to look at the RCAF Maple Leaf Roundel to see that the colours of the RCAF are Red, White and Blue.

Threshold Aviation asked me to assist in the research for this model as I was involved with researching the scheme for the Hobby Master's 1/200 version which was released a couple of years ago.

The AeroClassics A310 tooling is really quite nice (see the A310 mould review for further details). A huge improvement over the previous offering by Gemini Jets with the shape of the cockpit and nose showing the biggest improvements. The paint scheme has been well executed here with even the tiny maple leaves present on the winglets. Even a set of airstairs is included along with the red carpet!

Overall a very nice model with lots of detail especially when one considers how small the model is in 1/400 Scale. Highly recommended.

Dan