I flew the nonstop SBA --> ORD route yesterday. After touchdown, we took the tour of what felt like every taxiway at O'Hare before we got to the gate. Along the way we passed this:
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Another old livery sighting
- Thread starter Variant_S
- Start date
It's currently in the air as I type. N75435 It's a Boeing 737-900 and flying over Montana at the second.
Love the legacy liveries!
Saw an American 737 in classic AstroJet livery at ORD a few years back.
Gorgeous!
I do miss the polished alloy livery that AA used for so many years, which could still be used on everything they fly except for the 787, along with the classic eagle logo on the vertical fin. Simple and classy to my eye.
Saw an American 737 in classic AstroJet livery at ORD a few years back.
Gorgeous!
I do miss the polished alloy livery that AA used for so many years, which could still be used on everything they fly except for the 787, along with the classic eagle logo on the vertical fin. Simple and classy to my eye.
My favorite will always be Eastern Airlines. I loved the all aluminum look withe the blue stripes. And their logo was just flat cool.
Maybe that´s because my first airline flight was on an Eastern Douglas DC-9, followed shortly afterward by a ride on an Eastern Boeing 727.
I built a cool model of an Eastern Lockheed L-1011 Tri-Star. One of my favorite models. 1/144 scale.
Maybe that´s because my first airline flight was on an Eastern Douglas DC-9, followed shortly afterward by a ride on an Eastern Boeing 727.
I built a cool model of an Eastern Lockheed L-1011 Tri-Star. One of my favorite models. 1/144 scale.
I´d love to see the logo and paint job for the merger of Continental and Aer Lingus. ContiLingus. That´d be something!
The Wings of Man!
As young teenage spotters years ago, we often rode our bikes to CLE, a fairy short distance from Rocky River, where we lived.
Eastern and Delta were thin on the ground, with only the occasional DC-9-10. UAL and AA were large along with TWA. 707s, DC-8s, 727s and some 737-200s along with a few DC-10s, L-1011s and a few 747s.
Allegheny was huge at CLE, with banks of Convairs, BAC 1-11s and DC-9s along with the occasional Allegheny Commuter DeHaviland Heron or Dove. There was also the occasional North Central Convair.
Being on Brookpark Road and hearing the jets roar overhead quite low on their final approach was awesome.
The variety of aircraft to observe then was far beyond what one sees today.
Eastern and Delta were thin on the ground, with only the occasional DC-9-10. UAL and AA were large along with TWA. 707s, DC-8s, 727s and some 737-200s along with a few DC-10s, L-1011s and a few 747s.
Allegheny was huge at CLE, with banks of Convairs, BAC 1-11s and DC-9s along with the occasional Allegheny Commuter DeHaviland Heron or Dove. There was also the occasional North Central Convair.
Being on Brookpark Road and hearing the jets roar overhead quite low on their final approach was awesome.
The variety of aircraft to observe then was far beyond what one sees today.
CleanSump
Site Donor 2026
I'd have figured they painted them all by now. Maybe you taxi'd through the Twilight Zone.
United has made a point of keeping an example or two of “legacy“ livery in service.
Over 20 years ago, I flew an A320 that was painted up like United airplanes of the 1970s.
It cost extra money to do this, but it is a nod to the company’s history.
@Astro14 I´d love for you to share your knowledge and opinions about airline paint. I would think that bare or polished aluminum would be attractive due to slightly less weight and (maybe) less cost? But maybe airlines think it is an unfinished or unrefined look? Or, maybe it screams 1950´s? It does remind me of the Century Series jets. But still, with what has to be a huge cost to paint an airliner, I would think it could be an attractive option, particularly for a budget airline.
Also, how long does a paint job last on an airliner? And how do they strip old paint? Chemically? I can´t imagine they´d sand it down or sand blast it, but I´d be curious.
Also, how long does a paint job last on an airliner? And how do they strip old paint? Chemically? I can´t imagine they´d sand it down or sand blast it, but I´d be curious.
Pacific Southwest Airlines.
Honestly - I am not the best guy to explain all that - I see the end result, but I haven't spent enough time learning about it to be able to fairly describe the process. Polished aluminum used to be a great look, and saved several hundred pounds on big airplanes, but since airliners are switching to composite structures, companies like American, have gone to common silver paint across their fleet.
A chemical paint stripper is used.
Polished aluminum looks great but is more maintenance-intensive than a painted (or even matte aluminum) surface. If it’s not kept polished, it doesn’t look good. And that’s a large surface area to polish.
Theres also the fact that paint provides a degree of protection against corrosion and even weather erosion.
I think it’s as simple as that.
Aluminum has a fair bit of corrosion resistance similar to stainless steel. It actually corrodes so quickly that a protective oxide layer will form quickly to block out further oxidation. That doesn't mean that it can't corrode though. We had unpainted aluminum shelled transit vehicles on the BART system in the San Francisco Bay Area. The original cars were refurbished after about 30 years and the one thing that didn't need much repair was the shells.
I do remember an old UPS commercial where they talked about why they washed their planes so often. Claimed it was to reduce drag from surface contaminants to save on fuel costs. And also that "We happen to like out planes clean."
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