Color Scheme: Delivery Colors

Registration: N100WA

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

Dimensions: Length: 44" (112cm), Wingspan 35" (89cm)

Condition: Excellent

Model History: The blank for this model was made for me by my friend Gary Field using a pattern from an Original Douglas Factory DC-8-61 Fuselage & Original Douglas Factory DC-8-62 Wing which I had. In my 30+ years of collecting I have yet to find an Original Douglas Factory Polished Aluminum DC-8-63 Finished Model or blank that could be refinished (though I do know that some were made). Thus when Gary agreed to make this blank for me I was Very Happy & Relieved because 2 of the 44 Original Delivery Customers flew Only the DC-8-63(CF) and they were World Airways & American Flyers Airline. To reach my goal of collecting a large scale metal DC-8 model of each of the 44 Original Delivery Customers I had to have at least 2 DC-8-63s. In another stroke of luck, I had acquired 1 set of decals of each of these two airlines back in 1973 from Marketing Aids (Model Maker For Douglas/McDonnell Douglas). I gave these very old (and wrinkled) decals and the model blank to my friend Jim Powroznik (James Powroznik Custom Models), Clovis, CA. and He Beautifully Refinished It for me - which is Really Amazing - considering the decal's condition. I picked it up from Jim on July 6, 2003. Gary, Thank You For Making It Possible To Complete My Collection by Making These Blanks For Me! Once Again, Jim Thanks For Your Outstanding Refinishing Work!

One other point of interest with this model is it's stand. The metal riser is made from a jet engine turbine blade - presumably from a DC-8 turbine blade.
If you would like to see a close-up of the stand and turbine blade - click here.

World Airways DC-8 History: World Airways began service back in 1948 as one of the many "non scheduled" airlines (or supplemental airlines as they were later known) which were started after World War II. The airline floundered in it's first two years until a gentleman named Edward Joseph Daly bought it for $50,000 and assumed it's $250,000 in debt. Daly aggressively pursued government contracts and with his leadership the little airline grew with the use of DC-4s, DC-6s & Lockheed Constellations. In early 1960s World acquired Boeing 707 & 727 aircraft to replace the propeller equipment and continued to grow - thanks mostly to US Military contracts - for both domestic and overseas services. In 1971 World took delivery of 3 Factory New DC-8-63CFs and 3 more used DC-8-63CFs were acquired in 1972/73. Click Here to See World's DC-8 Fleet Information. These long haul, high capacity DC-8s enabled World to become one of the largest, if not -the- largest, of the supplemental carriers to haul military troops and goods, for the US Government, back and forth across the pacific during the Vietnam War . Thus the 1970s was a very profitable period for World but that would all change with the advent of the deregulation of the US airline industry in 1978. Ed Daly & World Airways welcomed deregulation and looked forward to starting scheduled airline services with the addition of DC-10s and 747s to it's fleet. On April 11, 1979 World quickly started "Coast to Coast" service from Los Angeles & Oakland to the Newark (New York) & Baltimore (Washington DC) areas at "bargain basement" fares. The flights initially ran full but then a combination of the DC-10 fleet being temporarily grounded, an employee strike and cutthroat competition from the existing transcontinental airlines (United, American, etc.) forced World's financial condition into a downward spiral during the early 1980s. When Ed Daly died in January 1984 the airline's situation worsened and the losses grew. Fortunately, from 1986 onward World did an astonishing turnaround - rather than simply go out of business as many of the other supplemental airlines did during the post deregulation era. They quit trying to compete with the powerful scheduled airlines, reverted back to passenger and cargo charters & contract flying for other airlines and standardized their fleet on one type of aircraft - the DC-10 and later the newer variant - the MD-11. This enabled World Airways to become one of the few supplemental airline survivors of deregulation which is still flying today - and thus we have a happy ending to a very resilient airline who has now operated for over 55 years.

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