A Red & Blue DC-10 Arrived Wrapped In UPS Brown

25/12/2009 – A Red & Blue DC-10 Arrived Wrapped In UPS Brown

Its Christmas Day, and while today might not be ‘my holiday,’ it seems like a good time to write about what I received this year, just before starting work on KLM’s Blog…considering I only had one item on my Holiday Gift List, which I wrote about here : 8/11/2009 – There Is Only One Item On This Airline Geek’s Holiday Wish List

So what is the one item I had on my holiday wish list that I had been keeping an eye on for the past two Chanukahs? A Gemini Jets 1:400 scale co-branded Northwest Airlines – KLM Royal Dutch Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 limited edition model airplane.

My interest in this airplane dates back long before I had any involvement with KLM or even started writing Flying With Fish. My interest in the co-branded Northwest-KLM DC-10 dates back to the first time I saw it at Boston Logan Airport in 1998, shortly after it was unveiled and my interest in airline history.  My interest in the unusual nature of the deeply intertwined alliance formed by Northwest & KLM dates back in 1991 (yes, I was only 15 at the time the two airline started their alliance)…before any other airlines formed any alliances.

As I watched KLM, the world’s oldest airlines, become Air France-KLM; scanned the horizon for the Northwest Airlines brand to disappear in a merger with Delta Air Lines; and paid attention to Northwest Airlines retiring the DC-10 from their fleet in January 2007 I started to look at this aircraft as a piece of airline industry history. To me, this airplane represented three pieces of important airline history rolled into airplane. Some people collect history books, historical photographs and other treasures; I collect airplanes that to me hold some historical significance.

The fact that I have found myself involved in KLM’s Blog and social media is entirely coincidental…or maybe its simply how the universe ties everything together…I don’t know, I’m not a philosopher.

What I do know is that I am thrilled I received the only item on my holiday wish list!

Below is a photo of the only present I wanted this year along with an old promo photo for the co-branded Northwest-KLM DC-10-30.

You can follow KLM, the World’s Oldest Airlines, on Twitter at @KLM. You can also follow Flying With Fish in Twitter at @FlyingWithFish

Happy Holidays & Happy Flying!

– Fish / www.flyingwithfish.com