What if Alaska Airlines added the 757 to their fleet in 1984?

Sentinel Chicken · 02-03-2003, 12:37 PM

Some of you have already seen these elsewhere, but it's time to share over here....

Alaska Airlines was the launch customer for the ultimate 737 variant, the 737-900 and the highest capacity variant of the series and the latest of the 737NG line. In November 1997 Alaska ordered 10 (later 13) of the -900 variant as the launch customer. In the development of the -900 variant, airlines like Alaska were looking for something with 757 capacity and performance but with the commonality with the rest of the 737 family that by the late 1990s were still very much a ubiquitous part of most airlines' fleets.

But what if somewhere along the way Alaska actually did order and put into revenue service the Boeing 757-200? I had started out initially doing the 757 in Alaska's current colors, but it then expanded to develop a sort of alternative history of the 757 in Alaska's fleet.

The Pratt & Whitney PW2037-powered 757 variant entered service with Delta Airlines in 1984, being the second powerplant choice to fly after the initial Rolls-Royce RB211-powered variant. If Alaska had decided to order the 757 at the time, the planes would have featured the old colors which were introduced into the Alaska fleet sometime around 1977 which took the Eskimo tail paired with split cheatline of blue and green.

The old Alaska colors were then replaced in 1990 with the current colors which kept the Eskimo tail but added bold script "Alaska" titles with a modified cheatline and pinstriping on the engines. This is one sharp livery for the 757.

On a whimsy, I found that putting the 757 into service in 1984 made for 19 years and so it why not celebrate 20 years of 757 operations in 2004 with a retrojet of their own? One of the most elegant of retro liveries is the first version of the Golden Nugget livery which featured a stylized bird of prey on the fuselage (long before Air Canada's "Free Spirit" 767 featured one on their planes, Alaska did it on their entire fleet in the 1960s) with a similarly styled bird on the tail in yellowish-gold on a sweeping red field. This was the livery used on the CV880s and 990s of the day and looks just as good if you ask me on the 757 as Alaska's "Golden Nugget Retrojet". The black radome was also part of the overall livery. While most folks know the Golden Nugget livery as the second version of this scheme which replaced the stylized bird with the Golden Nugget logo. This version of the livery was introduced into Alaska's fleet in 1966, but the Golden Nugget name was introduced into Alaska's marketing before the livery revision.

Enjoy!

Sentinel Chicken · 02-03-2003, 12:38 PM

And here's the 757 version of Seahawk 1...

R. Minor · 02-03-2003, 12:49 PM

Great job J.P...

Hows about a 757 in Piedmont colours?

Avronaut · 02-07-2003, 10:02 AM

Nice images-love the retro-2004 scheme!!!

richie154 · 02-07-2003, 09:42 PM

SC, im speechless........i am without speech! i wish AS did buy 752's, they look so good in AS colors. the Golden Nugget looks the best. for some reason, 757's seem to be good for retrojets...Avianca, American, Mexicana...i wish other airlines would follow suit.

Gordon Werner · 02-13-2003, 08:31 PM

Alaska was going to get 757s but their ground handler's union said no way ... too high (baggage bins off of the ground)

so they got MD-80s

Gordon

General Buck Turgidson · 05-08-2003, 12:39 AM

The General best describes his reaction to this particular work as "Shock" and "Awe". If only Alaska got those 757s, this old crusty bastard of a warhorse can just picture one of these rocketing out of Juneau over Mendenhall Glacier.

Sentinel Chicken · 05-21-2003, 04:53 PM

I posted this last week over on Airlinebuzz.com, but here it is for general consumption for the locals here:

Picking up with the Alaska 757s that I posted here a while back, the debut of the Aeroclassics Alaska Icon Tail 727-100s got the guys over at The Chicken Works thinking again, and you know how dangerous that can be if those drunken rednecks think!

Alaska Airlines had their start in 1932 when they were established as McGhee Airways. Two years later they merged with fellow bush operator Star Air Service and the merged operation was subsequently renamed Alaska Star Airlines in 1943 after the acquisition of three more local service operators- Pollack Flying Service, Mirow Air, and Laverny Airways. With these airlines under their umbrella, 75% of air traffic in Alaska came under the control of one airline which would adopt the present name of Alaska Airlines in 1944.

Since my last Alaska 757 illustration was set in 2004 and hypothetically celebrated twenty years of 757 operations, this new illustration is set in 2004 also which would be Alaska's sixty year anninversary operating as Alaska Airlines. Okay, so technically Alaska goes back to 1932, but hey, I needed a nice round number and history obliged me with their incorporation under their current name in 1944.

In addition to the Golden Nugget Retrojet pictured at the top of this thread, Alaska might celebrate with by revisiting the famous Alaska Icon tails of the 1970s, only in modern form. The same four tails are used, but with the current Alaska livery. A gold cheatline is used in place of the teal colored cheatline and it's also used to outline the particular icon depicted on the tail much in the same manner as the current teal cheatline color is used to outline the Eskimo. The Alaska titles and main cheatlines are done in the same colors as the icon- blue for the eskimo, red for the prospector, green for the totem pole, and purple for the Russian church domes. It's a real sharp look in conjunction with Alaska's current livery.

Now I sit in anticipation of the mailman delivering my Alaska jets....enjoy!

richie154 · 05-21-2003, 05:12 PM

damn sc...damn, i like that a lot!

tech77jp · 05-22-2003, 11:43 AM

Awesome pics, I like the color variations! Would've been great to see these lined up at SEA or some other major Alaska airport.

02-03-2003, 12:37 PM	#1
Sentinel Chicken Go-Getters Go Ozark Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: DFW/THE GREAT STATE OF TEXAS Posts: 4,167	What if Alaska Airlines added the 757 to their fleet in 1984? Some of you have already seen these elsewhere, but it's time to share over here.... Alaska Airlines was the launch customer for the ultimate 737 variant, the 737-900 and the highest capacity variant of the series and the latest of the 737NG line. In November 1997 Alaska ordered 10 (later 13) of the -900 variant as the launch customer. In the development of the -900 variant, airlines like Alaska were looking for something with 757 capacity and performance but with the commonality with the rest of the 737 family that by the late 1990s were still very much a ubiquitous part of most airlines' fleets. But what if somewhere along the way Alaska actually did order and put into revenue service the Boeing 757-200? I had started out initially doing the 757 in Alaska's current colors, but it then expanded to develop a sort of alternative history of the 757 in Alaska's fleet. The Pratt & Whitney PW2037-powered 757 variant entered service with Delta Airlines in 1984, being the second powerplant choice to fly after the initial Rolls-Royce RB211-powered variant. If Alaska had decided to order the 757 at the time, the planes would have featured the old colors which were introduced into the Alaska fleet sometime around 1977 which took the Eskimo tail paired with split cheatline of blue and green. The old Alaska colors were then replaced in 1990 with the current colors which kept the Eskimo tail but added bold script "Alaska" titles with a modified cheatline and pinstriping on the engines. This is one sharp livery for the 757. On a whimsy, I found that putting the 757 into service in 1984 made for 19 years and so it why not celebrate 20 years of 757 operations in 2004 with a retrojet of their own? One of the most elegant of retro liveries is the first version of the Golden Nugget livery which featured a stylized bird of prey on the fuselage (long before Air Canada's "Free Spirit" 767 featured one on their planes, Alaska did it on their entire fleet in the 1960s) with a similarly styled bird on the tail in yellowish-gold on a sweeping red field. This was the livery used on the CV880s and 990s of the day and looks just as good if you ask me on the 757 as Alaska's "Golden Nugget Retrojet". The black radome was also part of the overall livery. While most folks know the Golden Nugget livery as the second version of this scheme which replaced the stylized bird with the Golden Nugget logo. This version of the livery was introduced into Alaska's fleet in 1966, but the Golden Nugget name was introduced into Alaska's marketing before the livery revision. Enjoy! __________________ *Piss on noise abatement!*

02-03-2003, 12:38 PM	#2
Sentinel Chicken Go-Getters Go Ozark Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: DFW/THE GREAT STATE OF TEXAS Posts: 4,167	And here's the 757 version of Seahawk 1... __________________ *Piss on noise abatement!*

02-03-2003, 12:49 PM	#3
R. Minor Mr. Moderator Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Orlando Age: 35 Posts: 4,426	Great job J.P... Hows about a 757 in Piedmont colours? __________________ Ron ~ MCO Fly Airbus Jets...

02-07-2003, 10:02 AM	#4
Avronaut Senior Collector Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Frankurt Age: 32 Posts: 446	Nice images-love the retro-2004 scheme!!! __________________ Remember the times when sex was safe and flying was dangerous? We need a 1/400 Canadair Jet,ASAP!!! Low Cost sucks!

02-07-2003, 09:42 PM	#5
richie154 Retired Hookah Master Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Valley of Heart's Delight Age: 24 Posts: 3,718	SC, im speechless........i am without speech! i wish AS did buy 752's, they look so good in AS colors. the Golden Nugget looks the best. for some reason, 757's seem to be good for retrojets...Avianca, American, Mexicana...i wish other airlines would follow suit. __________________ 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.

02-13-2003, 08:31 PM	#6
Gordon Werner Insane Collector Join Date: Jun 1998 Location: Somewhere else Age: 37 Posts: 2,059	Alaska was going to get 757s but their ground handler's union said no way ... too high (baggage bins off of the ground) so they got MD-80s Gordon

05-08-2003, 12:39 AM	#7
General Buck Turgidson Senior Collector Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: At a secret Air Force bunker in the US Midwest Posts: 312	The General's digging up the good stuff for review! The General best describes his reaction to this particular work as "Shock" and "Awe". If only Alaska got those 757s, this old crusty bastard of a warhorse can just picture one of these rocketing out of Juneau over Mendenhall Glacier. __________________ "I think there are many times when it would be most efficient to use nuclear weapons. However, the public opinion in this country and throughout the world throw up their hands in horror when you mention nuclear weapons, just because of the propaganda that's been fed to them."

05-21-2003, 04:53 PM	#8
Sentinel Chicken Go-Getters Go Ozark Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: DFW/THE GREAT STATE OF TEXAS Posts: 4,167	I posted this last week over on Airlinebuzz.com, but here it is for general consumption for the locals here: Picking up with the Alaska 757s that I posted here a while back, the debut of the Aeroclassics Alaska Icon Tail 727-100s got the guys over at The Chicken Works thinking again, and you know how dangerous that can be if those drunken rednecks think! Alaska Airlines had their start in 1932 when they were established as McGhee Airways. Two years later they merged with fellow bush operator Star Air Service and the merged operation was subsequently renamed Alaska Star Airlines in 1943 after the acquisition of three more local service operators- Pollack Flying Service, Mirow Air, and Laverny Airways. With these airlines under their umbrella, 75% of air traffic in Alaska came under the control of one airline which would adopt the present name of Alaska Airlines in 1944. Since my last Alaska 757 illustration was set in 2004 and hypothetically celebrated twenty years of 757 operations, this new illustration is set in 2004 also which would be Alaska's sixty year anninversary operating as Alaska Airlines. Okay, so technically Alaska goes back to 1932, but hey, I needed a nice round number and history obliged me with their incorporation under their current name in 1944. In addition to the Golden Nugget Retrojet pictured at the top of this thread, Alaska might celebrate with by revisiting the famous Alaska Icon tails of the 1970s, only in modern form. The same four tails are used, but with the current Alaska livery. A gold cheatline is used in place of the teal colored cheatline and it's also used to outline the particular icon depicted on the tail much in the same manner as the current teal cheatline color is used to outline the Eskimo. The Alaska titles and main cheatlines are done in the same colors as the icon- blue for the eskimo, red for the prospector, green for the totem pole, and purple for the Russian church domes. It's a real sharp look in conjunction with Alaska's current livery. Now I sit in anticipation of the mailman delivering my Alaska jets....enjoy! __________________ *Piss on noise abatement!*

05-21-2003, 05:12 PM	#9
richie154 Retired Hookah Master Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Valley of Heart's Delight Age: 24 Posts: 3,718	damn sc...damn, i like that a lot! __________________ 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.

05-22-2003, 11:43 AM	#10
tech77jp Senior Collector Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Osaka, Japan Posts: 435	Awesome pics, I like the color variations! Would've been great to see these lined up at SEA or some other major Alaska airport. __________________ "Everything good in life is either illegal, immoral, or fattening." - Murphy http://www.soaringcapture.tk/

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