Plastic aircraft kit and box. Pan Am Jumbo Jet Boeing 747

Made:
1968 in Canada

Plastic aircraft kit and box. Pan Am Jumbo Jet Boeing 747, unassembled, by Aurora, 1968. (Victoria & Albert Museum number Misc 584-1990).

This is a plastic kit model of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet, which was manufactured by Aurora. In terms of plastic kits, Aurora in the USA was the equivalent of Airfix in Britain. As one of the world's first plastic kit manufacturers, Aurora actually pre-dates Airfix, and indeed provided the 1:48 scale master for Airfix to produce their first ever aircraft kit - R. G. Mitchell's classic monoplane fighter Spitfire, at the established 1:72 scale, in 1953. With the 747, Boeing launched a new generation of large-capacity planes that became known as jumbo jets. The first flight of the 747 took place on February 9, 1969, and the aircraft was put into service by Pan American Airways on January 21, 1970. Capable of carrying around 500 passengers, the 747 superseded the 707, which could carry only 179 people, as the standard long-range airliner.

Details

Category:
Domestic Appliances
Object Number:
L2000-4433
Materials:
plastic
Measurements:
overall: 50 x 170 x 460 mm
type:
aircraft kit, educational toy and model
credit:
Victoria and Albert Museum