Am i the only person here interested in Heavy Aviation Metal?

[B757-236GT]

N176SG is currently being turned into razor blades as i speak. Its amazing how many skip fulls a 747 fuselage can create! According to the records there are now normally more 747s at Kemble than Gatwick and Manchester combined and if you leave out the BA 747s Heathrow too!

Richard

[DesertHound]

That's interesting to know Richard.

Perhaps Gillete could market those as The Mach III SP "for a smoother glide!" 

[B757-236GT]

Or theres only three main landing gears on my wagon! 

Richard

[47475]

Getting back to the Iran Air B747 Classics, here are some photos from my recent B747-200 flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tehran (registration EP-IAI). This is the last active passenger B747-200 in the world:

[47475]

Here are some from my recent B747-SP flight too. This was the B747-SP 'farewell' flight, but it is still in service on flights to Asia and is not likely to be retired for another few months:

[Trainfish]

Excuse my ignorance but does the SP stand for Shorter Plane as it looks a lot shorter than the other one.

Also, can you buy a 1:144 (seems the normal size for planes) Jumbo ready made? I may want one for my flying museum even if it is an SP.

[acko22]

Now not an airliner, but one hell of a wake up

A C5 galaxy taking off from Camp Bastion in 2013, sounded amazing and no doubt it was fully loaded!
sadly I didn't see it as it was a combat take off at night owe and the small fact it woke most of Bastion up at 2am!

Fair to say people were a little 

[DesertHound]

 

Excuse my ignorance but does the SP stand for Shorter Plane as it looks a lot shorter than the other one.

Also, can you buy a 1:144 (seems the normal size for planes) Jumbo ready made? I may want one for my flying museum even if it is an SP.

SP = Special Perfirmance. That in turn mean a longer range (less weight = less fuel burn).

A 1:144 Boeing 747SP, hmmm ... a lot of the models come in 1:500, 1:200 etc. I'm not a collector so I can't say for sure they don't exist in 1:144.

Let us know if you find one!

Dan

[Trainfish]

I just did a quick search and found some really cheap looking Chinese made 747s but nothing like the Hercules I have from Atlas. The best I have found is this one but my finances won't stretch that far at the moment 

By the way, it just has to be a 747, I'm not worried if it's an SP, GTi, SRi 16v or whatever, just a 747 and preferable a British livery or European at a stretch.

[B757-236GT]

As desert hound says it was a special performance version. Back in the very early 747 days it didnt have quite the range for USA-AUS flights so airlines like Qantas, Pan Am, South African etc requested one that would. Ultimatly the 747-200 arrived but even that had payload restrictions on certain routes but by the time the 300 and 400 series arrived the SPs days were numbered. Nowadays a 777-200LR would make the SPs range seem like it had a cola bottle for a fuel tank. Emirates quite regulaly send 200LRs and 300ERs from Dubai to New York non stop which can be around a 14-15 hour flight. of course for the Japanese market they created the 747SR which was a 747-100 fuselage but had extra strengthening and reduced fuel range. Some of the ex JAL 200SRs went on to complete cycles that a 737 would struggle to make! I believe a few ex 200SRs went to Transaero of Russia but im told they are in storage at one of the Moscow airports. Boeings marketing name for it was the "Super Airbus".....

Richard

[DesertHound]

Love that one TrainFish - how about a GTi version, pimped up with alloy wheels, a pair of fluffy dice dangling in the flight deck and go faster stripes!

Richard, thanks for the (as usual) informative info. You're most definitely our "go to" man on aviation history. Thought I knew a thing or two, but I don't think I've read a post of yours which hasn't taught me something.

Much appreciated!

Dan

[Trainfish]

Love that one TrainFish - how about a GTi version, pimped up with alloy wheels, a pair of fluffy dice dangling in the flight deck and go faster stripes!

Dan

Not quite alloy wheels and fluffy dice but have a look at this one Dan.

[Trainfish]

I found one which looks like it has alloy wheels here

I'll let you boys get back to your big metal birds now but let me know if you ever see a decent 747 for my layout 

Sorry for the interruptions.

[DesertHound]

Brilliant TrainFish!

I do come across some model diecast plane shops on my travels and I'll bear you in mind. If I see something I'll be sure to let you know.

So it's 1:148 or as close as possible that you're after, correct? An early 1980's BA 747-100/200 would look nice dangling from the roof beams on Longcroft. If we can find one with the gear extended then it could signify Heathrow (or Manchester or some fictional airport) just in the background.

That said, we'd probably have to modify the flap settings as it wouldn't be landing clean. Then again, I don't think most people would notice. A bit like I don't notice if MkIII's for HST's have buffers or not, or whether a MkIII has "125" written on the side in error. 

[Trainfish]

It will actually be static Dan as I'm having a small flying museum in the corner. I want want I call iconic aircraft and so far have just a Hercules, this one in fact:



It has wheels to attach when I remove the stand and looks far better in 'real life' than in that picture.

I have a Revell Concord to build and I'll also be looking for a Harrier jump jet. Maybe a Red Arrow, were/are they Gnats or something? Oh and some sort of helicopter. A Chinook would be nice but I have to be careful with the space.

Oh, yes, around 1:144 ideally as that's what the Hercules is. Ideally not newer than 1982 I'd say as my layout is supposed to be around 1980ish. I appreciate your help here