FD Scale Aircraft 15

[BB1987]

Oh boy, I should not listen to an Armstrong while drawing something named for another Armstrong (and managed to even got the wrong name written wrong...)
Corrected.

[adenandy]

Beautiful work BB

I LOVE your R/L liveries my friend... It's a shame you don't do more of them

[BB1987]

After the -100s, Alitalia's 747-200s were quite a predictable addition.


I-DEMO was Alitalia's third 747 to be delivered, and the first of the -200 series, featuring the 3-window setup on the upper deck of the earliest airframes, instead of the much more common 10-ones of all the other -200 series aircrafts. The plane flew with alitalia between March 30th 1971 and November 18th 1981, then sold back to Boeing. It was then leased to Cargolux and Kabo air, then purchased by People Express in 1984 and transferred to Continental Airlines in 1987 after the emrger of the two airlines. Continental retired the plane in 1995, after two years of storage the AAR engine group took it but after only one year the airframe was stored for good and then scrapped at Manara, Arizona.
I-DEMV was delivered on July 24th 1985, then briefly leased to Egyptair in 1986/87. Alitalia retired the plane from service on December 15th 2001 and flew it to Manara, Arizona in June 2002, were it remained until 2004 when bought by Air Atlanta Aicelandic. During the next two years the plane was repeatedly leased to Saudi Arabian airlines, Garuda Indonesia (twice) and Air Algerie. It was finally scrapped in 2006.
I-DEMR was the only full-cargo 747 directly owned by the airline and not leased or converted from a passenger airframe. First flown on October 15th 1981, it was delivered to the airline on December 18th of the same year and retired on April 5th 2004, the longest serving of all Alitalia's 747. The airframe was immediately taken over by AirBridgeCargo, then by Cargo B in 2007, Wells Fargo Bank in 2009 and Rayyan Air (an Iranian airline, not a misspelled low-cost) in 2010. The aircraft changed ownership two more times ater that: in 2014 it went to AHS Air International, and finally to the Georgian operator The Cargo Airlines in June 2017. The 36-and-a-half year-old airframe is still in active service. Excluding military, government and test aircrafts, it is the fourth oldest 747 still in commercial service, and the oldest not being operated by an Iranian airline.

[adenandy]

Again, jolly nice work BB. Well done matey

[BB1987]

Together with SAS, Alitalia was the largest operator of the MD-80 outside the United States with 90 units -all of the MD-82 series- operated between 1983 and 2012.
Here are some, augmenting the original done by Eswube a few years ago:


I-DAWA: The first MD-82 delivered to the airline, in service between December 16 1983 and December 28 2008. Served with South African airline Safair in 2009 and was scrapped thereafter.
I-DATE: Originally delivered to ATI (Aero Trasporti Italiani, Alitalia domestic subsidiary) it was transferred to the mainline fleet on October 30 1994 when ATI was shut down. Retired on October 20th 2012, it went to Bank of Utah until 2014. Sold to Sri-Lankan airline FitsAir is still in active service.
I-DAWF: In service between July 24 1984 and January 12 2009. It was purchsed by Safair but never taken. Possibly the airframe is still in storage at Upington, Sudafrica.
I-DATM: In service between February 28 1995 and October 23 2012. Sold to Bulgarian Air Charter in 2013, the plane is still in active service.

[AF92]

I suppose Alitalia was one of the few airlines that haven't changed it's basic livery throughout the years.

It is really making me sad that Douglases started to completely disappear from fleets recently.

[BB1987]

I suppose Alitalia was one of the few airlines that haven't changed it's basic livery throughout the years.

Between 1969 and 2005 the livery was basically unchanged (a bit like the classic American Airlines one), even the refreshed one that lasted from 2005 to 2015 is not that different either. (And for the love of god, better that I not start talking about the 2015 livery and new cabin crew uniforms or I might end up being vulgar.)

[eswube]

Well done!
@BB1987 - Would You consider doing also other members of the DC-9/MD-80/90 family in Italian colors? (Aeronautica Militare, Itavia and so on)

[BB1987]

@BB1987 - Would You consider doing also other members of the DC-9/MD-80/90 family in Italian colors? (Aeronautica Militare, Itavia and so on)

Alitalia's DC-9s for sure. Alisarda/Meridiana DC-9 and MD-80s, ATI DC-9 and MD-80, and Itavia DC-9s probably yes (I'd need to collect some sources before). Aeronautica ones probably no.

[DeadRight]

Delta Airbus A350-900