dash7

A unique model of unique aircraft - stretched CL44 - CL-44J - were built for special order of the airline - Loftleidir from Iceland. Airline entered international market in fifties, and operated piston DC-4s and DC-6s. IATA allowed them to undercut tariffs (below then IATA ruled tickets fees), because they flew US via Keflavik to Luxembourg on slow propeller driven aircraft. In sixties Loftleidir had to change fleet - but did not buy jets initially - low fees and jets meant war with IATA.. They opted for turboprops - CL-44s - but not "standard" ones; they decided to.. stretch them to make more seats and profits. There were two plugs - 10 ft 2 in long in front and 5 ft 2 in aft of the wing. According to cl44.com "Canadair's engineering office worked out the "stretch" but Loftleidir owned the modification rights. The work was done in Montreal by Canadair increasing seating from 160 to 189". TF-LLF (model of which is made by Sky Classics) was first delivered to Loftleidir in 1964 as standard CL-44D-4 and later converted to CL-44J stretched version. In fact pax cabin of CL-44Js was of an exceptionally high standard and equipped with closed overhead bins, which later became an industry standard.. 95 ton MTOW aircraft strangely retained hinges of swing-tail aft cargo section of original freighter aircraft (but swinging tail section capability was deactivated in CL-44J)..

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Retroguy

...the beauty of collecting, when you find a special model isnt it?! Unique small number edition, hand made hand finished....lovely piece mon cher.
Thanks for sharing.
Rc

samu990

I flew this (or may have been the short version?) on my first trip to Europe in June 1969: NYC>Reykjavik>Luxembourg. Great low fares for students. Spent a long night (all daylight) in Reykjavik for an engine change.

Of course, I had to get the model.

727pilot

Nice one indeed!

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AIR FRANCE 340

Thank you Michal for these pictures.
This model has a lot of charm.

Jean Pierre.

TONY727747C47

This is one I want, when I was a kid near JFK in the 60's the sight and sound of this airplane was stirring, a true gem and the last of the big props ( international)operating regularly out of Kennedy .

dash7

Thank you colleagues for kind comments! Indeed, collecting is much more than only buying models, behind each and every plane there are some interesting stories..

Thijs

A Bristol Britannia, significantly stretched and with a Convair nose (supposedly a CV880 nose but not 100% exact). It was apparently much more fuel efficient than the B707 that it competed with. A very interesting aircraft.

MSR777

Back in '81, at least I think it was '81, I was lucky enough to go 'circuit bashing' at Shannon, for a few hours, on a CL44-D4 of a Luton based British cargo airline called Redcoat. The CL44 replaced one of their Britannias, which went down on a flight from Boston. I shall never forget the sound of those four RR Tynes at take off power on that 44!

That model is amazing. I really liked the Loftleidir livery on that aircraft. Looked good on their 'stretched' DC8s too.

Neil.

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Upkeep

Truly a most interesting variant of my all-time fave, the Bristol Britannia.

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MSR777

Wasn't there a maritime patrol version too?

Neil.

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jetfly1968

Intreasting and unique model. Love that sound of their RR engines. Nice model too. Thanks for posting. Looking forward for the Cyprus Airways none CL44D.

Regards Modestos

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dash7

There was Canadair CL-28 Argus, different modification that came from Britannia, but with.. piston RR-3350 engines (better optimised for typical profile of patrol operation), same as in eg. Constellation and DC-7.. Argus was initialy referred even as 'Britannia Maritime Reconnaissance'... The sound of turboprop Rolls Royce Tyne of CL-44 was really something special - but I heard it only on C160 Transall. And once on Short Belfast - what an impressive machine it was - she had +/- same payload as todays A400M and was designed more than 50 years ago! And Belfast wings were also derived from wings of Britannia. Ups, slight off topic...

Upkeep

I used to go to the airport with my Dad to watch the daily Canadian Pacific Airline Britannia flight arrive back during 1962-63. I'll never forget the sound and the majestic nature of that gorgeous leviathan as it approached our air terminal. Ooooo . . . getting goosebumps just typing this.

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Charlie Alpha

I would LOVE a Flying Tigers CL-44. One of my dream models, but I would actually settle for any reasonably priced CL-44.

Come on Aviation200!! You did a great job on the Britania models!! How about taking a shot at this one?

robertjon5

I like the look of this HEAVYLIFT! but way too expensive for me!!

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MSR777

Thanks for that information. Our ops office used to be in the same building as Heavylift, so I often saw and heard the Heavylift fleet of Belfasts, and the CL44-0 Guppy. We also used to see the Air Bridge Carriers Merchantman freighters twice a week....more Tynes! Now sadly, it's all 777Fs, or if you're 'lucky' an A300.

Neil.

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JOELBRU2

I ordered the Heavylift CL44J ... I do have also the Belfast and the CL-44 GUPPY.. Hope to make pictures soon !

MSR777

Having had something to do with each of those Heavylift types, it would be good to see your pictures when you're able to post them.

Neil.

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dash7

CL-44-O and Belfast - here is my "Heavy" fleet. C-130 and Il-76 inthis colors were also released..

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Upkeep

Actually, not completely. You know how you obsess over the engines of the 777's? Well, my festering obsession is the crappy landing gear on the aircraft I know the most about -- the Bristol Britannia. Believe it or not, Corgi got the landing gear in their 1:144 Britannias 100% correct. Its all about 1.) strut angle, and 2.) tracking of the main gear. Most of the rest is pretty good, save the antlers and wing tips.




Here you can see the strut angle leaning back, whereas ALL the 1:200 Britannias from the last 5-7 years back have the strut at 90º to the bogie. The tracking is also a mess. The same models ALL have the 4 wheels on each bogie equally spaced, where in fact, the front two are significantly closer together and the back two are wider apart. If you enlarge my image above, you can that clearly. And to add insult to injury, the front strut is just an unidentifiable mess.

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Charlie Alpha

I stand corrected.

I'd settle for a Corgi CL-44 too, even in 1:144 scale!! I would just like a good, reasonably priced CL-44 model in some scale close to 1:200, although 1:200 would be my preference.

Upkeep

I think we can cross Corgi off the list, although their 1:144 propliners weren't too bad. Nice size at that scale.

Yeah, I hear you. My preference would be 1:200 as well, but I just can't get past the gross landing gear error that the first (mould standard) manu made and nobody, but NOBODY corrected them as few collectors outside of the UK know very much about the Britannia -- nor care. When one does dig in, it becomes quite apparent that landing gear IS very unique to the Britannia. That majestic turboprop has been my life-long aviation obsession since first seeing it 1962, and for me, that would 53 years now.

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TONY727747C47

When did Loftleidir retire the CL-44's ? I don't recall seeing any beyond the late 1960's.