- Part of the SkyMarks Line.
- spinning engines, landing gear.
- Solid, heavy high quality fuselage.
- Package Weight: 1.5 pounds.
Comprising superior quality, solid, substantial injection molded
plastic components with a simple snap-fit design that allows for
easy assembly without the need for glue, this SkyMarks 1/200
scale Air Force One Boeing 747-8i (VC-25B) - Registration 30000 -
measures approximately 15-1/16-inches long with a 13-5/8-inch
wingspan and comes complete with Landing Gear and a Display
Stand. An accurate, true-to-scale reproduction of the actual
aircraft, the model is great for collectors and features
authentic, highly detailed graphics and markings. Easily
discernible from earlier 747 models by its prominently curved
aerodynamic wings with raked back wingtips and chevrons on its
engine nacelles, the Boeing 747-8i was initially introduced in
2005 as a larger, quieter and more advanced and fuel-efficient
variant of its predecessor, the Boeing 747-400, and utilizes the
same cockpit and engine technology as its sibling, the Boeing
787, which is acknowledged by the suffix, 8i after 747 (747-8i),
with the "i" representative of "Intercontinental." Designed to
carry more than 400 passengers approximately 8,000 nautical miles
in a 3-class configuration, the Boeing 747-8i is also offered in
a freighter variant with a noticeably shorter upper deck, called
the 747-8f, which is furnished with a hinged opening nose door
and side door, and boasts a greater payload capacity than its
predecessor, the Boeing 747-400ERF, from which it was derived.
While the Boeing 747-8f was delivered to launch customer Cargolux
in late 2011, the first passenger version of the Boeing 747-8i
was delivered to launch customer Lufthansa in mid-2012. Prior to
launch customers Cargolux and Lufthansa having taken delivery of
their Boeing 747-8s, the USAF sought to replace its VC-25A Air
Force One aircraft for presidential transport, two aging, heavily
modified Boeing 747-200Bs that it put into service in the late
1980s. The USAF ultimately selected the Boeing 747-8 for the role
in early 2015, as they deemed it to be "The only aircraft
manufactured in the United States [that] when fully missionized
meets the necessary capabilities established to execute the
presidential support mission." In a fortuitous cost savings move,
the USAF purchased two undelivered 747-8i aircraft in August 2017
from the bankrupt Russian airline, Transaero, and has be
installing the necessary telecommunications and security
equipment required on the new 747-8 presidential aircraft,
designated VC-25B. Interestingly, the large, quad-engine Boeing
747 was initially conceived in the mid-1960s, when supersonic
transports were also concurrently on the drawing board, and
viewed more favorably at the time as the likely successor for the
future travel, Boeing engineers and Pan Am CEO, Juan Trippe opted
for the Boeing 747 to be designed so that it could be readily
converted into a freighter if required by merely retrofitting the
fixed nose of the existing passenger aircraft with a large hinged
cargo door. Consequently, if a passenger 747 aircraft were ever
to be adapted as a cargo plane with a hinged cargo door, it would
be much more cost effective and considerably easier to convert
existing passenger aircraft into cargo aircraft if the cockpit
were located above the nose, thus enabling the existing passenger
747s to continue flying as transformed cargo planes. Even though
supersonic transports did not readily materialize for the most
part, and did not supersede the Boeing 747 as initially
envisioned, over the course of time, the Boeing 747 was not only
embraced as a successful passenger and cargo aircraft, many
passenger Boeing 747 aircraft were ultimately converted into
cargo 747 aircraft, known as BCF - Boeing Converted Freighter(s)
when it was no longer viable that they continue to be used as
passenger aircraft.