Ransome Airlines  Aerospatiale (Nord) 262  N26217                  (c/n  24)

                              

                                       In 1972 Ransome acquired a fleet of a dozen or so ex-Allegheny (originally Lake Central)
                                       Nord 262s.   [In actual fact, this particular one had been sold off by Allegheny by then and
                                       had gone to BC Airlines in Canada as CF-BCT and then to Pacific Western from whom
                                       Ransome purchased it at the same time that that it secured the Allegheny machines].  Also,
                                       at this time the airline was operating under a code-share agreement with Allegheny to provide
                                       commuter services in the Philadelphia, Pa  - Washington D.C. general area, and hence the
                                       Nords were painted in full Allegheny Commuter livery.    Howard Chaloner's shot above was
                                       taken at  Ronald Reagan National Airport in April 1977.   In 1979 Allegheny became USAir
                                       and when. in 1982, Ransome's relationship with USAir ended, most of the Nords had been
                                       converted to Mohawk 298 standard (see next entry).    I am not sure, therefore, if any "pure"
                                       262s were ever repainted into Ransome only livery.