Purpleplane
Well-known member
I should have kept reading, you answered my question. Again, well done. Great info on each one.
Retro Sioux Falls Airport
- Thread starter JJ Skippy
- Start date
British Airways fan
Active member
Nice retro haul @JJ Skippy glad to see the Bowling Shoe DC9 arrive safely, @redriveraviation if you are still looking for that Delta Widget 732 dm me as I have one for sale
JJ Skippy
Well-known member
Thank you! Glad to do business with you, hopefully I will be back soon.
danwashere
Active member
Looking good!Cranking it back further, we head into the 80s and 90s. Starting off with the 90s stuff:
First is this Northwest Douglas DC-9-30 Bowling Shoe. This livery was introduced in 1989, however it is very much associated with much of the 90s and early 2000s for the airline. These were the workhorse for FSD on the MSP services and this is a very valuable asset for the collection. Thanks goes to West Coast Diecast ( @danwashere ) for the model and the free fire truck too.
Next is this Delta 737-200 Widget. This was a model I was seeking for a while following the start of this project. There’s a good story behind how I got this, too, but here’s an abridged version: I was talking with Connor (@redriveraviation) on a Friday night in October when I caught wind of a Waffle collection sale from another fellow collector elsewhere. Connor spotted the Delta 732 Widget on the collection sale page and alerted me to it. He is also working on a retro airport project and does need this model, too, but he was very kind to let me get it first, which I very much appreciate. Thanks so much buddy, hopefully you’re able to get one in the future, whether it’s Gemini’s release or even the supposed new Aeroclassics one that got leaked. Regarding its presence at FSD, it appeared following Delta’s acquisition of Western in 1987, leading to 732s flying in from SLC and RAP. This mainline service was dropped by 1994 (a SkyWest CRJ service continued) and Delta wouldn’t return until the NWA merger in 2008.
Finally for this section, we have the Ozark DC-9. A lovely model recently released by Aeroclassics, Ozark was a huge check mark I was missing for Retro FSD. I do have their F-27 which was announced this past February, and later found out these flew to FSD in the early to mid 1960s, but what I really wanted was a DC-9. This livery was introduced very late in the 1970s, but will prove useful for much of the 1980s. Following the TWA acquisition, TWA continued to operate these aircraft until they were acquired by American in 2001.
Good job! Really enjoyed it! An amazing haul of Christmas models!
JJ Skippy
Well-known member
In addition to the upcoming update, I did want to make another post about another acquisition I made following the Christmas holiday: a Western Convair 240. I did post about this model previously, as a rough sequence of events followed shortly after I unboxed it; see this thread for details. The Convairs were one of the first Western aircraft to operate to FSD, alongside the DC-3, the latter of which was extremely common at the airport in the 50s and 60s. Based on a 1956 timetable, these planes flew on direct flights from Denver, Denver via Pierre, SD, and Minneapolis.
Purpleplane
Well-known member
I'm going to guess and say 2008-2009 era?
JJ Skippy
Well-known member
Bingo!
Purpleplane
Well-known member
Cool! the Delta in the current livery helped me figure it out...debuted in 2008.
JJ Skippy
Well-known member
Next arriving into my collection is this United 737-200 Saul Bass. Released by Aeroclassics last February, I had been contemplating whether or not to buy it, since I already have the 737-300 from Gemini Jets, and they were operated on an equal number of routes as each other. Figuring I could use it as an extra United mainline aircraft in future 90s Retro FSD updates, I decided to get it off an eBay listing. Look out for this in an upcoming Retro FSD update.
(Sorry about the graininess of the photo)
(Sorry about the graininess of the photo)
JJ Skippy
Well-known member
Coming across some more good information; I found this newspaper clipping dated July 10, 1966, advertising the first Ozark DC-9 jet service, which did include Sioux Falls. I'm hopeful to find a timetable that was effective for the time that this service began, so hopefully I am to come across it in the future.
JJ Skippy
Well-known member
Finding more valuable information makes me happy. When I was looking through TWA timetables from around the early 90s, I noticed that the airline was absent from FSD from around 1992 to 1995, which coincided with their bankruptcy filings. Their first was in January 1992, the second in May 1995. Luckily, a Flickr post I came across, which showcased a late 1991 TWA route map, had some valuable information, which said that mainline service was discontinued to a number of cities in October of 1992, including Sioux Falls.
Here's the link to the Flickr post if you want to read it yourself.
Here's the link to the Flickr post if you want to read it yourself.
Atlspotter
Well-known member
I’d go with 1993-1994, because the Battleship Grey was introduced 1993, and the NWA gray/red was retired 1994
Purpleplane
Well-known member
I'll go with 1995-1996, because the TWA DC-9-30 in that scheme was introduced in 1995. The NWA "bowling shoe" scheme wasn't retired until 2003.
It could be as late as 2001 though...the United 727-200s were retired after 9/11
JJ Skippy
Well-known member
The previous two guesses were a bit early; the actual update takes place in February 1998. I know some Saul Bass planes survived through most of the 90s; heck, I was told Saul Bass planes could be seen as late as 2002!
Some other news I want to share: remastered updates of the 2000 and 2004 eras will be worked on in the coming weeks. In addition, I am planning on doing another 1990s update; I can’t go further back than 1995 right now as I am lacking a Twin Stripes DC-9.
For now, enjoy this closeup shot of a Northwest DC-9-30 Bowling Shoe.
Some other news I want to share: remastered updates of the 2000 and 2004 eras will be worked on in the coming weeks. In addition, I am planning on doing another 1990s update; I can’t go further back than 1995 right now as I am lacking a Twin Stripes DC-9.
For now, enjoy this closeup shot of a Northwest DC-9-30 Bowling Shoe.
JJ Skippy
Well-known member
For our next post, we have another new acquisition: a Braniff L-188 Electra in the Red Jellybean paint scheme.
Surprisingly, Braniff flew these to FSD for a short time; a February 1967 timetable I found on eBay indicated that Electras were sent here alongside the jet BAC One Eleven. Waffle had a bunch of these laying around a little while back, and recently he has listed the BAC One Elevens too, so I’m in a bit of a pickle here!
I’m still figuring out how long exactly the Electras flew here and how far into 1967 Braniff stayed in FSD; I am in search of timetables from 1966 and 1967, or if anyone has information they can pull from those timetables and would like to share, feel free to do so!
P.S. I did find another Retro FSD model in Waffle’s 2,000+ piece collection sale; stay tuned to see what it is! Think 10-pin style
Surprisingly, Braniff flew these to FSD for a short time; a February 1967 timetable I found on eBay indicated that Electras were sent here alongside the jet BAC One Eleven. Waffle had a bunch of these laying around a little while back, and recently he has listed the BAC One Elevens too, so I’m in a bit of a pickle here!
I’m still figuring out how long exactly the Electras flew here and how far into 1967 Braniff stayed in FSD; I am in search of timetables from 1966 and 1967, or if anyone has information they can pull from those timetables and would like to share, feel free to do so!
P.S. I did find another Retro FSD model in Waffle’s 2,000+ piece collection sale; stay tuned to see what it is! Think 10-pin style
Purpleplane
Well-known member
Perhaps a Northwest 727 in bowling shoe?For our next post, we have another new acquisition: a Braniff L-188 Electra in the Red Jellybean paint scheme.
Surprisingly, Braniff flew these to FSD for a short time; a February 1967 timetable I found on eBay indicated that Electras were sent here alongside the jet BAC One Eleven. Waffle had a bunch of these laying around a little while back, and recently he has listed the BAC One Elevens too, so I’m in a bit of a pickle here!
I’m still figuring out how long exactly the Electras flew here and how far into 1967 Braniff stayed in FSD; I am in search of timetables from 1966 and 1967, or if anyone has information they can pull from those timetables and would like to share, feel free to do so!View attachment 13579
P.S. I did find another Retro FSD model in Waffle’s 2,000+ piece collection sale; stay tuned to see what it is! Think 10-pin style
