MCIGuy From United States of America, joined Mar 2006, 1936 posts, RR: 0 Posted (4 years 5 months 3 weeks 3 days 11 hours ago) and read 4250 times:
I always thought that Braniff International's "Flying Colors" liveries were one of the most interesting ever and I've often wondered why someone hasn't copied the concept since. It was always fun guessing which color the plane you were flying on was going to be. Would this be expensive to do today?
PanAm747 From United States of America, joined Feb 2004, 4242 posts, RR: 9 Reply 1, posted (4 years 5 months 3 weeks 3 days 10 hours ago) and read 4171 times:
I don't think it would be too tough to do, as planes have to be painted anyway...there have been many discussions here about airlines "spending money in changing their logo", and how planes are stripped and repainted all the time. It's just a matter of doing it.
United would have the best chance of being the new "flying colors" - the newest scheme would lend itself to red, green, purple, yellow, gold, orange, and many other shades. It'd be an impressive site at UA hubs!!
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NA From Germany, joined Dec 1999, 9710 posts, RR: 10 Reply 2, posted (4 years 5 months 3 weeks 3 days 3 hours ago) and read 3907 times:
I agree that Braniff had one of the most interesting liveries ever with its Flying colours and the later version called Ultra. And whats astonishing: If Braniffs airplanes would fly today, they would not look like a thing from the past. A "Big Orange" Jumbo-jet still looks much more modern than a Air China Triple Seven!
Of cause such a livery would be possible today and that no airline has something like it is a shame. It wouldnt be decisively more expensive than any other scheme as its not a complicated livery, easier to paint than for example a "simple" curvy livery like Aeromexico or Asiana. Certainly not more work than SQs or CIs livery.
Sadly there are very few airlines painting their aircraft in solid colours. Vietnam Airlines or Air Greenland come to my mind. But these have just one colour, although the Air Greenland A330 is stunning:
WesternA318 From United States of America, joined Oct 2004, 5395 posts, RR: 25 Reply 4, posted (4 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 21 hours ago) and read 3630 times:
Doesnt Allegro fly different colored 727s and MD-80s?
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MCIGuy From United States of America, joined Mar 2006, 1936 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (4 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 3481 times:
Quoting PanAm747 (Reply 1): United would have the best chance of being the new "flying colors" - the newest scheme would lend itself to red, green, purple, yellow, gold, orange, and many other shades. It'd be an impressive site at UA hubs!!
No doubt! That'd make UA really stand out and it'd be easy to change the shades of blue to any other color. We've already (sort of) seen an example of it with Ted.
Quoting NA (Reply 2): If Braniffs airplanes would fly today, they would not look like a thing from the past. A "Big Orange" Jumbo-jet still looks much more modern than a Air China Triple Seven!
MrSkyGuy From United States of America, joined Aug 2008, 1210 posts, RR: 3 Reply 6, posted (4 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 19 hours ago) and read 3471 times:
Braniff truly set the pace not only with Flying Colors, but with it's Calder planes and the final "ultra" liveries. Boy do I miss Braniff.
"The strength of the turbulence is directly proportional to the temperature of your coffee." -- Gunter's 2nd Law of Air
EBJ1248650 From United States of America, joined Jun 2005, 1932 posts, RR: 2 Reply 8, posted (4 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 3308 times:
Just a personal opinion, but the Braniff "Flying Colors" might look dated today. If they could modify it some to give it a more up-to-date look, it might go over with passengers and public alike in a big way.
AFKL From Netherlands, joined Feb 2008, 219 posts, RR: 0 Reply 9, posted (4 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 3281 times:
What about the Frontier animal tails? I know its not a full body paint scheme, but its in the same line in what you are talking about.
Although I don't necessarily find the Frontier animal tails all that beautiful, I still love them because of the idea and seeing so many different tails flying around form the same airline. I guess this can even get the public interested in flying different registrations (as its so much more obvious to spot a different animal on the tail than reading a small reg. number on the side of the fuselage).
Contrails From United States of America, joined Oct 2000, 1820 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (4 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 16 hours ago) and read 2919 times:
Quoting MrSkyGuy (Reply 6): Braniff truly set the pace not only with Flying Colors, but with it's Calder planes and the final "ultra" liveries. Boy do I miss Braniff.
I feel very fortunate that I was able to fly Braniff on several ocassions when I lived in Ft. Worth. I always thought there was something special about their 70's livery, but I really didn't care too much for the "ultra" look. I only saw the Calder livery a couple of times, but I thought it was interesting.
I watch planes on final to DCA out my office window when the wind is out of the south, and I often think how nice it would be to see one of Braniff's 727's going by. Sadly, the only place I'll I can see them is in my memories.
Thomasphoto60 From United States of America, joined Jan 2000, 3727 posts, RR: 25 Reply 12, posted (4 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 2649 times:
Quoting EBJ1248650 (Reply 8): Just a personal opinion, but the Braniff "Flying Colors" might look dated today. If they could modify it some to give it a more up-to-date look, it might go over with passengers and public alike in a big way.
Braniff was all about change, and I am sure had they survived (the REAL Braniff, not the MKII or IIIs), the "Ultra Look", would not have made it through the 80s. Braniff seemingly wanted to change their look every 5-7 years or so (Girard 1965-72, Flying Colors 1972-1977, Ultra 1977-1982) thus it is likely that BN would have likely changed their image several times since 1982. At shutdown, much of BN's fleet were still sporting the old "Flying Colors" scheme as evidenced in this now famous pic (bottom photo)
Luv2fly From United States of America, joined May 2003, 11957 posts, RR: 51 Reply 13, posted (4 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 2552 times:
Quoting WesternA318 (Reply 4): Doesnt Allegro fly different colored 727s and MD-80s?
If your talking about the Mexican carrier they are long gone.
MCIGuy From United States of America, joined Mar 2006, 1936 posts, RR: 0 Reply 14, posted (4 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 2494 times:
Braniff1968 From United States of America, joined Oct 2005, 7 posts, RR: 0 Reply 16, posted (4 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 2158 times:
My first flight was on a Braniff 707 (orange) ORD - DAL it was fun to fly on Braniff I flew on a 727 (green) DAL- OKC - MCI - ORD
727 (red) ORD - TUL - DAL
727 (green) DAL - ICT - MKC - ORD
It was great to walk up to the gate and discover which "'flying color"' you were on
Thomasphoto60 From United States of America, joined Jan 2000, 3727 posts, RR: 25 Reply 17, posted (4 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 2059 times:
Quoting Braniff1968 (Reply 16): It was great to walk up to the gate and discover which "'flying color"' you were on
As a kid in Minnesota, it was always a fun guessing game between my brother, sister and I on the trip to MSP as to what color plane we would be flying on that day. My first BN flight (that I can recall, and I am really dating myself), was a L-188 Electra in blue from DAL- HOU.
Chapavaeaa From United States of America, joined Aug 2008, 148 posts, RR: 0 Reply 18, posted (4 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 13 hours ago) and read 2006 times:
Quoting MCIGuy (Thread starter): I always thought that Braniff International's "Flying Colors" liveries were one of the most interesting ever and I've often wondered why someone hasn't copied the concept since. It was always fun guessing which color the plane you were flying on was going to be. Would this be expensive to do today?
Mesa currently runs multiple paint jobs, depending on which carrier the aircraft is flying for. The challenge in running multiple paint jobs is when an engine off of plane X moves to plane Y. Radome on plane A is damaged and one is cannibalized off of plane B....
I don't get to see Mesa aircraft all that often but I spent a fair amount of time around them about 2 years ago...and they couldn't seem to keep the correctly painted panels on the correct aircraft. Not picking on them...it is just tough to keep in sync. It would drive costs. Marketing time, planning time, various meetings, tracking to keep a list of what aircraft are out of sync....possibily a few spare radomes or other panels (which you know are not going to be stored at whatever station needs them...). It all drives costs.
I don't recall Braniff having that difficulty...but I never did get all that close to them. I will admit to admiring their paint scheme. They also had one of the most snazzy corporate headquarters I've ever visited.
(by the way...Braniff still owes me $20...if anyone knows how I can collect???)
Rampart From United States of America, joined Aug 2005, 2871 posts, RR: 7 Reply 20, posted (4 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 10 hours ago) and read 1640 times:
Again only a historical reference, but Aspen Airways in their last livery had their Convairs and BAe 148s in 4 different-colored fuselage "swooshes" and aspen leaf tail logos, I think corresponding to the seasons (red, green, brown, blue).
Quoting Ph-tvh (Reply 15): Where does the term "He passed with flying colors!" actually come from?
Certainly that term existed long before Braniff...
I believe it's an old nautical term. I'm not sure how "passing" became associated, but ships returned to port "with flying colors", or all flags hoisted and displayed, after a successful journey. It also seems coincidental that Braniff's marketing scheme was a modern counterpoint to cross-airport rival AA and their "Flagships" (also a nautical reference).
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