Wings Model

__________________
www.wingsmodel.com

fazeman

Thanks for posting a picture of this aircraft. I couldn't find a thread from DAC under Gemini New Releases.

I received mine last week and it's a beauty. But, I had the task of straightening the T-tail. I placed a soft cloth between the vertical stabilizer and my needle nose pliers. Applying a little pressure to the right (Gemini's T-tails are always bent to the left or portside), the stab starting moving toward the center fuselage. Making little fuss, it lined up dead center. Much happier now.

__________________
Steve

richie154

I got this model today and it is FAN freakin' TASTIC.

__________________
The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose. An evil soul producing holy witness is like a villian with a smiling cheek, a goodly apple rotten at the heart. Oh, what a goodly outside falsehood hath!

Private Pilot: 10/20/2005
Private Multi Engine: 05/09/2008
The more things change, the more Mesa still sucks.

Planecrazy

I mean no disrespect to residents of Africa, but I was surprised that this livery was selected as one of the very first ones to be made. I had never heard of the airline and only knew that East Africa is regarded as where human civilization started. Can anyone enlighten we ignorant people on the history of this carrier?

ANTHONY F DUVA JR

I left the slightly crooked tail the way it is - no big deal.

East African was formed in the late 50s by the governments of Kenya, Tanzania (then called Tanganyika, until 1963) and Uganda after they won their independence from UK. It was a multi-national consortium like SAS or Air Afrique. The airline lasted until the spring of 1977. Each nation then formed its own flag carrier. The color scheme on the VC-10 is the final scheme, but I forgot whether or not the VC-10 lasted until the very end. Other long-range jets included the Comet 4 and 707. Short-range equipment was the DC-3 and F.27.

Some people do not like the gaps that the moving stabilizer create, but I think it's a nice feature (the moving stab, not the gaps), along with the rolling wheels with rubber tires.

__________________

fazeman

Of the five VC10s that East African purchased, four of them flew until the end. That included the one released by Gemini, registration 5H-MOG.

Officially, the airline went bankrupt on January 28, 1977. 5H-MOG made its final flight from Nairobi, Kenya to Bristol, England on August 3, 1977. In 1978, it was converted to a RAF refuelling tanker along with the others.

Sources: 1) East African, An Airline Story by Peter J. Davis. 2) Wikepedia - East African Airways.

__________________
Steve

Agent X20

Couple more piccies for you 400th lot......

Being a VC10 I had to at least have a look... thanks to Mr Skyrail these flew back across the pond...

__________________

Agent X20

STEVEJ

I think the main reason for this being one of the first made was that East African was third largest purchaser of a new VC-10 after BOAC and the RAF. There weren't very many foriegn sales of this aircraft.

BTW nice pics and GJ really did a nice job on both these models.