Color Scheme: Final Colors

Registration: N9000

Composition: A Refinished Douglas Factory Polished Aluminum Model

Dimensions: Length: 26" (66.5cm), Wingspan 22.5" (58cm)

Condition: Mint

Model History: I acquired the blank from a private collector in May, 2003. It was in Delta Air Lines livery but in very poor shape. In addition to the decals and paint being in bad condition, both horizontal stabilizers were bent downward. My friend Jim Powroznik (James Powroznik Custom Models), Clovis, CA. straightened out the stabilizers for me. I then had it professionally polished and returned it to Jim to finish in Hughes Airwest Colors. He did a terrific job and I Picked It Up on August 9, 2003. Once Again Jim Thanks For The Outstanding Work! During my younger years West Coast / Air West / Hughes Airwest was the only carrier to serve the small town where I lived and I was very fortunate to fly on all 3 of these airlines. Having both an Air West & a Hughes Airwest DC-9 Model in my collection has great sentimental value to me and someday I hope to possibly have a West Coast Douglas Factory Polished Aluminum Model in my collection as well.

Hughes Airwest's DC-9 History: Air West was created on April 7, 1968 by the merger of three west coast "local service carriers" - Bonanza Airlines, Pacific Airlines & West Coast Airlines. The CAB had hoped that by merging these 3 airlines together the combined airline would be more profitable and less defendant on the US Government for subsidies to keep them solvent. Unfortunately this idea failed nearly right from the beginning and if Howard Hughes hadn't announced his intentions to buy Air West on August 12, 1968 then the airline would have faced certain bankruptcy. See Also Air West DC-9-14 Model & History. After receiving all of the governmental approvals, the change of ownership of the airline officially took place on March 31, 1970. Once Howard Hughes acquired the airline the name was changed to Hughes Airwest and effective July 1, 1970, the new name along with a new single paint scheme was adopted for all aircraft - a bright yellow fuselage with blue titles & logo. This new image was promoted as "Top Banana" and the new service as "Sundance Service"- both named after the bright yellow fuselages in the Hughes Airwest Fleet. This bright new scheme is certainly one of the more memorable airline schemes from the 1970s. Along with the new image came new management who was determined to turn the airline around from "bleeding cash" to "making cash." Once the return to profitability was achieved in the early 1970s, Hughes Airwest began expanding it's route system. To accomplish this they began acquiring more DC-9s on the used aircraft market - 'short' DC-9-15s from Continental to replace propjet F-27s in many markets and 'stretched' DC-9-30s from Hawaiian and Eastern to put on the higher traffic routes. Click Here to See Hughes Airwest's DC-9 Fleet Count. Hughes Airwest even began buying 727-200s for the very high traffic routes they had developed and/or acquired. Neither the death of Howard Hughes in 1976 nor the advent of deregulation in the US Aviation market in 1978 had an immediate impact on Hughes Airwest. However, by 1980 the consolidation of airlines was taking hold and Hughes Airwest wasn't to be left alone. A new airline named Republic, which was formed a year earlier by the merger of fellow local service airlines - North Central Airlines & Southern Airways, bought Hughes Airwest and folded the airline into Republic. This gave Republic a national presence and with the merger they became one of the "major" carriers (earlier known as "trunk" carriers). Republic Airlines was barely six years old when it too was "consumed" by another larger carrier - Northwest Airlines. Today, many of the "old" Hughes Airwest aircraft are still flying for Northwest.

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