Recently I added to my collection a 1:400 scale model of N263SG. This aircraft along with sistership N322SG were two 747-400s dedicated to the Houston Express route, a link between IAH and LAD for the oil industry operated by Atlas Air for Angola's SonAir. Their unique golden livery, exclusive mission, and elusiveness made them interesting subjects in the aviation enthusiast community. Today, more than four years after the termination of the route, I remember the Houston Express fondly. Besides getting a scale model of N263SG, I also started going through my photo files and rediscovered a nice set of pictures I took of N322SG at IAH on April 1, 2012. One picture from the set made it to Jetphotos.com at the time, but the rest had never been published until the writing of this article. As I remember it, April 1, 2012, was a slow and hot Sunday morning, but things started to get interesting as “Giant 101 heavy” checked in with Houston tower on the approach to runway 27 inbound from LAD. Atlas’s golden 747s had appeared in the background of many of my pictures before, but I had never seen one up close and in good light. It was already noon when the Houston Express showed up, and even though it was early spring, in Texas the light was already very harsh, but manageable. I was taking pictures from the now demolished terminal D (international arrivals building) garage. Most of the shots looking southeast towards runway 27 were backlit and affected by heat haze, so I had to wait until the aircraft entered the D ramp and then proceeded to press the shooter, repeatedly. There wasn't much else going on at terminal D at the time, though that was about to change as the European arrivals were about to start, so I decided to document all of the attention that this big jumbo got after crossing the Atlantic Ocean. Earlier that day... The highlight of an otherwise pretty mundane morning was the arrival of Cathay's 747-8F B-LJF on their usual MIA-IAH-ANC run. Where was BA... Finally, in case you are wondering where was British Airways... they brought a 777 but landed on runway 27, on the south side of the airport, and parked on the east edge of the terminal so I could not get a clear shot. But for the record, here you go: At this point, I was feeling pretty satisfied with the set of shots I had gotten of N322SG, as this was the first time - and also the last - for me to catch one of the Houston Express 747s at close range, and in decent light. Besides, even though I had only spent a little over two hours at the rooftop level of the parking garage, I'm guessing I was probably starting to feel pretty drained thanks to the Texas sun. So I decided to follow Cathay's lead, and when they packed up and took off I did the same. Jorge A. Zajia

Back in the early 2010s, while I was taking a break from collecting airplane models, I spent a fair amount of time taking aircraft pictures at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) – The fact that pressing the camera shooter was free made plane spotting an attractive alternative to collecting, especially as a student. While not having a large presence in the airfield, Atlas Air jumbos have always been a constant at IAH. I remember one time I was looking towards the east cargo complex from the parking garages when I saw an Atlas 747-400 wearing a special livery, with smaller titles and gold replacing the blue elements of their standard livery. I didn’t think much of it, and when on a subsequent visit to the airport I saw another Atlas 747-400 wearing the same special livery I thought that they were updating their image across the entire fleet. But shortly afterward I realized that it wasn't a change of image, but rather a way to differentiate those two particular 747s from the rest of their fleet. By then I had also noticed that, unlike most of the other Atlas 747s, these were passenger aircraft instead of freighters. However, it was not until a friend from Miami became particularly excited when one of these jumbos visited MIA for maintenance that I started to dig deeper to find out what kind of operation was Atlas using these golden 747s for, and what made them special. As it turned out, these golden jumbos were dedicated to the Houston Express route; a triweekly link between Houston and Luanda (LAD) operated for SonAir (the defunct airline division of Angola’s oil company Sonangol). These 747s had a low-density configuration of only 189 seats, with most of them belonging to some sort of premium class. Tickets on these flights could only be purchased by oil companies for their executives and other employees needing a direct link between Texas and Angola. In the last year of service, however, the flight was opened to the general public in an attempt to keep it alive after the oil price plummeted in 2015, and with it the demand on the route. After learning about the exclusivity that surrounded these two birds my interest in them sparked. But even though these aircraft served as a nice backdrop for many IAH pictures when they were resting at their usual spot in the east cargo complex, their infrequent schedule made it difficult to come across them in action and up close. However, one lucky Sunday afternoon on April 1, 2012, I smiled as I saw one of these golden 747s – N322SG – on final for runway 27 inbound from LAD. I was conveniently taking pictures from the terminal D garage (international arrivals terminal), so I was able to get a close look as the aircraft docked and got unloaded. Below are some pictures of that day, but you can see a larger set here. In 2017, both United Airlines and Delta Air Lines retired their 747-400s. This left the Houston Express holding the title of being the last regularly scheduled passenger airline service using N-registered 747s. The Points Guy featured a thorough trip report on the last Houston Express IAH-LAD flight, which took place on March 28, 2018. The last time I remember seeing one of Atlas’s golden 747s was on March 23, 2018; only 5 days before the last Houston Express flight. Ironically, that day I was at IAH photographing the last KLM 747 flight to Houston, as the airline was retiring the type from the AMS-IAH-AMS route. At the time, the ending of the Houston Express also represented the last scheduled passenger service using 747s out of Houston. After that, however, British Airways and Lufthansa reintroduced their jumbos on their flights to IAH, with the latter operating a daily 747-8I from FRA as of the writing of this article. Fast forward a few years and now I’m back into collecting aircraft models. During my hiatus from collecting one of these golden 747s, N263SG, was released in 1:400 scale. As is the case with these scale models, it was a limited edition run and shortly after it was released it was no longer available for purchase from regular retailers anymore. Luckily for me, the model does show up on the second-hand market with some frequency at relatively fair prices. For the longest time, however, there was an unwritten rule in my collecting criteria: if I have spotted certain aircraft, I do not need a scale model of it. One notable exception was Lufthansa’s A380 D-AIMB, the first A380 that visited Houston, and the first A380 that I saw in person (and photographed), but that is a topic that deserves a whole article on its own. The point is that I let the 1:400 model of N263SG pass many times because, even though it wasn’t the exact tail number, I had gotten a good set of photos of its sister ship, N377SG. But with time everything evolves and changes, and today I can no longer just go to the airport and catch the Houston Express golden jumbos with my camera. Another thing that has changed is my collecting criteria, I am now more open to allowing modern and contemporary aircraft in my collection, which means that aircraft that I have spotted are unavoidably going to find their way into my display shelves in the form of a scale replica sooner or later. In fact, having spotted an aircraft is starting to become an excellent reason to get a scale model of it. Because of this, I stopped letting N263SG pass by and acquired it at a collection sale in which it popped up recently. Replicas of N263SG were actually released by two 1:400 scale model brands: Flight Line 400 (today integrated into JC Wings), and Phoenix Models. Mine is a Flight Line 400 example, which is the nicer of the two molds, but has a noticeably too bright shade of gold applied to the livery. After I got the model, I decided to go through my files and see if I had any pictures of N263SG. I did find a series of pictures from a close encounter that I had with it at IAH on June 3, 2012, only about two months after my encounter with sistership N322SG. Unfortunately, the light was not in my favor the day I came across N263SG, but once again with time things have changed, and the historical value that these pictures have gained in a decade help to make up for the otherwise less than ideal quality. That day N263SG was probably being ferried somewhere because it departed straight from the east cargo complex instead of the passenger terminal, and it rotated in no time out of runway 15L, indicating that it was very lightly loaded. Besides the Houston Express route, N322SG and N263SG also were chartered to fly a variety of entities and personalities ranging from artists, politicians (most notably former UK Prime Minister David Cameron), sports teams, and essentially anyone willing and able to foot the bill. To put an end to my Houston Express story I leave you with a fun personal anecdote. Shortly after I received my 1:400 model of N263SG I also upgraded my camera of more than 10 years. So, the main set of pictures that you see of the model in this article, and the pictures of the real aircraft were taken with two different cameras. However, because when I first unboxed the model I still had my old camera in service, I did end up capturing the model through the same viewfinder that I used to capture the real thing some 10 years earlier. Happy collecting and happy planespotting! Jorge A. Zajia

My first round of collecting 1:400 scale models took place at an odd time for being a new collector. It was 2009, just about a decade after the first 1:400 die-cast aircraft models started to appear. During that decade, many highly popular models were produced; models that would remain high in the sought-after list of many collectors all the way up until today and beyond. It really seemed as if my collecting journey would be an endless search for rare models. However, things have slowly but surely changed for the better. First, with patience and luck, I have been able to scratch off many of those rare models from my wish list. And second, new generations of models have entered the market, which unavoidably will replace at least some of the more popular hard-to-find releases from that first decade of 1:400 scale, while at the same time yielding new releases bound to fill the sough-after list of collectors that will be joining us in the upcoming years – to those new collectors I say: there is light at the end of the tunnel, so stick to collecting and enjoy the journey! One of those new 1:400 models that is sure to earn its place in this new episode of 1:400 collecting is an L1011-1 in Delta Air Lines’ widget livery registered N725DA released by NG Model on July 2022. The model was actually released alongside another Delta L1011-1, N707DA, wearing the “We the People” special markings. Both are exceptional pieces, but I think the standard-liveried aircraft will be favored by a slightly larger audience (myself included). From the moment they were announced the models created high expectations among the collectorate. Not only it did they combine a classic aircraft with a classic livery, but NG’s L1011 molds are some of the sharpest in 1:400. These are not the first Delta L1011s released by NG, but they are the first since the already good mold received some improvements. I had an issue though: Delta is an airline that I have had a tough time adding to my collection. Even though Delta has a particularly long history of operations in my native Venezuela, during my childhood years the airline did not have a strong presence there. At the same time, the cities I used to visit in the U.S. during those years were not Delta hubs. Luckily, I had a breakthrough moment as I was visiting a model store in Osaka; scanning through the shelves I came across a Delta MD-88 in the widget livery (a model sold out in the west) just sitting there. Immediately childhood memories of these aircraft roaring overhead as they lined up with runway 12R at Hobby Airport in Houston (breaking the monotony of the endless flow of Southwest 737s) came back. I had no problem whatsoever with purchasing this MD-88 model, and now I had a Delta aircraft in the widget livery that needed company; the perfect excuse to also get a copy of NG’s N725DA. I am happy to own an example of NG's N725DA, a model that is sure to be remembered for many years in the 1:400 scale community. Honestly, I probably would have purchased the model anyways, but it was definitely nice to come across that widget MD-88 (a relatively rare model itself) at the right time, to have the proper motivation. Happy collecting!

At the time of the publication of this article the only operational Antonov An-225 Mriya, UR-82060, had been destroyed two months and two days prior. The An-225 was a unique airplane in many aspects, and one of the largest transport aircraft in history to enter commercial service. The An-225 frequented the airport of the city I live in, Houston Intercontinental (IAH), but I never got to see it. I remember occasionally checking its schedule to see if I could catch it on its next visit, but it never coincided with my days off. Then, suddenly it got destroyed in a military conflict. I had been considering purchasing a 1:400 model of Mriya for a while, but there were many models with higher priority in my wanted-list. So, when Mriya got destroyed, I thought I had also missed the chance to get a model of it, since I expected the demand for them to soar. And it did seem to do so, but luckily several manufacturers capitalized on the opportunity and there was no shortage of re-releases, as well as new releases of Mriya in the aftermath of its demise. I went ahead and purchased a re-release of a version wearing the last livery by good old Herpa. The size of it allows for a unique level of detail appreciation for a 1:400 die-cast model. I used to think of Mriya as one of the soviet regulars of IAH and I thought it would be a matter of time before we crossed paths. But while I never got to see Mriya in person, I do get to see its little brother, the An-124, in the colors of different operators at IAH frequently. Below left to right: Antonov Design Bureau An-124 (UR-82072) taking off from runway 26L at IAH. April 4, 2014. KLM 747-400 PH-BFV with an Antonov Airlines An-124 being loaded in the background at IAH on March 23, 2018 (last day of KLM 747 operations at IAH) Mriya does fit nicely in a niche of my collection. While I do not focus on models of current subjects, many of the few I have in that category are freighters. In the monotonous era of airline consolidation and twin-engine jetliners, I see freighters as a source of exotism and variety. Mriya will join a couple of other freighters I have in 1:400 that also used to be regulars at IAH. The first one is Panalpina’s 747-8F N850GT (Operated by Atlas Air). This is a corporate model that my dad managed to obtain as a gift from Panalpina personnel in Houston as well as a beautiful 1:200 example of sistership N851GT. Both models are made by Aero Le Plane. These were the only two aircraft to ever wear the Panalpina's livery. The 1:200 one is a plastic snap-fit model, but very well made. It includes a landing gear set also. I cherish both of these Panalpina jumbos, not only because they are a precious gift, but also because I have fond memories of them at IAH. One particular experience I remember involving a Panalpina jumbo at IAH, was on June 21, 2013. I had gone to IAH to do some spotting and ran into Udo Schaefer from Just Planes, who was filming their Houston IAH 2013 video. N851GT was one of the highlights of the day with a majestic takeoff out of runway 15L. I remember Mr. Schaefer being particularly excited with the catch of the rather elusive aircraft. The second member of my IAH freighter collection is another 747-8F: British Airways World Cargo (Operated by Global Supply Systems) G-GSSE by JC-Wings. This is my first and only interactive model. I remember seeing the Global Supply Systems 747-400Fs in their own livery, as well as the -8s in the British Airways World Cargo colors at IAH. They always stood out in a good way among the usual sea of Continental/United aircraft. While I do not currently have an An-124 in 1:400 scale, I do have a 1:250 Volga-Dnepr example by Lupa. Out of the models I have currently displayed in all scales, This is the one that I have owned the longest. It was also given to me by my dad, but the origin is a mystery as he doesn’t remember where he got it from. The model has not aged well. With the arrival of Mriya, now I have a small but balanced representation of medium size and 1:400 scale models of the big Antonovs and 747s that have kept the skies around IAH diverse an interesting. All the pictures included in this article were taken by the author. Jorge A. Zajia

Hace 20 años, poco después del Y2K y cuando yo solo contaba con una pequeña colección de Herpa 1:500 arrumada en mi habitación, empresarios estadounidenses impulsaban una nueva escala, aun desconocida en gran parte del mundo, que se convertiría en la principal escala de aviones comerciales de colección. Fue durante una ola temprana de lanzamientos de modelos en esta nueva escala, 1:400, que se concibió la primera representación de Viasa, y al mismo tiempo de una aerolínea venezolana: el DC-8-33 YV-128C. Un avión poco relevante en la flota de Viasa, el avión fue entregado a KLM en 1960 y entró a Viasa como YV-C-VIF a principios de 1973; cuatro años y medio más tarde, a finales de 1977, salía de la compañía luego de haber sido rematriculado como YV-128C. Luego de Viasa fue llevado a Estados Unidos como N71UA, pero no entró en servicio y para 1982 ya no existía. Al igual que muchas de las matrículas de los DC-8 de Viasa, esta volvió a ser utilizada en los 727s que llegaron a principios de los noventas. El modelo también es bastante simple. Pertenece a la primera generación de Gemini Jets, así que carece de detalles y definición en varios aspectos, pero muestra claras mejoras en relación a los 1:500 de la época. La verdad es que la librea de Viasa que este avión llevó también fue una de las más simples, el ovalo sin las siete estrellas, así que tampoco ameritaba mucho detalle. A pesar de lo poco relevante del avión real y del modelo a escala, el lanzamiento de este estuvo lleno de particularidades. Primero, el lanzamiento inicial vino con un error en la matricula: YCV-128C en lugar de YV-128C. Solo 6 ejemplares salieron al mercado con este error, acá se puede ver uno. Luego, la versión corregida fue lanzada bajo la serie SkyJets 400 (500 ejemplares), así como la serie estándar de Gemini Jets (1000) ejemplares. Curiosamente, SkyJets 400 identifica al avión como DC-8-33, mientras que Gemini Jets lo identifica como DC-8-32. El caso es que el avión originalmente fue concebido como un DC-8-32, pero antes de salir de la fábrica fue convertido a la versión -33. Es curioso que el modelo haya sido mercadeado bajo ambas designaciones. Los modelos lanzados bajo la serie SkyJets 400 venían en una caja metálica con una tarjeta informativa, mientras que los Gemini Jets estándar venían en las mismas cajas de cartón que vemos hoy en día. Así que, a pesar de ser exactamente el mismo modelo, las cajas diferentes representan una justificación para coleccionar ambos ejemplares. El valor de este modelo se ha mantenido bastante bajo durante los años, y si la inflación se toma en cuenta, se ha depreciado. Es probablemente el modelo de Viasa en escala 1:400 más accesible y fácil de conseguir. Sin más preámbulo, fotos: Jorge A. Zajia

What is more captivating than a loud and smokey flying machine… A colorful loud and smokey flying machine. After I became fascinated with airplanes as a whole, the far and few airlines that broke the standard norm of white fuselages quickly started to stand out, as their liveries added an additional stimulating element to those already enticing man-made birds. Unbeknownst to me, these showy liveries were giving me my first lessons in reading and geography. I remember blue for KLM and red for Avianca of course. A country from across the ocean, and our neighbor Colombia. Federal Express’ purple top is another one that made an impression on me early on. Colombia was the first foreign country that I visited as a child, and I came back with a snap-fit red 727. Of course, crowded Bogotá had something for everyone, including models of the hometown airline, which at the time couldn’t be found in my native Venezuela. Every time I see an aircraft wearing Avianca’s dolphin-style livery of the nineties, nostalgia seeps through my skin. What a bunch of nice memories, from that simpler time in life when everything was new to me, that livery instantly brings. Today, I look at a very particular model to celebrate this so-important-to-me livery. Douglas DC-4 HK-1309 by Aeroclassics in 1:400 scale, wearing the first red livery that Avianca implemented. The DC-4 was the aircraft that enabled Avianca to expand internationally in 1946, and the airline operated a total of 27 examples between that year and 1975, the majority former military C-54s built for the U.S. Army Forces during WWII. The DC-4s were long gone by the time I showed up in this world, but thanks to these models one can appreciate and learn the history behind the things that have come to shape one’s life. Jorge A. Zajia

The original version of this post can be found here. This version has been edited for errors and includes extra pictures of the customization process. While my custom-making abilities are still in their infancy (and might never mature), looking at my collection today I can see a number of cherished custom-made models that I have accumulated over time and seem to indicate that customization has, unintentionally, become an important part of 1:400 collecting for me. Many of these custom models have not been shared before, so I would like to take this opportunity to do so. My collection is heavily oriented towards the Venezuelan aviation of the 1990s, and for the longest time the only Venezuelan airlines represented in 1:400 scale were Viasa and, to a lesser extent, Aeropostal. But two of the airlines that I miss the most, Avensa and Servivensa, did not appear in the die-cast world for a long time. The desire to include more Venezuelan models in my collection is what drove me to look for alternatives, and eventually led me to customization. My first Avensa model was a custom 737-200 that I found on eBay in 2008. As I recall, there was a small number of these customized by a collector in Miami. They used to pop up on eBay from time to time, but it seems like they all have found happy owners by now, I hope. But it was their workhorse of the 80s and 90s, the 727, the model that I wanted. At the time I did not have any idea of how to remove the livery of a 1:400 model, or where to find 1:400 decals. So, I went with what was available, 1:144 decals and a plastic kit. I had glued kits together as a kid, but never moved past that part. With this 1:144 kit I learned fairly well how to sand excess glue and fill imperfections with putty. The real fun began when I tried to paint it. I remember the first time I held the can too long in one spot trying to fill out a particular area only to ruin the entire model. Then, when I finally had the model decently painted, I tried to apply the decals as if they were stickers. Of course, after a few unsuccessful minutes I decided to read the instructions and very quickly learned the concept of water-slide decals. This was in 2011 and the model turned out okay, to this day it sits in one of my cabinets still with no clear coat, as I didn’t know what clear coat was at the time and the model looked fine to me as it was. Meanwhile, I had a defective Avianca 727-100 that I had gotten in Christmas 2009 with the engines glued upside down. I got a replacement and was told to keep the defective model. So, after finishing my 1:144 kit I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to do the same in 1:400 scale. I knew there had to be a way to get 1:400 decals. Sure enough, I found Ben from V1 Decals (before he had his website) and ordered decals for Avensa’s YV-89C. After finishing my Avensa 727-100 in 1:400 scale I thought I had all the holy grails in my collection and that I was done with this expensive hobby. So I stopped collecting all together for a while, only getting the Venezuelan releases that I became aware of during that time. Moving forward to 2020, I was talking with a good friend that collects 1:500 and he was expressing his frustration with the lack of new releases in that scale, and the limited number of Venezuelan releases in any scale. So, I mentioned to him how I had made my 1:400 Avensa 727-100 years ago, and that he could look into customizing some 1:500 models also. As you can imagine, as soon as the conversation was over, I was dusting off some donor models and an airbrush that I had purchased years ago but never used. I also taught myself how to do vector design since another issue had risen: the lack of Venezuelan liveries available in 1:400 decals. When looking at the models below keep in mind I use my house’s old inkjet printer for the decals. By the way, the decal printing process has been the most challenging and frustrating part of all this. Also, I am aware that these models are not nearly as neat as they could be, but I realized that I needed to lower my standards in order to “finish” some projects and be able to move on and continue learning. Finally, the macro shots do magnify the model imperfections, but most of them look quite nice just sitting on the shelves among the rest of the collection. There are a few customs that I intentionally decided to leave out of this post though (they ended up being too ugly). So without further a due, some of my recent customs: ezToys seems to have an endless supply of Crossair MD-80s on sale and I have grabbed a few, but for some reason these Phoenix MD-80s, or the decals I want to apply, always give me a hard time. Below is the only MD-80 that I have managed to complete so far, Aeropostal’s YV-01C, alongside a beautiful 727 that was released also by Phoenix over a decade ago. The MD-80 decal artwork is homemade. And below you can see where the engines of one of those failed MD-80 projects ended up: Servivensa’s YV-823C, a well-known Super 27 in Venezuela. The decals come from Classic Airliners through JoyDecals, but I designed the Super 27 logo and the other modifications required to match YV-823C (tail logo, reg, etc.) I also had a very hard time matching the cheatline with the cockpit windows of these Servivensa models, so you can see on the other 727-200 (not the super 27) that one of my ideas to solve that issue was to print my own oversized cockpit windows, I know it looks odd, but then again... Next is my first non-Venezuelan custom, SAETA’s HC-BRG, I can’t believe there isn’t a single SAETA die-cast model in any scale, besides a handful of customs (El Aviador, hint hint!). The decals are homemade. The tail logo is a bit too small and ended up being miss-aligned on the port side, but at the time I had no more patience, or time, for a re-print. And finally, a good example of why I have decided to embrace custom model making. I came to realize that while some more Viasa, Aeropostal, Avensa, and maybe Servivensa, releases may show up in 1:400 scale, there are a lot of obscure Venezuelan airlines that simply won’t, like Zuliana de Aviación as shown below. At the pace I work, and whit so many Venezuelan models that I want in my collection that are probably not going to be released by any manufacturer, I think I have enough projects in mind to keep me busy for a lifetime. I hope to share them all with you. Thank you for reading! Jorge A. Zajia

I do not normally buy metal 1:200 models as I have always respected them because I think they can be a quick path to running out of space and money 😅. But there are always exceptions. On July 2021 InFlight 200 announced a Viasa DC-10 in the three-shades of blue livery, so I had the perfect excuse as there is a modest number of Viasa releases produced in this livery in any scale, and my birthday was approaching. Never mind that the model arrived about six months late. The Livery: In the mid to late eighties, Viasa's fleet ended up being composed of only five DC-10 aircraft. Around the same time, its image went through a slow evolution. The seven stars disappeared from the forward fuselage, and the Viasa titles shifted forward to take their place. The dark blue cheatline was lowered below the window line, and replaced by a blue gradient (three-sades of blue). Finally, the engine nacelles, which used to be bare metal, were painted white with a blue-collar behind the intake lip, and small Viasa titles were added. Viasa DC-10s could be seen in different stages of this transformation flying around their route network. Here is YV-138C in 1987 with the nacelles still in bare metal, and a fresh paint patch covering the spot the Viasa titles used to be on. And here you can see that year later the nacelles had been painted and the entire aircraft looked a lot fresher. While Viasa seven-star livery, with the thick dark blue cheatline, is classy and popular, the three-shades of blue is my favorite one. It is the first Viasa livery I saw in real life, in fact, I was ignorant of Viasa prior liveries until 1998 when I was introduced to the internet. So it represents the Viasa I remember. I also think this livery is a good representation of the nineties-style, which has been one of the best times of my life. Hence, allowing this model to join my small 1:200 collection was a no-brainer. The Aircraft: Line number 197 was delivered to Viasa on April 1975 as PH-DTH. KLM had leased the aircraft to Viasa before delivery to join another two KLM DC-10s that were already flying for Viasa: PH-DTG (became YV-134C) and PH-DTF (became YV-133C). Interestingly, sometime around 1978-79, before being registered in Venezuela, the aircraft was painted in full KLM blue top livery. Then it was seen wearing Viasa stickers while still in full KLM livery and registered as PH-DTH. It was also seen wearing full KLM colors with and without Viasa stickers after it had been registered in Venezuela as YV-138C. Apparently, the reason behind this swapping back and forth between the two airlines is that KLM briefly took the airplane from Viasa and incorporated it into its fleet. This would have left Viasa with five DC-10s: YV-133C, 34C, 35C, 36C, and 37C. Looks like at some point the airplane was handed over back to Viasa and registered in Venezuela as YV-138C, but KLM held on to it a bit longer before it was repainted in Viasa colors. Michel Gilliand, Airlines.net . The Aviation Photo Company. Vito Cedrini, Airliners.net. Dave Richarson, abpic.co.uk. After rejoining Viasa at some point in the early eighties the aircraft flew for the airline until it ceased operations in January 1997. After that, it was registered in the U.S. as N431AV to Avteam Inc. in August 1998. The registration was canceled on April 23, 1999 as it was being parted out at MZJ. Special Appearances This aircraft was featured in the 1975 french movie Le Sauvage (Lovers Like Us), where it can be seen looking brand spanking new. In Closing I am very pleased to have this model in my collection. Even though it is not my main scale, it was worth making an exception for this one. I am also happy to have discovered the interesting history behind this aircraft, as YV-138C is a new registration in my collection, so I had not looked into a lot of its details before receiving the model. Update: This article has been updated on April 18, 2022. The original article stated that YV-138C was the aircraft that carried Pope John Paul II from Caracas to Maracaibo during his visit to Venezuela in 1985. However, new information indicates that this might not be correct and that it was actually YV-137C (coincidentally the other DC-10 featured in this article) the aircraft that transported the Pope during that visit to Venezuela in 1985. Jorge A. Zajia Additional Sources: rzjets.net

Normalmente no compro modelos escala 1:200 de metal ya que siempre los he respetado porque me parecen una buena forma para quedarme sin espacio y dinero rápidamente 😅. Pero siempre hay excepciones. En julio del 2021 la marca InFlight 200 anunció un DC-10 de Viasa en la librea de los tres tonos de azul, así que tenía la excusa perfecta ya que son pocos los modelos de Viasa que han salido en esta librea, y mi cumpleaños se aproximaba. Obviemos el hecho de que el lanzamiento del modelo terminó retrasándose seis meses. La Librea: A mediados de los ochenta la flota de Viasa llegó a estar compuesta por tan solo cinco aviones tipo DC-10. Al mismo tiempo la imagen de la compañía pasó por una lenta evolución. Las siete estrellas desaparecieron de la parte delantera del fuselaje y los títulos de Viasa se deslizaron hacia adelante para reemplazarlas. La línea azul oscuro que corría sobre las ventanas fue movida hacia abajo, y reemplazada por un degrade de azules (los tres tonos de azul). Finalmente, las cáscaras de los motores, que hasta entonces habían lucido el metal al descubierto, fueron pintadas de blanco con un collar azul justo detrás de la entrada de aire, y adornadas con un pequeño logo de Viasa. Los DC-10 de Viasa fueron vistos en varias etapas de esta transformación alrededor del mundo. Acá podemos ver al YV-138C en 1987 con los motores aun al descubierto, y un evidente parche de pintura cubriendo la antigua posición de los títulos de Viasa. Y acá lo podemos ver un año más tarde ya con los motores pintados, y luciendo mucho más fresco. A pesar de que la librea de las siete estrellas con la raya azul oscuro a lo largo de las ventanas es elegante y popular, la de los tres tonos de azul es mi favorita. Esta fue la primera librea de Viasa que vi en mi vida, de hecho, ignoraba completamente que Viasa había tenido otras imágenes hasta 1998 cuando tuve acceso a la internet por primera vez. Así que esta librea representa la Viasa que yo recuerdo. Además, me parece que esta imagen de Viasa es muy noventera y esta ha sido una de las mejores décadas de mi vida. Así que añadir este modelo a mi pequeña colección 1:200 fue una decisión fácil. El Avión: El DC-10 número 197 fue entregado a Viasa en abril de 1975 con la matrícula PH-DTH. KLM había alquilado el avión a Viasa desde antes que saliera de la fábrica y este se unió a otros dos DC-10 de KLM que ya operaban para Viasa: PH-DTG (luego YV-134C) y PH-DTF (luego YV-133C) Curiosamente, alrededor de 1978-79, antes de ser registrado en Venezuela, el avión recibió la librea completa de KLM. Luego fue visto portando calcomanías de Viasa aún estando en los colores de KLM y con la matrícula holandesa. También fue visto llevando los colores de KLM con y sin calcomanías de Viasa ya portando la matrícula venezolana YV-138C. Aparentemente esta serie de rebotes entre ambas aerolíneas se debe a que KLM tomó el avión y lo incorporó en su flota para dejar a Viasa con cinco DC-10s: YV-133C, 34C, 35C, 36C, and 37C. Luego, en algún momento el avión pasa a manos de Viasa nuevamente y es registrado en Venezuela como YV-138C, pero KLM lo siguió operando por un corto tiempo, ya llevando su matricula venezolana, antes de que volviese a ser pintado en los colores de Viasa. Michel Gilliand, Airlines.net . The Aviation Photo Company. Vito Cedrini, Airliners.net. Dave Richarson, abpic.co.uk. Luego de reincorporarse a Viasa como YV-138C a principios de los ochenta, el avión voló para esta hasta el cesé de operaciones en enero de 1997. Luego fue adquirido por Avteam Inc. y recibió el registro estadounidense N431AV. La matrícula fue cancelada el 23 de abril de 1999 mientras era desmantelado en MZJ. Apariciones Especiales Este avión salió en la película francesa Le Sauvage (Mi Hombre es un Salvaje), donde es visto recién salido de la fabrica. En Resumen Estoy muy complacido de tener este modelo en mi colección. A pesar de que no es mi escala principal, valió la pena hacer una excepción. También me alegra haber tenido la oportunidad de descubrir la interesante historia detrás de este avión, ya que YV-138C es una nueva matrícula en mi colección, por lo que no me había percatado de todos sus detalles. Actualización: Este artículo ha sido actualizado el 18 de abril de 2022. El artículo original decía que el YV-138C fue el avión que transporto al Papa Juan Pablo Segundo entre Caracas y Maracaibo en su visita a Venezuela en 1985. Nueva información indica que esto quizás no sea cierto y que en realidad el avión que transportó al Papa en dicha visita fue el YV-137C, que es casualmeente el otro DC-10 de Viasa mostrado en. este artículo. Jorge A. Zajia Fuentes adicionales: rzjets.net

El primer relato de esta reunión fue publicado en el grupo de Facebook "Aviación Venezolana en Retrospectiva 3" el 31 de octubre del 2020. Comparto por acá el reporte de una pequeña reunión entre dos generaciones de pilotos venezolanos que se realizó el 10/30/20 en Houston. Los dos (más) jóvenes que salimos en las fotos somos un buen amigo y yo. Ambos hemos tenido la suerte de hasta ahora haber tenido una buena carrera como pilotos de aerolínea en Estados Unidos. A ambos también nos nació este deseo de ser pilotos mientras crecíamos en los noventa en Venezuela. Por ende, antes de saber que el destino nos llevaría a desarrollarnos profesionalmente fuera de nuestro país, veíamos la silla izquierda de la cabina de mando de los DC-10 cola-naranja como el trono de Dios. Ambos sabíamos de varios pilotos, así como otros empleados, de Viasa y otras aerolíneas venezolanas de la época. Pero nunca habíamos podido compartir con ninguno de ellos juntos, o en un ambiente netamente aeronáutico. Así que decidimos organizar una reunión y ver si podíamos reunir a varios empleados de Viasa con nosotros. Fue una tarea difícil ya que no teníamos contacto directo con muchos de ellos, los horarios no coincidían, y había reservaciones por el tema del Covid. Sin embargo, a la final logramos reunir a dos Comandantes de Viasa, con los respectivos familiares y conocidos en común. El sitio de la reunión fue mi despacho, que cuenta con una modesta pero bonita colección de modelos y antigüedades aeronáuticas, con enfoque en Viasa y la aviación venezolana. Los Comandantes que nos acompañaron son los señores José “Kike” Arostegui, y Miguel “Piolín” Gonzales. Ambos hoy en día trabajan como instructores de simulador en el ATR-42/72 y el EMB-145 respectivamente en Flight Safety. Durante Viasa: DC-8, DC-10 y A300 En Viasa el Comandante González fue Ingeniero de Vuelo, Primer Oficial y Comandante de DC-8, mientras que el comandante Arostegui solo fue Ingeniero y Primer Oficial en ese equipo. Luego del DC-8, ambos fueron Primeros Oficiales y Comandantes de DC-10. El Capitán González también llegó a ser Comandante de A300 luego de su vida en el DC-10. El Comandante Arostegui Relata Colaboración con KLM Por su parte el Comandante Arostegui fue parte de un grupo de 24 pilotos de Viasa (12 Capitanes y 12 Primeros Oficiales) que volaron para KLM por medio de un contrato durante casi dos años entre 1990 y 1991. El Comandante Arostegui relata que Viasa, como es sabido, operaba muchos vuelos con múltiples escalas "lecheros" para cubrir la gran cantidad de destinos europeos que la aerolínea servía. Sin embargo, era difícil competir con las aerolíneas bandera europeas que ofrecían vuelos directos desde Caracas a muchos de los mismos destinos. Debido a esto, a finales de los ochenta Viasa hizo un esfuerzo para ofrecer vuelos directos hacia sus destinos europeos, y así poder competir con las aerolíneas bandera de Europa. Este esfuerzo requirió una expansión del plantel de pilotos. Sin embargo, no fue fácil competir con las aerolíneas europeas y a la final Viasa quedó con un excedente de pilotos. Al mismo tiempo KLM estaba iniciando el proceso de reemplazar sus DC-10 por MD-11, lo que le generó un déficit de pilotos de DC-10. Ambas aerolíneas se pusieron de acuerdo para cosechar los resultados de su estrecha relación de años atrás cuando la aerolínea holandesa se había encargado de formar a las primeras generaciones de pilotos e instructores de Viasa en los equipos DC-8 y DC-10. Los DC-10 de Viasa en su mayoría también fueron adquiridos bajo la asistencia de KLM, así que los equipos de ambas aerolíneas estaban configurados de la misma forma conforme al consorcio KSSU. Debido a estas razones, KLM decidió ofrecer trabajo a pilotos de Viasa bajo un contrato, ya que operaban los mismos equipos bajo la misma filosofía operacional, y los holandeses conocían de primera mano la calidad de los pilotos venezolanos. Los 24 pilotos de Viasa que optaron por ir a volar los DC-10 de KLM estaban basados en Caracas y desde ahí cubrían las rutas a Ámsterdam y Curazao. Desde Curazao también cubrían rutas de KLM a otros destinos de Centro América y El Caribe. El Comandante Arostegui también cuenta que los pilotos de Viasa que participaron en el contrato para volar los DC-10 de KLM recibieron licencias holandesas y usaban insignias de KLM en su uniforme de Viasa. Esto último de forma similar a lo que el Capitán Luis Emiro Cañas relata en su biografía "Guiado por La Providencia" sobre los vuelos que Viasa le hacia a KLM en las Antillas holandesas con los Convair 880 en los sesenta, donde también se cambiaban sus insignias de Viasa por las de KLM. Aunque en el caso de los Convair no hacía falta poseer licencias holandesas ya que los aviones eran de Viasa y estaban registrados en Venezuela. Una vez completado el contrato de KLM el Comandante Arostegui se reintegró a Viasa, donde estuvo al mando del último vuelo entre Madrid y Maiquetía que realizó la compañía. Anécdotas del Comandante González Por su parte el Comandante González compartió varias anécdotas curiosas de su larga carrera en Viasa. Siendo Comandante joven de DC-8 nos contó que una vez llegó a Maiquetía a volar uno de los Colosos para encontrarse con que el avión tenía marcas de un arrastre de cola (tail strike). A pesar de que se sabe poco de esos incidentes del día a día que Viasa tuvo, no es raro que este particular incidente haya ocurrido ya que los Colosos (DC-8-63) eran considerablemente más largos que los -50 que conformaban la mayor parte de la flota. Una de sus anécdotas más graciosas fue sobre un grupo de azafatas que esperaban volar con un Comandante nuevo al que no lograban reconocer por el nombre en la lista de tripulantes. Resulta que habían volado varias veces con el señor González cuando este era Primer y Segundo Oficial, pero solo conocían su sobrenombre Piolín. A pesar de haber compartido varios vuelos no conocían su nombre real. Entre otras cosas, uno de los momentos de la noche que más me conmovió personalmente, fue cuando el Comandante González sostenía un modelo a escala del DC-10-30 YV-137C y se recordó de que el lo voló como Primer Oficial desde la fábrica en Long Beach a Zúrich para que se le instalaran los asientos de pasajeros, lo cual fue una práctica común con los DC-10 de Viasa que fueron entregados directamente de McDonnell Douglas. Antes y Después de Viasa Como lo ponen ellos, ambos “carlotearon” bastante, refiriéndose a que acumularon experiencia volando aviones de menor tamaño desde el aeropuerto de La Carlota en el corazón de Caracas. A parte de eso, el Comandante Arostegui fue Primer Oficial de Convair 580 en Avensa, mientras que González voló DC-3 para Aerotécnica. Ambos hicieron otras cosas, pero esas fueron algunas de sus actividades más resaltantes. Luego del cierre de Viasa el Comandante Arostegui decidió hacer vida en Estados Unidos donde volvió volar el DC-8, esta vez para la carguera Fine Air de Miami y ocupando la silla izquierda, al igual que otro pequeño grupo de pilotos ex-Viasa. Luego de Fine Air pasó a Atlas Air donde voló 747-100 y 200 como Primer Oficial, Comandante de relevo y eventualmente Ingeniero de Vuelo antes de dedicarse a la instrucción en simulador en el ATR. Como instructor de ATR el Comandante Arostegui ha podido seguir prestando sus servicios a la aviación civil venezolana al haber entrenado tripulaciones de Santa Bárbara, Conviasa y Vensecar. Por su parte el Comandante González siguió los pasos de muchos profesionales aeronáuticos venezolanos y se fue a volar en EVA Air de Taiwan como Comandante de MD-11. Posteriormente fue Comandante de 727 en Custom Air Transport en Estados Unidos, para luego dedicarse a la instrucción en simulador en la familia EMB-145. Como instructor del EMB-145, el Capitán González se dedica a formar pilotos de las múltiples aerolíneas regionales que operan el equipo, así como operadores de la versión ejecutiva de ese avión; Legacy 600. En Resumen Fue una grata experiencia poder compartir con este par de leyendas vivientes que sin saberlo nos inspiraron a nosotros las nuevas generaciones de aviadores al protagonizar la época dorada de la aviación venezolana. Faltó más tiempo para seguir descubriendo y absorbiendo la esencia de aquel tiempo mejor, pero eso no impidió sacarle el máximo provecho a esta oportunidad única para preservar la historia contemporánea de la aviación venezolana y hacer un pequeño homenaje a un par de sus protagonistas. Jorge A. Zajia

The picture above shows two 1:400 Pan Am L1011-500s. The one on the left is N504PA Clipper National Eagle, released by Blue Box in 2006. The one on the right is N514PA Clipper White Falcon, released by Dragon Wings around 2000. Both models joined my collection in February of 2022. Why am I getting 20-year-old Pan Am L1011s in 2022? The short answer is that I wanted to replace my Gemini Jets version of the type. A more fitting question would be, why did I get a Gemini Jets Pan Am L1011-500 in the first place? A Little Background on Paying Attention to Detail As a young kid I used to be proud of being able to identify different types of aircraft and their variants. Of course, in the interior of Venezuela that boiled down to being able to tell 727s from DC-9s. I must say it took me a while to become comfortable telling the DC-9-30 from the -50, as my brain just categorized both types as the short DC-9s, the long DC-9 was the MD-80. The same happened with other types of aircraft, I was good at identifying the basic type, but without a lot of exposure to different variants I struggled to pick up on the details. Well, I never had a lot of exposure to L1011s, I just remember seeing a handful of them at MIA during the nineties, and just being able to tell them apart from DC-10s and MD-11s by looking at their 727-like engine #2 s-duct. Hence, for the longest time, I had no clue about the details of the different variants of the TriStar. Later I would discover that I wasn’t alone as many 1:400 manufacturers seemed to be on the same boat. The L1011 in My Collection My first 1:400 TriStar was a Gemini Jets Fine Air L1011-1. Their DC-8s were common visitors in my hometown of Maracaibo so I was happy to have that livery in my collection, even if it wasn’t on a DC-8. My second L1011 was also a -1 in the ANA Mohican livery. I did not add any more L1011s to my collection for almost a decade. Eventually, I started purchasing TriStar models again, this time focusing on visitors of CCS. But even though I knew about the shorter -500, I didn’t pay attention to what TriStar version I was getting. I simply got an L1011 from whatever airline I was after and that was it. This careless approach to collecting was rooted in ignorance, however, it did not backfire until I got my first British Airways TriStar, which turned out to be a Blue Box -1 that was clearly longer than the -500 I had seen photographed at CCS, which had inspired me to get the model in the first place. I said, well not a problem, I’ll just go ahead and get a -500 then. I was happy to find a Lockness (Aeroclassics) BA TriStar -500 still at retail price, but that happiness was about to vanish. Disappointment When the model arrived, it didn’t look how I expected. It did not have the name of the aircraft printed on the nose section, and it just looked poorly made. A few months earlier I had also gotten Pan Am’s N511PA Clipper Black Hawk by Gemini Jets. I had been happy with Gemini Jets thus far, but when the Pan Am -500 arrived, I noticed that it was a new mould, but overall, it wasn’t a very nice model. At the time I was not aware of the -500 differences from the -1 (other than the shorter fuselage) and how GJ had messed them up, but the model just didn’t look right. So, with these two TriStar disappointments in short succession, I went ahead and did what I should have done before even going shopping: I did some research and read L1011-500 1:400 mould reviews. More Disappointment In no time I came across Richard Stretton’s review of Pan Am’s N510PA Clipper George T. Baker by NG Model, which also brought me up to speed with the current L1011-500 situation in 1:400 scale. I also read Yesterday Airlines’ L1011-500 mould review. As I was going through the long lists of shortcomings of Aeroclassics’ and Gemini’s L1011-500 something stood out: The Geminin Jets mould had the erroneous wing box fairing shape. As Richard Stretton put it: “Basically it is a chimaera with the Tristar 1 wing and fuselage/wing fairing grafted onto a shortened Tristar 500 fuselage.” I immediately went to take a closer look at all my TriStars and quickly became aware of how a -500 wing box fairing should look like, and how the Gemini Jets mould actually looked like. To make things worse, Gemini seemed to have tried to cover up their mistake by painting the correct shape of the wing box fairing over their erroneously shaped mould. My Pan Am L1011 suddenly stopped looking “kind of ugly”, and started looking unacceptably mediocre. Even more aggravating was the fact that when I purchased it, the NG Model version was still available from the same retailer. But I went for Gemini Jets because, like I said, in the past I had been happy with them, and I was completely ignorant of the shortcomings of their -500. Besides, it was cheaper than the NG version so I thought I was getting a deal. Hahaha. Outcome I decided to keep my Aeroclassics British Airways TriStar because the reg., G-BLUT, is the same reg. of one of the very few British Airways TriStar of which photos in CCS can be found online. Also, as Richard Stretton put it “at least they tried to replicate the features of a 500” and I agree with that. I can forgive ugly, however, I could not get over Gemini Jets negligence, so I listed my Pan Am L1011 on eBay and was able to fully recover what I had paid for it, plus a negligible profit. By then, I had learnt that I should have gone with NG for all my TriStar 500 needs in 1:400 scale. But of course, now the NG Model Pan Am (or British Airways for that matter) TriStar 500 was nowhere to be found. Turning to Dragon Wings for Accuracy and to Blue Box for Nostalgia After all the dust had settled, I quickly realized that my best chance of getting an accurate representation of a Pan Am L1011-500 in 1:400 scale at a reasonable price, without waiting for a new release, was to go for a Dragon Wings example. After looking for a few months I was happy to find one at Airplane Replicas at an accessible price. Airplane Replicas also had Blue Box’s N504PA Clipper National Eagle in stock. By now, I was already well versed on the features of the -500, and its moulds in 1:400 scale. So, I was well aware of the fact that Blue Box had also used the entire wing piece of their -1 in their -500. However, to me, the Blue Box model had a few pluses that outweighed the wing issue. So, I also purchased it. First, being from an earlier generation of models I could accept less accuracy. I mean, less than a decade before Blue Box, Herpa Wings 1:500 was the standard for small-scale aircraft models. Plus, aside from having the wrong wing piece, the overall look of the model is quite nice, I think it is nicer than the current Gemini Jets version. Additionally, I enjoy getting pieces from a time when I was not actively collecting 1:400 models as I feel they help me experience what I missed out on. And finally, the main reason why I rationalized getting a Blue Box L1011-500 in 2022 was, again, the registration of this aircraft. N504PA, Clipper National Eagle, was the first Pan Am L1011-500, and its inaugural flight was from New York to Caracas. Pan Am featured the event in their in-flight menus, which included a picture of the aircraft at the gate in Caracas. The picture is quite popular, and the first time I saw it was actually framed at the 1940 Air Terminal Museum at Hobby Airport in Houston, not too far from where I am writing this. In Closing So, there you have it, ignorance is bliss, but I am glad I found out what a terrible mistake I had made by overlooking an NG Pan Am TriStar 500 at retail price and getting a Gemini Jets one instead, as I ended up with two nice Pan Am TriStar 500s, including one of relevance to Venezuela’s contemporary aviation history. I probably would not have come across Blue Box’s Clipper National Eagle if I had originally gotten the NG version instead of the Gemini Jets one. I also learned a lot about the Lockheed L1011, and now I appreciate more the mould reviews of Yesterday Airlines and others that do the same. Above you can see the picture that inspired me to get a British Airways TriStar, and my recreation with a -1 instead of a -500. I consider my TriStar crisis a drama with a happy ending and hope you found it as entertaining and comical as I did. Jorge A. Zajia Sources: Richard Stretton, George T Baker: Pan Am Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 500 N510PA by NG Models Richard Stretton, Lockheed L-1011 Tristar 500 in 1/400 Scale Airliners.net Trip report showing G-BLUT at CCS

En 1972 Venezuela se convirtió en el primer país de Latinoamérica en contar con una aerolínea que ofreciera servicios en el Boeing 747-200, que en aquel entonces era el avión de pasajeros más grande del mundo por mucho. Hablamos de Viasa, que con la asistencia de KLM operó dos 747s en sus rutas transatlánticas de alta demanda una vez que el Douglas DC-8 se había quedado pequeño, y justo antes de que el DC-10 estuviese disponible. Uno de estos 747s fue el famoso PH-BUG, que tuvo la mitad derecha de su fuselaje pintada con la librea de Viasa, y fue bautizado con el nombre Orinoco. Hasta hoy sigue siendo referencia de orgullo para los venezolanos que vivieron aquella época de particular bonanza petrolera que justificó la presencia del Jumbo en Venezuela. En julio del 2019, sorprendentemente, Venezuela una vez más se convirtió en el primer país latinoamericano en contar con una aerolínea que ofreciera servicios en el (nuevo) avión de pasajeros más grande del mundo. Esta vez se trató del Airbus A380, y de la aerolínea Estelar Latinoamérica. Digo que esto es sorprendente porque la situación financiera del país en el 2019 era un contraste total a lo que se vivía en los setenta. De hecho, la presencia del A380 en Venezuela fue un accidente fortuito. La aerolínea Estelar Latinoamérica es una compañía pequeña que se encontró en el lugar y momento correcto para llenar el pequeño hueco que había quedado en el mercado de rutas de largo alcance desde Caracas: Madrid y Buenos Aires. Para explotar estas rutas Estelar se encargó de la boletería mientras que arrendó un Airbus A340-300 con tripulación (wet lease) a la compañía HiFly de Malta, que se especializa precisamente en ese tipo de negocios. Da la casualidad de que en el 2019 HiFly Malta también era la operadora del que en aquel entonces era el primer Airbus A380 de segunda mano en el mercado, 9H-MIP, anteriormente 9V-SKC con Singapore Airlines. Entonces, cuando el A340 que HiFly estaba arrendando a Estelar, 9H-JAI, se tuvo que ir a mantenimiento, el A380 9H-MIP fue mandado como reemplazo. Y así, por primera vez, clientes que adquirieron boletos para volar con una aerolínea latinoamericana fueron embarcados en el Super Jumbo A380. Cabe destacar que solo el primer piso del avión estuvo disponible, y en realidad los clientes no tuvieron la opción de elegir volar en un A380, fue el destino el que propició esta oportunidad. Pero aun así cuenta o ¿quizás no? La llegada de 9H-MIP a Maiquetía fue también la primera vez que un A380 se posó sobre suelo venezolano. Durante su rotación por Venezuela cubriendo vuelos entre Maiquetía, Barajas y Ezeiza, el avión fue atendido en rampa remota ya que las posiciones con acceso a puentes de embarque de CCS no habían sido diseñadas tomando en cuenta las medidas del A380. Ya esto es noticia un poco vieja, y hemos tenido una pandemia entera en el medio, pero para mi tiene relevancia porque hace poco destapé mi replica 1:400 del A380 9H-MIP, la cual se une a mi colección únicamente debido su relación con la aviación venezolana que aquí relato. Por último, cabe destacar que en la Venezuela estancada de hoy en día el cuatrimotor Airbus A340, hermano menor del A380, se ha vuelto popular ya que, en el mundo actual dominado por bimotores altamente eficientes de largo alcance, estos cuatrimotores están relativamente devaluados. De hecho, mientras escribo esto Conviasa está protagonizando sucesos en el ámbito aeronáutico al estar activamente incorporando mas A340s a su flota. El más reciente es un A340-600 anteriormente de la iraní Mahan Air que recibió su registro venezolano, YV3533, hace menos de una semana. Les dejo una colección de fotos de modelos a escala del 9H-MIP, y otros A340s venezolanos. Por cierto, HiFly vistió al 9H-MIP con una linda librea para crear conciencia sobre la destrucción de los arrecifes de coral. 9H-MIP fue scado de servicio en diembre del 2020 en medio de la pandemia. Jorge A. Zajia