Color Scheme: Delivery Colors

Registration: PK-GJD

Composition: A Douglas Factory Style Polished Aluminum Model made by Gary Field

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

Condition: Excellent

Model History: The blank for this model was made for me by my friend Gary Field in March 2003 using a pattern from an Original Douglas Factory DC-8-50 blank. In March 2004 I sent it to my friend Don Stevens at Airborne Replicas for finishing in the Philippines & received it back on August 14, 2004. I really wanted a Garuda Model in the Delivery Colors of the one DC-8 that they took factory delivery of, which was PK-GJD, and could never find one. In my opinion this original livery was so much more beautiful than their later ones in the 1970s. Once Again Airborne Did A Terrific Job of Hand Painting This Scheme - Many Thanks To Don & The Staff At Airborne!

Garuda's DC-8 History: Garuda Indonesian Airways began services in 1949 at the time when the Dutch East Indies ceased to exist and the country became the sovereign Federal Republic of Indonesia. The formation & direction of Garuda was assisted a great deal by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and the influence from the Dutch Airline continued into the 1950s, 60s &70s. In fact, it was KLM who enabled Garuda to expand their long haul Intercontinental Services by leasing them DC-8s to supplement the one Factory Delivered DC-8 Garuda had acquired from Douglas. The DC-8 fleet was utilized until 1980 when Garuda's last DC-8 was retired and wide body DC-10-30 & 747s had taken over all of the long haul routes.
Click Here to See Garuda's DC-8 Fleet Information.

* Explanation of the "L" in DC-8-55L: When Douglas made the DC-8F-54, DC-8F-55 & DC-8-55 models they were able to push the aft bulkhead further back into the tail and thus increase the cargo and/or passenger capacity. The Passenger Versions of the DC-8-55 (and two DC-8-53s) were made in two variants to accommodate airline requests. The first variant left the aft bulkhead location & interior the same as in earlier DC-8 variants and was designated by Douglas as the 'L' for "less aft bulkhead." This variant was ordered by Garuda, Japan Air Lines & KLM. The second variant included the relocation of the aft bulkhead further back & thus increased the interior size which accommodated up to 189 passengers (up from 179). This variant was designated by Douglas as the 'AB' for "aft bulkhead" (extension) and was ordered by SAS (DC-8-55) & VIASA (DC-8-53). If you would like to see a Complete List of Technical Information for All DC-8 Variants Please Click on the 'DC-8 Technical Information' Link on my Home Page.

Click Here to View a Photo of the Actual Aircraft
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Photo Courtesy Of & Many Thanks To: AIRLINERS.NET and Photographer Mel Lawrence.