We’re at the beginning of a new monthly feature on these pages, a feature on airline color schemes past and present. The COVID-19 pandemic has decimated most airline operations in 2020 and into 2021, and we are trying to focus just a little bit of positive energy onto this mass transportation mode that has brought our worlds closer together. It’ll be a monthly attraction, published on the first weekend of each month going forward. 

This introductory collection is two dozen mixed photos… some editions will feature one theme, or airline, or even an airport or a new type of airplane. Here are some examples… you can hover over each photo to read notes, or click to enlarge them in our gallery.

This first collection is a broad look at what might be contained...

The Nord 262 was a French-designed and built airliner adapted for military transport duties for the French Air Force.

Many times in history have aircraft, designed for the civilian market, been adopted for military use. Especially during the early part of World War II, civilian aircraft were pressed into use as transports and liaison aircraft before new production aircraft could be utilized. Civilian designs were modified on production lines for military use, like the Piper Cub – a civilian training aircraft modified into the L-4 Grasshopper – as well. The Douglas DC-3/DST is another example of a successful adaptation that became the C-47 and C-53.

The DHC-2 Beaver became an important military transport as the L-20 Beaver.

Inversely, the Canadian designed and built DHC-2 Beaver began i...

Mid October, 2007 featured some very low air fares that led me cross country from my New Hampshire home to LAX, for a quick overnight visit. I planned to stay right next to the airport and take the next morning’s flight home around noontime in Los Angeles.

My first afternoon was cloudy, but the next morning was beautiful, weather-wise.

I didn’t catch many specially-marked jets, but did add to my foreign airliner photos, which was the reason I flew out for just a day or so.

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