Airliners International Show Portland 2011

[Henry Tenby]

I had the pleasure of attending the Airliners International Show in Portland, OR between August 25 and August 27, 2011. It was my first US annual show in many years, primarily because it has been so difficult for us Canadian collectors to get into the US regarding our hobby since 9/11. I just gave up for so many years .. and even today it is impossible to even think about bringing stuff from Canada into the US.

Anyhow, for us airline display model collectors, the only collectors in attendance were Gary Field, Dr. Charles Quarles, Jim Striplin, and myself.

Gary Field is famous for his lovely recast models and he had two tables with models, as pictured below. He had one of his recast Clipper flying boats, a Verkuyl 1/50 Lufthansa metal 707, a 1/60 Wesco Air Cal 737-200, plus several superb original DFM four engine Douglas propliner models that he had recently restored for resale. As you can see from the photos they were absolutely beautiful! I specially liked the Eastern DC-4 and the Pan American DC-6 (both of which were in 1/50 scale. Gary also had a smaller 1/72 Pan Am DC-7B DFM model. And the creme of the show was the 1/50 Delta DC-8 DFM that Gary restored with wonderfully polished metal surfaces.

I know the Delta DC-8 was sold (to whom I do not know) .. but I am not sure if any of the other models found new homes. Gary did not have prices on the models and simply told people to make him an offer if you were interested in any model. Any unsold models will be listed on ebay towards Christmas time according to Gary (who you can see in some of my photos below with his models).

The table beside Gary Field had a number of non metal plastic models, the best of which was the 1/72 Executive Display Models BWIA MD-80 and the 1/50 McDonnell Douglas House livery MD-80. Both of these models were priced at $250 and they did not find buyers by the time I left the show at lunch time on the Saturday.

The 1/50 Pacific Airlines Fairchild F27J in metal is owned by my friend Mike Haywood who is a collector of anything relayed to Hughes Airwest, Airwest, Pacific Airlines, and West Coast Airlines .. and the model was on display only and is not for sale.

From my observations, this was the slowest annual show I have ever been to. This is sadly due to the state of the US economy and to a lesser extent the location. A major center like Los Angeles would have most likely attracted more people to attend. That said, it was still a very enjoyable show, very well organized, a superb setting, and it was great to see so many friends and fellow collectors. I hope you enjoy the photos below!