Minicraft DC-8-62, Japan Airlines

[David H]

In November of 1968, a 4-month-old Japan Air Lines DC-8, "Shiga" with a Japanese Captain, assisted by an American crew, was executing the ILS-28R approach into San Francisco International airport. Weather conditions at the time were 300 feet overcast and 3/4 of a mile. Reaching decision height, the plane got low on glide slope and while a missed approach was initiated, the rear fuselage struck the water and the plane inadvertently ditched about 2 1/2 miles from the end of the runway, and settled to the bottom in about 9 feet of water. The plane was remarkably undamaged. There were minor injuries, but no fatalities.

 

Upon surveying the aircraft, it was then lifted out of the water, placed on a barge and floated over to the United Air Lines Maintenance base at SFO. There, the interior and avionics were removed, all 36 miles of wiring were taken out and the plane was flushed clean with fresh water. Some flap segments, engine pylon components, landing gear parts and hydraulic components were replaced, and the airplane was re-fitted , re-named "Hidaka", and returned to service with JAL about 4 months later. She served with JAL until 1983, whereupon she was sold to Okada Air and finally she went to Airborne Express. She was finally scrapped in December of 2001.

 

If there was one thing wrong with the DC-8, it might be that Douglas made them a little too good....

 

 

Executive Summary

Kit: Minicraft DC-8-63 (Converted to a DC-8-62)

Scale: 1/144th (The OTHER True Scale)

Decals: 26

 

 

 

 

Paints Used: Tamiya Rattle can Gloss White for the solar cap; Tamiya Rattle can Gloss Black used as an undercoat to give depth to the bare metal areas. Wings and fuselage were painted with Mr Color Plate Silver Next. Segments of the fuselage were masked off and painted with Alclad Aluminium and White Aluminium, with more Plate Silver Next applied over that for added shine. Engine Nacelles were undercoated with gloss black. Nacelle nose rings were Mr Color Super Metallic Super Siler, Middle sections are painted Plate Silver Next, and the hot sections in the back are Alclad Magnesium. Wing in-spar section and pylons are gloss gull gray.

Modifications: Fuselage was shortened from a -63 to a -62 but using the cut lines marked on the fuselage insides.

Other: Steve reports that the fit was so good, that the wings, tailplanes, and 3 out of 4 engine pylons were friction-fit, without the need for glue.

 

Questions, comments, polite constructive criticism all welcome.

Hope you likee. Thanks for Shopping!

 

-d-

Edited March 15, 2017 by David H
additional historical background

[jeaton01]

Very nice work, a beauty indeed.  I remember that day, I live about 80 miles east of SFO and was a fairly wet behind the ears holder of a commercial certificate at the time.  As I remember it was a situation where culture got in the way and the copilot was unwilling to tell the captain he was too low until it was too late.  Always amazed me that there was so little damage.  The accident report is confusing to me because the airplane reached minimums 2 1/2 miles from the threshold and that altitude is normally not reached until very near the runway threshhold.  At 2 1/2 miles on a 3 degree glides slope as on 28R at SFO the airplane should have been at 690 feet AGL, instead it was in the water. 

Thanks for the model, obviously it has brought back some memories.

[Gerrardandrews]

Amazing model, with amazing story, one that sticks in the memory.

I was lucky as a child and teenager to fly on all types of aircraft, and even very young, I was bit frightened every time I went on holiday with my parents, the size, smell and feeling was very exciting, basic at times.

I do plan on making some these basic aircraft in the future, great if they did some of these first jets in 1/72.

[Team Aer Lingus]

Superb looking model the metal finish really stands out!   nice back story too

 

thanks for sharing 

 

regards

 

Eamonn

[Turbofan]

Wow this is gorgeous David! I'm so impressed with your finish, I'll have to check out Mr Color Plate Silver that's seriously shiny!

Interesting back story too, I love a model with a story.

Cheers,

Ian

[michael301757]

What a lovely build and an amazing story, not heard of that incident before, well done.

[Marv]

Fantastic model, and excellent back story. Way to go, Steve!

[Orion]

Finished to a very high standard.

Excellent photography and interesting story.

Regards,

Orion / The Netherlands.

[David H]

On 3/14/2017 at 7:35 PM, jeaton01 said:

 The accident report is confusing to me because the airplane reached minimums 2 1/2 miles from the threshold and that altitude is normally not reached until very near the runway threshhold.  At 2 1/2 miles on a 3 degree glides slope as on 28R at SFO the airplane should have been at 690 feet AGL, instead it was in the water. 

 

Yes, speaking as a pilot i was puzzled by that too. I thought the plane splashed down less than a mile from the runway, but Steve says it was 2 1/2. he was flying in the Bay Area at the time so he must know what he's talking about. Reading a little further, it seems SFO had a PAR setup for approaches but it had been recently decommissioned because it wasn't being used. Like you said, the angles and the math don't add up. I'm thinking maybe they intercepted a false glide slope. Just speculating.

-d-

[David H]

On 3/15/2017 at 4:27 AM, Turbofan said:

 I'm so impressed with your finish, I'll have to check out Mr Color Plate Silver that's seriously shiny!

Interesting back story too, I love a model with a story.

Cheers,

Ian

Ian, i can't take credit for this. It's Steve Bakke's model. I just took the pics and wrote the narrative.

-d-

[Graeme H]

Congratulation to Steve, that is a very impressive build

[hurricane39]

On ‎2017‎-‎03‎-‎15 at 8:24 AM, michael301757 said:

What a lovely build and an amazing story, not heard of that incident before, well done.

Have to agree.  Never heard the story before and the model is a beauty.

[mitchem]

 

If I'd come here looking for inspiration, I think I may have just found it !

 

Cracking build and finish - thanks for posting.

 

mike

[Alex1978]

 Thats probably THE ultimate DC-8 kit I've seen here on FB.

An awesomley built DC-8

[Viking]

Gorgeous model! Lovely finish on it too.

I wish that Minicraft would make it more widely avaialble.

 

Cheers

 

john

[David H]

1 hour ago, Viking said:

Gorgeous model! Lovely finish on it too.

I wish that Minicraft would make it more widely avaialble.

 

Cheers

 

john

According to Jennings Heilig, Minicraft is an itty bitty company, and getting any new products released, let alone widely distributed is something of a minor miracle for them. Myself, i'm still waiting on the Convair 580, which as far as i know is still supposedly in the offing. I know not long ago they finally came out with the PBM-5.

 

david

[David H]

Hey everybody,

 

I just wanted to relay from Steve, that he appreciates all the kind comments.

 

-d-

[Jessica]

That's pretty! I've always liked the DC-8 better than the 707. It's much more muscular and purposeful than the Boeing

[David H]

23 minutes ago, Jessica said:

That's pretty! I've always liked the DC-8 better than the 707. It's much more muscular and purposeful than the Boeing

For me and Steve, it really depends on the fuselage length; the final iterations of stretched DC-8s look comical, and even the biggest jet engines in existence cannot change that. The -320 series 707 easily wins that beauty contest.

 

The short fuselage -32s and -62s are much more aesthetically pleasing to me.

 

The DC-8 was in many ways a better plane than the 707; it was designed from the ground-up as an airliner, by a company that was the most experienced airliner maker in the world. The 707 IMHO was really a military jet that was hastily modified to civilian applications and wasn't quite "Ready for Prime Time" when it came out.

 

You could also make the argument that if the USAF has insisted upon a fair competition between Boeing and Douglas for a jet transport,  things might have gone the other way. But for SAC purposes, the 367-80 was the right plane at the right time, under-powered though it was.

 

I can understand Douglas' rationale for coming late to the game. Many airlines had just laid out fortunes upgrading to the latest DC-7s and 1649s and they probably thought airlines were too weak financially to make the jump up to jets so quickly. They had an established reputation and clientele and probably felt pretty secure about their market share. They certainly didn't dismiss the concept of a jet airliner out-of-hand, but they were probably dubious about the economics of them.

 

Boeing, by comparison only had a track record of making airliners that were famous for nothing other than their engines and propellers blowing up. From their perspective, if there was nothing after the B-52, and if an order for 367-80 derivatives were too small, their backs were against the wall.

 

Convair was even more hesitant to jump in than Douglas was; their attitude was, let's see what mistakes Boeing and Douglas make first, before we jump in... not knowing that the CJ-605 was possibly the kiss of death for the program.

 

But he who laughs last, laughs longest. Although only 556 DC-8s were built, they have clearly outlived the 707. Damn those Douglas planes... they just refuse to die.

 

david

 

PS: Steve and I really prefer the Convair 990 over the 707 and DC-8.

Edited March 18, 2017 by David H
Because i felt like it.

[Cookenbacher]

Just beautiful.

[russ c]

Great job on that, love the wings and nacelles esp`

[stringbag]

That's a real beauty especially in the old JAL livery.

 

Chris.

[corsaircorp]

Hello dears,

I really enjoy "the other true scale"

Very nice plane, shiny painting, real good job !

Sincerely.

Corsaircorp

[Darren Rhodes]

A stunning model of the DC-8 and a classic retro livery! The aluminium finish looks outstanding! 

 

Great story too, I remembering the ditching in thr bay, but my recollection was that is ran out of fuel. Incredible that it was lifted out and repaired.  

 

 

 

Darren

 

PS So wish the Minicraft DC-8s were more readily available, still looking for my first...

[BerndM]

Awesome build and an interesting read for sure.