Color Scheme: Final Colors

Registration: N6571C

Composition: A Refinished Douglas Factory Polished Aluminum Model

Dimensions: Length: 35.5" (90cm), Wingspan 34" (86cm)

Condition: Near Mint

Model History: This model was originally produced and finished in National Colors in the late-1960s. When I acquired it on October 7, 2000 the paint scheme was in pretty poor shape. I then sent it to my friend Don Stevens at Airborne Replicas for refinishing in the Philippines. I received it back on April 2, 2001 and they did a Terrific Job on it!

Update - April, 2008: The bare metal on this model was oxidizing quite a bit so I had the wing re-polished professionally & I hand polished the fuselage section. This really brought out the shine in the metal so I took new photos which are shown above.

Note On The Yellow Radome On This Model: Some of you might wonder "why the yellow colored radome on this model?" While most airlines painted their radome's (the cover over the radar compartment on the tip of the aircraft's nose) in gray, National chose to paint their radomes in this yellow color when they changed to the new Sunking Color Scheme. I presume the color was chosen to nearly match the yellow in the new scheme. While most of their DC-8s wore these yellow radomes, some could still be seen wearing the more traditional gray color.

National Airline's DC-8 History: National Airlines was an Original Delivery Customer of the DC-8. They received their first 3 DC-8-21s in 1960 and placed them in service on their lucrative New York - Idlewild to Miami and Tampa routes and their Philadelphia to Miami route. They had originally ordered six DC-8-21s from Douglas but cancelled the last 3 in favor of ordering 6 Factory Delivered DC-8-51 Fan Jets which had more power and produced less noise than the DC-8-21s. To add much needed capacity during the 1960-62 period, prior to the delivery of the new order, National leased DC-8-51 'Ship One' N8008D from Douglas and had the distinction of being the first airline operator of 'Ship One.' The delivery of the 6 new DC-8-51s in 1962 allowed further expansion on the east coast and more importantly allowed National to begin their recently awarded "Southern Transcontinental Routes." These routes incorporated service from Florida to New Orleans, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. This was the beginning of the era when National Airlines truly lived up to it's name & to reflect this they adopted the new sales slogan of Service from "Coast to Coast to Coast " and a new Color Scheme that was similar to the original "Airline of the Stars" scheme but used a new logo which National referred to as the "Purposeful N" Logo. National also purchased 4 used DC-8-32s from Northwest Airlines to supplement their expansion into the jet age. In 1967 & '68 National accepted Factory Delivery of two stretch DC-8-61s which were utilized on the high volume New York - Florida and Florida - California routes. Early in 1968 National also adopted their third color scheme on the DC-8 -- the very colorful "Sunking" Scheme which National utilized until they were acquired by Pan American. Finally, in 1969 National leased two DC-8F-54s from Airlift International to use in inaugurating service from Miami to London, England. National continued to utilize it's DC-8 fleet into the mid-1970s with the last DC-8 being sold on December 1, 1975. Click Here to See National's DC-8 Fleet Information. With the advent of airline deregulation in 1978 National was sought after by several airlines but ultimately Pan American won out and the two airlines merged on January 7, 1980 with Pan Am being the survivor. Though Pan Am had finally acquired the domestic routes they has wanted for decades it was just too little, too late and Pan Am faced bankruptcy in the late 1980s. By November 1989 we not only lost the great "National Airlines" and then we lost our National Flag Carrier - "Pan American World Airways" as well.

Links To Other National Models On This Web Site:
DC-8-61 1/400 Scale in Delivery "Purposeful N" Colors
DC-8-61 1/500 Scale in Sunking Colors

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