DH86 Express

[tpat]

Does anybody have colour info on the two DH86 Express airliners that were used by Primeras Lineas Uruguayas de Navegacion Aerea (PLUNA).  

[Julien]

Hi,

 

Help and support is for NON model related matters, I will move this to the correct area. Please consider where you post. Thx

 

Julien

[Lazy8]

Not the DH.86 exactly, but in Ron Davies' 'Airlines of Latin America since 1919' there's a picture of CX-AAS San Alberto, one of the two DH.90 Dragonflies that PLUNA bought first.  Looking at the picture along with the caption, it is red all over with cream lettering, although one or two fittings such as the window frames and wing-root fairing seem to be bare metal.  Below that there's a picture of CX-ADH, the prototype Potez 62-1 which PLUNA acquired after the DH.86, in an obviously different colour scheme - the caption mentions that it kept it's blue-and-silver air France colours. 

PLUNA operated two DH.86Bs.

CX-AAH was built as G-ADEC for Hillmans Airways, loaned by them to British Continental Airways and then joined British Airways Ltd, who sold it to PLUNA in October 1938.

CX-ABG was built as G-ADYE for British Continental Airways and joined British Airways Ltd when it took BCA over.  BAL sold the aircraft to PLUNA in November 1937.*

BCA's colours were overall silver with a red and blue cheat line.  British Airways DH.86s adopted Hillmans' colours, which for the DH.86 were blue fuselage with white letters and silver wings with blue lettering.  I don't have a picture of a PLUNA DH.86 to compare with, but if you do, hopefully the above will help you interpret the colours.

 

*Those dates make the registrations look to have been issued in the 'wrong' order - I took them from Gatwick Aviation Society's 'de Havilland Biplane Transports', and they do seem to agree with other published sources.

[tpat]

Thanks Lazy8, that's lots of info, Graham M Simmons book on the DH86 shows the PLUNA 86 looking like its' fuselage is painted in a very dark colour with white or cream fuselage stripe and engine flashes.