Boeing 747-100, TWA Flight 800

Boeing 747-100, N93119, TWA Flight 800, c. July 1996
(Nitto Boeing 747, JAL Markings, in 1/200 scale, © 1970 (or so)

TWA Flight 800 took off from Kennedy International Airport in New York at 20:04 local time and disappeared just minutes later. The transatlantic flight to de Gaulle Airport near Paris was last heard from when they acknowledged directions from Boston Center to climb and maintain 15,000 feet just off the coast of Long Island. A minute later, a nearby airliner reported to Boston that they “just saw an explosion out here", adding, "we just saw an explosion up ahead of us here ... about 16,000 feet or something like that, it just went down into the water.” Other similar reports followed. Boston Center tried in vain to contact the missing airplane, but soon realized the correlation was clear. Flight 800 had gone down in flames.

The resulting NTSB investigation was one of the most thorough and expensive air crash investigations ever conducted. The investigation eventually concluded - by ruling out all other theories - that the aircraft had exploded because of frayed wiring sparking and igniting fuel vapors in a nearly-empty center wing fuel tank. About 95% of the wreckage was recovered, along with scores of shattered bodies. The Boeing carried 230 souls aboard; there were no survivors.

May God comfort their families, and may they rest in peace.

The Nitto kit was a $5.00 find at the IPMS Regional show in Richmond, VA. The kit was surprisingly good for its age, with excellent fit except for the landing gear doors. It is light on detail (there is no wheel well detail). Engines are three piece affairs, two halves and a compressor wheel, with no openings for the bypass duct or turbine exhaust. Brass rods were used as spars to facilitate removal and re-installation of the wings and tail planes. Construction was simplified by the omission of tiny, breakable details like antennae to allow ground handling by fledgling, 4-year-old wannabe aviators that frequent our home.

Decals were ancient, yellowed, and brittle depictions of a JAL bird. I found the right markings from AirlineDecals.com, although the decals themselves required extensive manipulation in MS Paint to get them to fit: the windshield decal was undersized, cabin windows were too small and too closely spaced (I eventually made my own) and the leading edge on the tail logo was not sufficiently angled. Corrections were printed on clear decal film with my Epson inkjet printer.

Paints were rattlecan grey primer and gloss white, with Tamiya and Mr. Color (MrC) metallics.

The kit is a humble tribute to this tragic loss.