NG Models NG07035

NG Models NG07035 replicates in 1/400 scale diecast the B747SP-38 (-38 is Boeing’s customer code for Qantas), registration VH-EAA, named “City of Gold Coast Tweed” in Australia Asia Airlines livery, circa the early 1990s.

Australia Asia Airlines

Australia Asia Airlines was a subsidiary of Qantas that operated from 1990 until 1996. It was set up to run between Australia and Taiwan as the People’s Republic of China objected to countries with which it had diplomatic relations national carriers flying to Taiwan.

From 1996, with the airline’s privatisation, it operated under the Qantas brand.

Boeing 747SP

The B747 SP (Special Performance) is an American wide-body, four-engine jet airliner, a shortened version of the Boeing 747-100 with an extended range. It was the longest-range airliner until the entry into service of the B747-400 in 1989. Designed to compete with the DC-10 and L-1011 trijet, it first flew on July 4, 1975, entering service in 1976 with Pan Am.

The -SP is 14 m (47 ft) shorter and has enlarged vertical and horizontal tailplanes and simplified wing flaps. One airframe received modification for the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) mission. Production of the B747 SP ended in 1989, with only 45 airframes built; delivery of the last airliner occurred in 1987, and some have undergone conversion to VIP transport.

It has a flight crew of two pilots and a flight engineer; the passenger cabin seats up to 400, depending on the layout. The B747SP uses four pylon-mounted Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7 or Rolls-Royce RB211-524 high-bypass turbofan engines, two under each wing.