DT Custom Models - Tu-154B-2s Pt2Updated: November 2024
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My friend Đặng Tùng is always on the lookout for an opportunity to make some custom models utilising the original as a base. The pair of Aeroflot Tu-154Bs from NG Models provided a great opportunity since so many early 154 operators in the immediate post-Soviet era utilised a good chunk of the classic Aeroflot scheme. Earlier in the year I received 4 examples and wrote about them at the site:
For more on DT Customs and other custom models they have made see here:
Turkmenistan Airlines was formed in 1992 and acquired 12 series B-1s and B-2s, all former Aeroflot machines built between 1977 and 1982. All kept their original registrations with the CCCP prefix simply replaced by EZ. This aircraft, EZ-85410, was a 1980 build. All of the Tu-154s were withdrawn by 2001, replaced by Boeing 717s having been joined by a trio of ex-Delta 737-300s in 1994. This frame was withdrawn and stored at Ashgabat by 1999.
Tajik Air, the flag carrier of Tajikistan based at the capital Dushanbe, technically dates all the way back to 1924, but was obviously subsumed within Aeroflot for most of its history. As the airline regained its own identity it's fleet included 16 Tu-154s - a mix of B-1s, B-2s and Ms. Initially, the 154s wore Aeroflot colours with the red/green/white bird in a circle tail logo of Tajik Air. Some aircraft, such as EY-85385, wore cyrillic titles. Tajik Air took up a new blue/white livery in 1994. This aircraft flew with Tajik Air from December 1994 until March 1998. It seems to have served a short lease to a company called Jana-Arka until being returned in 1999 and was ultimately withdrawn from use in 2004.