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Pan Am Boeing 747


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I've always seen the Pan Am Boeing 747 as THE classic airliner.

However I'm not that aware of all the small diferences between the various subversions of the 747, so I'm not sure which version to buy if I want to build a Pan Am plane.

I know it has to be an earlier version, but which one?

I've been looking at the REVELL 1/144 04863 SPACE SHUTTLE & BOEING 747 as it is a 747-121 (I think).

Could that be used? :hmmm:

 

Cheers and thanks in advance :bye:

Hans J

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That's the perfect kit - the NASA example in the kit was actually flown by PanAm before it's shuttle-carrying duties commenced. The '121' in it's designation breaks down as follows: the 1 represents the model number (-100) and the 21 is PanAm's customer number with Boeing. For example, British Airways' customer number is 36 (BOAC initially) and thus BA's 747s are 747-136 for the -100 series, -236 for the -200 series and the current 747-400s are officially -436s.

 

You can learn a lot about an aircraft's history by looking at its model number!

 

Tom

 

EDIT: Just a thought - the early -100s only had three upper deck windows as this area was used as a lounge. Later, the upper deck was converted to full passenger seating and thus more windows were added. Depending on which aircraft you wish to model and when, will depend on the window fit. Some of PanAm's early -100s were retrofitted with the 'normal' passenger upper deck windows later in their careers, I believe. This made them almost indistinguishable from the later -200 models.

Edited by tomprobert
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Thanks for that info Tom.  I am a newbie when it comes to airliners, in fact I am building my first at the moment; an Airfix B737-200, and this sort of info is very useful for starters.   I would, eventually, like to build up my skills with airliners in order to build the B747 that my wife and I flew in, on our return from honeymoon in Hong Kong 1986.  The aircraft was a 747 belonging to Cathay Pacific and they upgraded us to 'upstairs' but that is about all I know of the aircraft.  The aircraft we flew out in was a DC-10 of British Caledonian but that looks to be a more complicated build for me.

 

cheers

 

Mike

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I just knew that this was the place to ask such a question! :D

So many thanks from here in Denmark.

The Revell kit it is then - now what to do with the Space Shuttle? :hmmm:

 

Again many thanks for the quick and informative answer! :D

 

Cheers :bye:

Hans J

 

 

Edited by HansReggelsen
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Hi Hans, 

 

Just to make you aware, the Revell early 747 is also available as the E-4B 04663.  If you can find one it would save you deciding what to do with the Space Shuttle!  The only problem is that the E-4B comes with General Electric engines which are horribly inaccurate and wrong for Pan Am anyway (PA used Pratt and Whitney engines) so you would need to replace the engines with after-market items from BraZ Models (reference BZ4014).

 

Dave G

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Very useful thread, since I'm on a similar quest. My 'target' is the -121 model N734PA 'Clipper Flying Cloud,' which was probably the first 747 I ever had the thrill to see, flying into/out of Chicago/O'Hare in 1969-70. Pan-Am used it for a sort of pre-service introductory tour around the US, to show off the new type to the public (and travel industry professionals).

 

Living in the Chicago suburbs near O'Hare airport, seeing airliners of every stripe flying overhead was delightfully commonplace. But walking home from junior-high one day I heard a chorused engine sound I knew I'd never heard before...and looked up over the tree line, to see the biggest thing I'd ever seen in the air. It was so huge it looked like it could have been twenty feet away!

 

Needless to say, it made an indelible impression.

 

Edited by thorfinn
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1 hour ago, Skodadriver said:

Hi Hans, 

 

Just to make you aware, the Revell early 747 is also available as the E-4B 04663.  If you can find one it would save you deciding what to do with the Space Shuttle!  The only problem is that the E-4B comes with General Electric engines which are horribly inaccurate and wrong for Pan Am anyway (PA used Pratt and Whitney engines) so you would need to replace the engines with after-market items from BraZ Models (reference BZ4014).

 

Dave G

A very point,  the Braz engines are terrific and easy to use, at least my RB 1-11's were, and "metal details"  are now doing a fabulous photoetch 747 set with brakes lines, grills, pitot's etc, and the "Authentic Airliners",  "photo real" decal windows sets and lights are just on another level completely. Cheers.

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Quote

That's the perfect kit - the NASA example in the kit was actually flown by PanAm before it's shuttle-carrying duties commenced.

 

Neither of the two shuttle carriers operated by NASA came from Pan Am.  The first one (NASA 905) was ex American Airlines and the second (NASA 911) was ex Japan Air Lines.

Edited by Groundloop
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58 minutes ago, Groundloop said:

Neither of the two shuttle carriers operated by NASA came from Pan Am.  The first one (NASA 905) was ex American Airlines and the second (NASA 911) was ex Japan Air Lines.

That's correct. At one time the "shadow" of the removed American Airlines livery could be seen on NASA 905 when the light and viewing angle were just right.

 

For all things airliner-related, head on over to Airliner Cafe (http://www.airlinercafe.com). 

Lots of airliner experts there.

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So much info! :D

 

But I take it, that the consensus is still that I can use the Revell kit of the 1/144 04863 SPACE SHUTTLE & BOEING 747 as the correct base for an early Pan Am 747? :hmmm:

I checked the kits and they have indeed different engines:

 

Nasahttps://www.super-hobby.com/products/Boeing-747-SCA-and-Space-Shuttle.html

 

E-4B 04663: https://www.super-hobby.com/products/Boeing-E-4B-Airborne-Command-Post.html

 

Cheers :bye:

Hans J

 

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18 minutes ago, HansReggelsen said:

So much info! :D

 

But I take it, that the consensus is still that I can use the Revell kit of the 1/144 04863 SPACE SHUTTLE & BOEING 747 as the correct base for an early Pan Am 747? :hmmm:

I checked the kits and they have indeed different engines:

 

 

 

Yes, of course.  The engines in the Space Shuttle kit represent the Pratt and Whitneys used by Pan Am.  

 

32 minutes ago, Space Ranger said:

 

For all things airliner-related, head on over to Airliner Cafe (http://www.airlinercafe.com). 

Lots of airliner experts there.

 

There are lots of airliner experts on Britmodeller and as a member of both sites I find Britmodeller much friendlier than Airliner Cafe.

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2 hours ago, Groundloop said:

 

 

 

Neither of the two shuttle carriers operated by NASA came from Pan Am.  The first one (NASA 905) was ex American Airlines and the second (NASA 911) was ex Japan Air Lines.

I didn't realise that! I always thought the blue stripe was a left over from PanAm's livery. You learn something new every day...

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38 minutes ago, Skodadriver said:

There are lots of airliner experts on Britmodeller and as a member of both sites I find Britmodeller much friendlier than Airliner Cafe.

No argument there.

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Hello Hans,

please note that the Braz JT9D engines have later type pylons ie. different shape than the ones on Pan Am classic 747s. The space shuttle carrier has the correct shape.

 

Welsh models also have two types of resin JT9Ds, later version which is the same as Braz and early version with the correct pylon. They are labeled as JT9D-3 but the photo on their website is so small that is difficult to tell if they are also the early type nacelle with secondary inlet doors. I’ve sent Welsh models an email asking this but didn’t get any answer. Does anyone have these early type engines or have info on this? 

 

 

 

 

 

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A bit off topic (engines) but in the early 90's I remember seeing a Pan Am 747 with a wing root shaped (and sized) patch on the fuselage just behind the wing. I can't find any pictures but it would be an intriguing build. Probably at Dulles, maybe La Guardia.

 

I always liked flying Pan Am, they were usually on time and got you where you were going no matter what. I must have flown on most of the oldest 747s in the world, including Maid of the Seas several times. I flew on her on PA103 exactly a week before Lockerbie...

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  • 1 month later...

Concerning the Revell 747/Shuttle kit... ...what about the tail? Does that kit have two kind of tails? One normal and one with the extra pair of fins for the space shuttle version?

 

Cheers / André

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Accordning to the indstructions, one simply attach the extra fins:

 

https://stage.revell.de/fileadmin/import/images/bau/04863_%23BAU_BOEING_747_SCA_UND_SPACE_SHUTTLE.PDF

 

43 minutes ago, Andre B said:

Concerning the Revell 747/Shuttle kit... ...what about the tail? Does that kit have two kind of tails? One normal and one with the extra pair of fins for the space shuttle version?

 

Cheers / André

Cheers :bye:

Hans J

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  • 3 weeks later...

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