A recent real-world work:
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Blog/DC910_Midway_b.jpg)
Midway Airlines DC-9 Series 14 | N1056T | MSN 45737 | LN 49 | Delivery livery October 1979
Even though Midway Airlines got its operating certificate prior to the passage of deregulation, the Chicago-based airline is recognized as the first post deregulation start up carrier, launching services in October of 1979 with three ex-Trans World Airlines DC-9-14s. N1056T, the subject of this print, was the airline’s first aircraft and was painted at TWA's maintenance base in Kansas City (MCI) in Midway colors before being delivered to the airline. Flying out of Midway Airport, the airline pitched its services as a hassle-free alternative to O’Hare airport. The first services were between Chicago Midway, Cleveland (Burke), Kansas City, and Detroit. The services were an instant success and by the following year additional DC-9s were purchased to launch services to New York La Guardia, St. Louis and Washington National.
The airline’s growth led to a renaissance of redevelopment and investment at Midway Airport that attracted other airlines back to what was once Chicago’s main airport before O’Hare’s opening. Even though Midway ceased operations in 1991, its legacy has left Chicago Midway Airport as one of the major airports of the United States.
The livery on this print was used for the first several years of Midway's operations before the introduction of a red/maroon scheme around 1982 or so.
Some detail views from this print:
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Blog/DC910_Midway_p2.jpg) (http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Blog/DC910_Midway_p3.jpg)
And an overview of the entire print:
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Blog/DC910_Midway_p1.jpg)
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Artwork/727v2_FrontierArrowJets_b.jpg)
Frontier Airlines 727-100/200 | N7270F and N7276F | "Arrow Jets" livery | 1966-1972
There was a time in the 1970s when Frontier Airlines was the one of the most significant operators of the Boeing 737 and it was on the dependable 737-200 that the airline rose to prominence to challenge the established major carriers of the day. To go from humble beginnings flying second-hand Douglas DC-3s to having the second largest route network in the United States when the first 737-200s arrived at the airline is a story that for the most part has remained hidden to history, overshadowed by the storied legacies of larger airlines like American, Delta, or United.
Frontier's first jets were actually 727-100s styled as "Arrow Jets" which first entered service with Frontier in 1966, becoming the first local service carrier to fly the 727. The first orders were placed in 1965 for 5 aircraft with options for 5 more at a cost of $55 million. It was a gutsy gamble- Frontier was ordering planes for routes that it had not yet been awarded by the Civil Aeronautics Board! The first aircraft to be delivered was N7270F arriving in September 1966 and the last 727-100 being delivered by July 1967. The 727-100s were outfitted for 24 seats in first class and 75 seats in coach. The first routes flown were on the newly awarded routes between St. Louis and Salt Lake City that also had intermediate stops at Kansas City Downtown, Lincoln, Denver and Grand Junction.
Route expansions (aided by the acquisition of Fort Worth-based Central Airlines in 1967) and further route authorities granted by the Civil Aeronautics Board to Dallas Love Field brought about the move in 1968 to larger 727-200s with an order for 5 727-200s which were styled as "Super Jet 727s" by the airline. Only a year later in 1969 Lewis Dymond, president of Frontier, retired- at the helm of the airline since 1962, Dymond did much to restore the airline to profitability through the latter half of 1960s that allowed the acquisition of jet equipment. Replacing Dymond was E. Paul Burke. Burke only served at the helm of the airline for a short two years, but his legacy to the airline was his realization in 1969 that the 737-200 was far more suited to Frontier's network than the 727s. The first five 737-200s were ordered as one of his first acts as president of the airline and the 727-100s were traded in to Boeing as part of the payment for the first 737s. Within a year the -100s were phased out with the last 727-100 leaving Frontier in December 1969. All 5 of those -100s would later end up with Braniff International.
The 737-200s could serve even smaller airports than the larger 727s and this allowed Frontier a more flexible aircraft for its route network- the new jets were at home flying to smaller cities like Scottsbluff, Nebraska or Grand Junction, Colorado just as easily as larger cities like Dallas or Denver. By the time the first 737-200s were delivered, in terms of cities served, Frontier had the second-largest route network in the United States.
The first 737-191s arrived in April 1969 and by 1970 had 10 737-200s on strength with the airline. By the time of Burke's departure from the executive suite in 1971, the 727s were being phased out for good- only 3 of 4 727-200s were delivered and all three were phased out by April 1972, again as with the -100s, all of them ended up with Braniff International.
Succeeding Burke would be Frontier's greatest president, Al Feldman. Under Feldman's tenure from 1971 to 1979, Frontier standardized its jet equipment on the 737-200 and entered a period of impressive expansion, profitability and rise to prominence as one of the largest regional carriers in the United States. By the time of the introduction of the final Saul Bass colors in April 1978, Frontier had 32 737-200s on strength with 10 more on order. Frontier's western route network stretched into both Canada and Mexico, from California and Washington in the West to as far east as Michigan and Georgia. Denver Stapleton became one of the few three-airline major hubs of its day, with Frontier ably holding its own against incumbents Continental and United. Undoubtedly it was the flexible operating economics of the 737-200 that allowed Frontier to weather the economic turmoil that hit the industry in the early 1970s.
The Boeing 727-100/200 remain but a short footnote in Frontier's history as a result, but an important one as they were the first local service carrier to fly the 727 and it gave them valuable jet experience until the 737-200 fleet was able to shoulder the burden of passenger services.
Some detail views from this print:
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Artwork/727v2_FrontierArrowJets_p3.jpg) (http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Artwork/727v2_FrontierArrowJets_p2.jpg)
And an overview of the entire print:
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Artwork/727v2_FrontierArrowJets_p1.jpg)
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Artwork/721Cv2_Grnlndair_b.jpg)
Greenlandair Boeing 727-100C | OY-DRM | "Sululik" | 1970s colors WHAT-IF?
Greenlandair was established on 7 November 1960 as a joint venture between SAS (Scandanavian Airlines System) and the Danish mining company Kryolitselskabet Øresund which had operations in Greenland. Two years later, the Greenland National Council and the Royal Greenland Trading Company came aboard as equal shareholders. The airline's initial purpose was to resupply four American early warning radar stations that stretched across the island- for this, a DC-4 was chartered from Iceland and 2 Sikorsky S-55 helicopters were chartered from Canada. Not long after the resupply flights began that passenger services were started using a ski-equipped De Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter and a Consolidated PBY Catalina outfitted to carry 20 passengers.
In the early 1960s, there were only two airports in all of Greenland outside of the USAF base at Thule in the extreme north- Kangerlussuaq (back then called Sondrestromfjord AB) and Narsarsuaq (back then called Bluie West One AB). With a string of coastal communities that lacked airports, the Catalina was ideal as it could alight in the adjacent fjords, but an accident in 1962 involving the Catalina had the airline shift to the use of helicopters and in 1965 three Sikorsky S-61s fitted out for passenger services were delivered from the manufacturer. Six heliports were built in the coastal communities. With eight S-61s by the early 1970s, Greenlandair soon had the most extensive helicopter route network of any airline in the world.
The need for long range flights to Denmark and North America still existed, and the chartered DC-4 was replaced in 1963 by another DC-4. It flew as far east as Copenhagen and NAS Keflavik in Iceland and as far west as the NORAD radar stations in extreme eastern Canada.
More capable DC-6Bs were purchased in 1971 to replace the single DC-4. OY-DRC was named "Amalik" and OY-DRM was named "Sululik". But suppose in our alternate historical timeline Greenlandair has a need for more cargo capacity and decides on the Boeing 727-100C instead? With its ability to carry both main deck cargo and passengers in mixed configuration, it would have been a versatile aircraft for Greenlandair with greater payload capacity, speed, and range the the DC-6Bs that were operated from 1971 to 1980.
(This still blows my mind that there were regular passenger services until 1980 on the DC-6B with Greenlandair!)
This illustration uses the distinctive red/white/black livery used on the DC-6Bs on the 727-100. The aircraft in this print is "Sululik" and uses the same registration as the real world Sululik, OY-DRM. The name is on the forward nose just like it was on the DC-6Bs and you'll also note that I have this 727-100 equipped with the long HF antenna stinger on tail as that would have been a must with the long and remote routes it might have flown.
Some detail views from this profile:
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Artwork/721Cv2_Grnlndair_p2.jpg) (http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Artwork/721Cv2_Grnlndair_p3.jpg)
And the entire illustration:
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Artwork/721Cv2_Grnlndair_p1.jpg)
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Artwork/DC910_OzarkOC_b.jpg)
Ozark Air Lines DC-9 Series 15 | N970Z & N971Z | Delivery colors, two variations (1966, 1980)
Through the early 1960s, many of the local service carriers of the United States had been exploring upgrades to pure-jet equipment to keep up with the technological advances in air transport that the large trunk airlines were following. In the latter half of that decade, many of the local service carriers like West Coast, Mohawk and Ozark would introduce pure jet equipment to their fleets, but also would use turboprop aircraft as a replacement for their smaller piston engined types, the most commonly replaced aircraft being the venerable Douglas DC-3. St. Louis-based Ozark Air Lines followed the trends in the industry of the day.
On 9 December 1958 Ozark received several new route awards that covered seven Midwestern states and the time was right for the airline to upgrade from its traditional fleet of DC-3s that it had operated since its beginnings in 1950. The first turbine equipment would be the Fokker F-27s that were delivered starting in 1959 and soon would follow with the larger Fairchild-built FH-227 turboprops. But that wasn't enough for Ozark. Even with the addition of Convair 240s and Martin 404s to replace the DC-3s, pure jets were the way to go as new route authorities were coming that involved longer routes that would put Ozark in direct competition with the larger trunk carriers like American Airlines and Trans World.
As early as 1961 Ozark had considered purchasing the British Aircraft Corporation BAC One-Eleven (Mohawk would eventually select the One-Eleven). Eventually the airline would place an order for the Douglas DC-9 Series 10- with a capacity of up to 90 passengers, it was in ideal step in to pure jet transport operations without too large of a jump in capacity. Ozark's Series 10s were fitted out for 78 passengers and the rugged design of the DC-9 with its self-contained forward and aft airstairs made it an ideal fit with Ozark's operations.
This print depicts Ozark's first two DC-9 jets, both Series 15s. The lower aircraft is the first one, N970Z, delivered 25 May 1966, and it wears the delivery colors as they appeared at that time. The upper aircraft is Ozark's second DC-9, N971Z, delivered 10 July 1966, and it wears the late-style variation of the delivery colors with the larger fuselage titles and expanded white area on the fuselage. This variation became more common on Ozark's DC-9 fleet as the 1980s approached and would soon be replaced with the later two-tone green striped livery that the airline used until its 1986 acquisition by TWA.
Ozark inaugurated its first pure jet services with N970Z on 8 July 1966 between St. Louis and Chicago and soon expanded jet services to other cities in its network. Interestingly at the time, American and TWA were either cutting back or eliminating entirely their services out of the Greater Peoria Airport and Ozark stepped in with DC-9 services with route authorities to the East Coast. Peoria's airport was pitched as a hassle-free alternative to Chicago O'Hare and to an extent, Chicago Midway. With New York La Guardia, Washington National, Kansas City and Denver now getting jet services, Ozark found opposition from the City of Chicago and O'Hare's two largest operators, United and American. After a lengthy series of hearings, the services were approved to the East Coast in 1969. The Peoria-Washington National route would become Ozark's longest nonstop route as the route to Denver was a one stop route. By the end of 1969, jet services allowed Ozark to expand into the South with its first services to Tulsa and Dallas Love Field starting in October of that year.
Some detail views from this print:
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Artwork/DC910_OzarkOC_p2.jpg) (http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Artwork/DC910_OzarkOC_p3.jpg)
And an overview of the entire print:
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Artwork/DC910_OzarkOC_p1.jpg)
Now for one of my favorite commercials featuring Ozark's first DC-9 (http://"http://youtu.be/ItYtYNJmzDU"). "Get up and go! Cover Mid-America at 560 miles per hour aboard Ozark's new DC-9 jets by Douglas. The time you save will be all your own." Love it.
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Artwork/DC910_Republic_b.jpg)
Republic Airlines DC-9 Series 14 | N948L | MSN 47049 | LN 42 | Ship 139 | December 1982
The formation of Republic Airlines came about from the merger of Minneapolis-based North Central Airlines and Atlanta-based Southern Airways- it was one of those unique mergers in the industry where the two airlines were completely complimentary to each other- from what I recall, their route networks didn't have a single route duplication at the time of the merger and formation of Republic and their networks had only seven US cities in common. The airline's livery was based on North Central's and kept the distinctive "Herman the Mallard" tail logo with the new airline's headquarters in Minneapolis. Only one year later in 1980, the airline spread westward with its acquisition of Hughes Airwest and the addition of Hughes Airwest meant that Republic served more US destinations than any other airline at the time, even the big legacy carriers. This was trumpeted by Republic's 1981 ad campaign centered around the slogan "Nobody Serves Our Republic Like Republic". By the time Republic took delivery of the first production MD-82 on 5 August 1982, it was the largest Douglas DC-9 operator in the world.
This particular print depicts N948L, a Baby Nine in the classic Republic colors that came over from the Hughes Airwest acquisition. The history of this particular airframe covers a good number of airlines- it first flew on 21 June 1966 and was destined for Phoenix-based Bonanza Air Lines as it's first pure jet equipment. But for a year around 1967 before it flew for Bonanza it was leased by Douglas as N6140A to another local service carrier, Allegheny Airlines- at the time, Allegheny had settled on the DC-9 Series 30 as its jet equipment (after a flirtation with the Boeing 727) and the lease offered Allegheny experience with the DC-9 before the first Series 30s arrived with the airline.
It was the only Baby Nine to fly in Allegheny's colors before it was returned to Douglas and delivered to Bonanza where it became N948L. On 1 July 1968 (only about a year after N948L was flying for Bonanza), Bonanza, San Francisco-based Pacific Air Lines, and Seattle-based West Coast Airlines all merged in what's probably the only three way merger in the history of the US airline industry to form Air West. Just two years later, Howard Hughes, long since divested of his holdings with TWA, was itching to get back into the airline industry and purchased Air West, the airline becoming Hughes Airwest, famous for the bright yellow livery and the futuristic logo type of the airline titles.
(Interestingly, Hughes later wanted to buy Texas International on his way to building a coast-to-coast airline- he lost a three way bidding war between Herb Kelleher of Southwest who was trying to knock TI out of contention in Texas and Frank Lorenzo, who would win the war for TI and started quite in infamous career in the airline industry!)
When Republic bought Hughes Airwest in 1980, twelve of the airline's Baby Nines came across, of which N948L was one. The airline had actually operated a total of 21 Baby Nines, but some had been sold off to other airlines before the Republic acquisition. Republic itself would be acquired by it's hometown rival, Northwest Airlines in 1986. Republic had a very large DC-9 fleet at the time- approximately 42 Baby Nines alone, of which 34 crossed over to wear Northwest colors.
And fly them Northwest did! Northwest even embarked on an upgrade program to keep their Baby Nines active and up-to-date. The Series 10s were finally withdrawn from service in 2003, this particular aircraft, which was still registered as N948L, was withdrawn from use in November 2001 and was finally broken up at Greenwood Leflore Airport in Mississippi in June 2003.
As future releases, I also plan to do prints of N948L in Bonanza colors as well as Northwest's colors. Stay tuned!
Some detail views from this print:
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Artwork/DC910_Republic_p2.jpg) (http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Artwork/DC910_Republic_p3.jpg)
And an overview of the entire print:
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/Artwork/DC910_Republic_p1.jpg)
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/images/MirageIVK_UK69.jpg)
Here's how the IVK would have most likely looked like at service entry in 1969, wearing the gray/green camouflage on the uppersurfaces with light gray undersurfaces. I think I got the markings on this one right, echoing No. 14 Squadron's blue diamond markings that were worn on their Hawker Hunters before they transitioned to the Canberra.
(http://www.airlinebuzz.com/chickenworks/images/MirageIVK_UK69_2.jpg)
Here's another 1969 bird- this one in the markings of No. 16 Squadron which at the time was winding up use of Canberras with RAF Germany in the interdiction role. Markings are more along the lines with the vertical black/yellow band throught the roundel that were used on the Canberras. I had started out with the black/yellow arrowhead as was used on No. 16's Buccaneers, but that seemed to more appropriate for something in the 1970s. Tail marking also echoes the squadron badge of No. 16 Squadron. For this one I added some 1000 lb GP iron bombs on my interpretation of where some additional pylons would have been- the IVK would have had four hardpoints on each wing and in addition to the two already there, two more would have likely been under the wing roots in tandem.