Roden just keeps on churning them out. I just got a package with examples of the second 1:144 issue DC-7C (They sold out of the first set issued in Feb. 2011.) The new 1:72 Nieuport 24 and the 1:48 PC-6/B2-H2 were also included. All in all a great selection.

Pan Am ordered an improved version of Douglas DC-7, the DC-7C variant in 1956, named 'Seven Seas', finally allowed regular flights from the majority of American cities to European capitals. In comparison with its predecessors the DC-7C was 40 inches (1.02m) longer, making possible the installation of an additional number of seats in the cabin. Some European airlines were interested in this airplane such as SAS in Scandinavia, and also the Japanese JAL; and for some period of time it was operated by the leading Dutch carrier KLM.


After the Nieuport 17bis with a modified fuselage, and in the spring of 1917 the designer Gustav Delage developed the next new version of the fighter, the Nieuport 24. The fuselage gained a more rounded cross section in comparison with its predecessor and the wings were rounded at their tips. The horizontal and vertical tail surfaces were also very different from previous models, having a more rounded outline. A powerful 130-hp Le Rh?ne engine was installed in the plane.

At this time the United States, which had just entered WWI, started organising their own Air Force from scratch, and they bought from the Allies all available types of aircraft to make up the complement of their air arm. France sold at least 140 Nieuport 24bis to the U.S., about a hundred Nieuport 24, and almost three hundred of the Nieuport 27. None of these several hundred planes saw combat, their fate until the end of the war limited to the training of future pilots. Apart from France and the U.S., the Nieuport 24, 24bis and 27 were used to a limited degree by the Royal Air Force of Great Britain and Russia where they survived the October Revolution of 1917, and appeared in the ranks of the White Army as well as the Red Army. Several machines were used by the Air Forces of Poland, Japan and Romania.

The modified PC-6/B2-H2 a 680 horsepower engine was installed, which greatly improved the aircraft's capabilities. Apart from Switzerland, the PC-6 was used for a long time by the Air Force of its neighbour, Austria. Taking into consideration that Switzerland and Austria and most of their territories are geographically located in the Alpine zone, there was a constant variety of work for the PC-6. The aircraft's distinctive features made it possible to take off and land on short strips and in extreme conditions, for many tasks as well as its primary purpose as a light transport or liaison plane. The PC-6 often undertook the mission of border patrol; and air ambulance or rescue craft for climbers falling into difficulties in the Alps.

One particular Austrian machine, 3G-EL, after some time in military service, was painted in a rather unusual scheme, the very opposite of camouflage. It depicted a bird like a griffin, in various bright colors over every surface - wings, fuselage, vertical and horizontal tail. This machine is very popular among spotters and each year it takes part in various air shows in different parts of Europe. Half a century after its first flight, the PC-6 is still in military and civil service in many parts of the world.