Reeve Aleutian Airways   NAMC YS-11A-320     N173RV                (c/n  2173)

                                    

                                         In 1972 Reeve took the somewhat (for a US airline) unprecedented step in ordering a couple of
                                         Japanese designed and built Nihon Aircraft Manufacturing Corp YS-11s new from the manufact-
                                         urer.  They later acquired two more "previously owned" examples.  These augmented, rather than
                                         replaced, their (by then) aging DC-3, DC-4 and DC-6 types which were still soldiering on.   The
                                         two excellent shots (above and below) are both by Andy Martin of AirTeamImages.  The image
                                         above illustrates one of the original machines delivered in 1973, whilst the lower shot shows an
                                         aircraft purchased in 1980 after it had been traipsing around the African nation of Gabon (first as
                                         TR-LPN, later as TR-KIB) for seven years.  This aircraft has been newly painted in what would
                                         become the final livery for the airline.  (Reeve Aleutian ceased operations in 2000).  Both photo-
                                         graphs were taken at Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, Alaska in July of 1992.

                                       NAMC YS-11A-321    N169RV     (c/n  2169)