Perth Airport, Western Australia

[Gavin Miller]

AeroClassics has released another model I "needed" for my 1/400 scale "old Perth" diorama - a USAF VIP fleet VC-137C.

A couple of VC-137Bs visited Perth during the 1980s - SAM 86970 and SAM 86972. SAM 86970 brought then US Secretary of State George Bush to Perth in July 1985. The AeroClassics model is unfortunately of a much more famous sister ship - SAM 26000 - which previously wore "Air Force One" livery in the days of Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. A little acetone will remove the tail code and a decal can replace it.

[EDIT: Perhaps not. Just realised the VC-137B is based on the 707-120B airframe and the VC-137C is based on the longer 707-320C airframe. Doh!]


DSC09108d by Gavin Miller, on Flickr

[ACpilot]

Very nice!

Dan

[Gavin Miller]

After over a year (or two?) of not buying anything in 1/400 scale, all of a sudden I've acquired a bunch of new models to fill holes in my "Perth Airport Visitors" collection.

Three are recent AeroClassics releases and two I've only just caught up with.

The Malaysian Airlines System 707 will replace the earlier AC release on the inferior mould which I've never really been happy with.

A China Airlines liveried 707 came through Perth in the 1980s as a US registered freighter with "Jet Cargo" titles - so a little acetone and decal work to be done.

Gavin

[Yellow_Ribbon]

Gavin,

Went through some slides at the SFO Collectible show (picked up a good many SFO and Bay Area stuff) and this particular one caught my eye....Now a part of the collection.


(Very rough scan attached)

Always reminded of your diorama whenever Perth comes to mind!

(I hope it's Perth, basing it off of that Cargo building and Ansett. Near the end of your timeframe?)

-Andy

[Gavin Miller]

(I hope it's Perth, basing it off of that Cargo building and Ansett. Near the end of your timeframe?)

-Andy

Hi Andy. Yes, that's definitely Perth all right. Like you said, at the end of my time period. Looks like the "QANTAS AIR CARGO" sign has already been taken down off the background building so no doubt this is post-1986 (after QANTAS moved operations to the new international terminal on the other side of the field). Sadly, the buildings were soon demolished and my familiar landmarks disappeared.

Gavin

[Yellow_Ribbon]

Hi Andy. Yes, that's definitely Perth all right. Like you said, at the end of my time period. Looks like the "QANTAS AIR CARGO" sign has already been taken down off the background building so no doubt this is post-1986 (after QANTAS moved operations to the new international terminal on the other side of the field). Sadly, the buildings were soon demolished and my familiar landmarks disappeared.

Gavin

Thanks Gavin, uploaded it to Jetphotos (Can't access Airliners for some reason?) but it's number 8,500 in line, so here it is on flickr.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/138883...etaken-public/



Take Care Gavin,

Andy

[Yellow_Ribbon]

Gavin if you're still around on the site-

Looks like somebody has made Perth for Flight Sim - "1965/1975 Brisbane & 1963/1973 Perth Retro Aussie Scenery " by by Aaron Seymour, with assistance from Tom Gibson:

"YPPH: Replacing the Maylands Aerodrome, the Perth Airport opened at its present location in Guildford in the late 1930s, but was quickly pressed into RAAF service with the onset of WW2. A combination of commercial services were shared between PER and nearby Maylands until incremental improvements culminated in the opening of a proper passenger terminal at PER in 1962, just in time for the Commonwealth Games that year. Perth had become an important stopover point between South Asia and Sydney for various propliners and early jets by this time. Not long after, MMA and TAA propliner services were joined by 727 and later DC-9 services.

Also around this time, Perth was seeing increasing international service and the 747 became a regular visitor. Facilities were upgraded to reflect the growing traffic but would eventually prove insufficient and a new international terminal complex was to later open in the mid-1980s on the other side of the airport. The changes between eras in the original propliner/jet terminal arrangement are depicted in rough approximations of 1963 and 1973 configurations."

Can be found on flightsim.com

Images link:https://www.flickr.com/photos/161311...7/47102806282/

Early 60s:




Early 70s





Was able to recognize the buildings when I first saw it posted. Thanks for putting Perth on the map!

[Gavin Miller]

Thanks for posting Andy. Not a bad effort - they have almost got the concrete ramp and asphalt taxiways correct. The buildings are similarly laid out to the originals but I'm not sure where they got their details from. The tan and white two level building right beside the apron is particularly intriguing - that must have come from their own imaginations I think. But it certainly captures the look and feel of Perth in that era.

Gavin

[SPEEDBIRDGLA]

Just spent half the afternoon armchair planespotting at PER. The new airport looks very impressive. It is very futuristic, international in design but completely lacks that essential Aussie charm as replicated in your airport Gavin. Having said that the new airport would be a good basis for a model if you wanted to switch its location around, ie Euro jets one week and Asian or US carriers the next.

For those that want to see the new airport vision:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVEFz_073Uw