JJ Skippy
Well-known member
Over the last couple of years, North Central Airlines has become a very prominent airline in my collection. With a couple of personal connections I recently discovered (one was a pilot, another a flight attendant), and its proximity to my home base, it’s also become my favorite retro carrier.
For part 1 of my unofficial series on MAF focusing on North Central Airlines, I want to take a look at the models of North Central that have been done over the years. Let’s start with the basics.
North Central’s Model Presence
According to the DiMA database prior to its shutdown, just 10 North Central models have been released between 2004 and 2020. This does not include the latest release in 2024; Waffle Man doesn’t like to add the latest Aeroclassics to his database right away. So technically, there are at least 11 North Central models that have been made, plus I’m sure countless large-scale, corporate-only models were made, alongside many customs as well that weren’t documented on DiMA. I remember seeing one of these larger-scale models at Airliners International in Dallas last year:
Note the registration (N900NC); this was likely made before NC received their first DC-9. I don’t believe it was for sale
Now let’s look at each individual North Central model in 1:400 scale. As of July 2024, 9 exist in this scale. I have six of the nine (or two-thirds) in my collection, which considering how rare North Central models are, is a huge feat. The first North Central plane ever released in 1:400 was a DC-9-50 by Seattle Model Aircraft (SMA) in 2004 on N772NC. Coincidentally this was my first North Central model in my collection:
Aeroclassics released another DC-9-50 in 2020, N761NC. That one I’ve yet to find.
Another three years passed before someone else did another Herman plane; Netmodels was the next to bite in 2007 with a DC-9-30, N952N. Their mould isn’t exactly the greatest but it’s something I can live with:
Next came a more prominent manufacturer in Aeroclassics with their own DC-9-30 rendition the same year, N943N. I was very fortunate to have @redriveraviation gift me this model after he found it at a collectibles show in Chicago for a shockingly good price; thank you so much for this model!
Aeroclassics did another two North Central DC-9s the same year (perhaps the same release?), this next one with a Republic hybrid and polished fuselage on N961N. This livery did exist, as one photo on hermantheduck.org showed.
Another Republic hybrid was made with a white top, N963N. This is another model I’ve yet to find.
In 2016, Aeroclassics released the first non-jet North Central plane with a Convair 340, N90855. Surprisingly, they chose to do the older livery, dubbed the Golden Feather. So far this is the only scale model to be in this livery!
Gemini Jets threw their hat into the North Central ring in 2019 with a Convair 580 release, N2041. They also released two North Central planes in 1:200 scale (one CV-580 and one DC-9-30), to date the only examples in that scale.
After the aforementioned DC-9-50 in 2020 by Aeroclassics, that was the latest North Central release, until June 2024, when they did another Extended Nine with a Republic hybrid livery on N777NC. This livery also existed as showed by hermantheduck.org, but only briefly to showcase the new era about to begin for the airline. This was also the last aircraft to be delivered to North Central before the merger in 1979.
And that’s all the North Central planes in 1:400 scale to date! Which ones do you have? Which ones do you want to see made? Let’s discuss below!
For part 1 of my unofficial series on MAF focusing on North Central Airlines, I want to take a look at the models of North Central that have been done over the years. Let’s start with the basics.
North Central’s Model Presence
According to the DiMA database prior to its shutdown, just 10 North Central models have been released between 2004 and 2020. This does not include the latest release in 2024; Waffle Man doesn’t like to add the latest Aeroclassics to his database right away. So technically, there are at least 11 North Central models that have been made, plus I’m sure countless large-scale, corporate-only models were made, alongside many customs as well that weren’t documented on DiMA. I remember seeing one of these larger-scale models at Airliners International in Dallas last year:
Note the registration (N900NC); this was likely made before NC received their first DC-9. I don’t believe it was for sale
Now let’s look at each individual North Central model in 1:400 scale. As of July 2024, 9 exist in this scale. I have six of the nine (or two-thirds) in my collection, which considering how rare North Central models are, is a huge feat. The first North Central plane ever released in 1:400 was a DC-9-50 by Seattle Model Aircraft (SMA) in 2004 on N772NC. Coincidentally this was my first North Central model in my collection:
Aeroclassics released another DC-9-50 in 2020, N761NC. That one I’ve yet to find.
Another three years passed before someone else did another Herman plane; Netmodels was the next to bite in 2007 with a DC-9-30, N952N. Their mould isn’t exactly the greatest but it’s something I can live with:
Next came a more prominent manufacturer in Aeroclassics with their own DC-9-30 rendition the same year, N943N. I was very fortunate to have @redriveraviation gift me this model after he found it at a collectibles show in Chicago for a shockingly good price; thank you so much for this model!
Aeroclassics did another two North Central DC-9s the same year (perhaps the same release?), this next one with a Republic hybrid and polished fuselage on N961N. This livery did exist, as one photo on hermantheduck.org showed.
Another Republic hybrid was made with a white top, N963N. This is another model I’ve yet to find.
In 2016, Aeroclassics released the first non-jet North Central plane with a Convair 340, N90855. Surprisingly, they chose to do the older livery, dubbed the Golden Feather. So far this is the only scale model to be in this livery!
Gemini Jets threw their hat into the North Central ring in 2019 with a Convair 580 release, N2041. They also released two North Central planes in 1:200 scale (one CV-580 and one DC-9-30), to date the only examples in that scale.
After the aforementioned DC-9-50 in 2020 by Aeroclassics, that was the latest North Central release, until June 2024, when they did another Extended Nine with a Republic hybrid livery on N777NC. This livery also existed as showed by hermantheduck.org, but only briefly to showcase the new era about to begin for the airline. This was also the last aircraft to be delivered to North Central before the merger in 1979.
And that’s all the North Central planes in 1:400 scale to date! Which ones do you have? Which ones do you want to see made? Let’s discuss below!
