Color Scheme: Interim Colors - DC-8 SHIP ONE IN IT'S FINAL AIRLINE COLORS & REGISTRATION.

Registration: XA-DOE, "Quintana Roo"

Composition: A Refinished Douglas Factory Polished Aluminum Model

Dimensions: Length: 35.5" (91cm), Wingspan 34" (86cm)

Condition: Mint

Model History: I acquired the blank for this model with the help of my friend Jim Powroznik. This blank is perfect for a Ship One model because when Douglas converted Ship One from a Series 11 with Pratt & Whitney JT3C Turbo Jet, with Water Injection Engines, to a Series 51 with Pratt & Whitney JT3D Turbo FAN Engines they modified the original pylons to accommodate the Fan Engines rather than install all new pylons like on later DC-8 Series 50 Aircraft. Please see the pictures below which show the difference between the pylon types:

^^^Standard DC-8-10>40 Pylons (Modified for Ship One) ^^^ ||| |^^^|Newly Designed Pylons for DC-8-50/61 FanJet Engines ^^^

You can see that the new pylons were diagonal from the aft of the engine to the wing bottom. This may seem like a "picky" detail but it was important to me to have this correctly depicted. Additionally, these modified pylons were used on some United & Delta DC-8-11/12/21 aircraft which were later converted to DC-8-51 aircraft. Once the blank was professionally polished I sent it over to the Philippines & Airborne Replicas did a fine job in reproducing the Aeromexico livery used only on Ship One. This livery differed from the other Aeromexico DC-8 liveries which utilized a polished metal roof rather than the white roof used on the Ship One aircraft. Many Thanks To Don Stephens & Airborne Replicas For Doing A Great Job On This Complicated Livery!

Aeromexico's DC-8 History: Aeronaves De Mexico, the predecessor to Aeromexico, was founded in 1934 with the help of Pan American, who owned 40 percent of the new Mexican airline. The 1930s and 1940s were a quiet period for the airline but in the 1950s Aeronaves really took off. First they were nationalized by the Mexican Government. Next, they reorganized and expanded both internally and externally with the take over of some of their competitor airlines. In 1958 , Aeronaves began service on the profitable Mexico City to Los Angles route using the turboprop Bristol Britannia. Other long haul services were handled by the DC-6B. The 1960s saw more international expansion and the beginning of the jet age for Aeronaves with the introduction of the DC-8. Sadly, the first DC-8 for Aeronaves, which had been delivered by Douglas to Eastern Airlines in Aeronaves colors (for immediate lease to Aeronaves), flew for two short months before crashing on takeoff en route from New York-Idlewild to Mexico City. Click Here to See an Aeronaves de Mexico DC-8-21 Model of this First Aircraft. Fortunately, Aeronaves took Factory Deliveries six additional DC-8s and leased several other DC-8s which enabled continued expansion. In February 1972 Aeronaves de Mexico was officially renamed Aeromexico. Aeromexico was the last airline to operate Douglas DC-8 'Ship One' from 1979-1982 as XA-DOE. After it was returned to the lessor - FB Ayer & Assoc. it was registered back to it's original registration of N8008D and stored at Marana, Arizona. Sadly, 'Ship One' was to never fly again. The DC-8 continued to soldier on for the Aeromexico through the 1970s and 1980s and they sold their last DC-8 in November, 1989. Click Here to See Aeronaves de Mexico/Aeromexico's DC-8 Fleet Information.

Click Here to View a Photo of the Actual Aircraft
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Photo Courtesy Of & Many Thanks To: AIRLINERS.NET and Photographer Frank C. Duarte Jr.