The Funbird is Back!

[aloha-anon]

More Photos
http://www.hnlrarebirds.blogspot.com/

http://www.pbase.com/aqohana/funbird

http://www.hawaiisairlines.forumspla.../message7.html

[pzarquon]

Re: The Funbird is Back!

Saw that on the news last night. Complete with flight attendants in the classic, blinding stewardess uniforms. Definitely a neat tribute to the past.

Of course, the nostalgia card is one being played by both Aloha and Hawaiian (PBN called it part of a "nostalgia offensive"), so although the plan for the "Funbird" livery predates the arrival of Mesa's "Go," I think the impression is that this is just part of that response.

Reminding folks of the way things were can work both ways. But my initial response is definitely a warm one. Just that old, orange Aloha logotype... ahh.

[Paul]

Re: The Funbird is Back!

When did Aloha change to the current paint scheme? I seem to recall seeing the fun bird scheme up until sometime in the 80s or 90s. A friend of mine was flying in one when the top came off and they had to land in Maui back in '88 was it?

[craigwatanabe]

Re: The Funbird is Back!

Saw that on the news last night. Complete with flight attendants in the classic, blinding stewardess uniforms. Definitely a neat tribute to the past.

Of course, the nostalgia card is one being played by both Aloha and Hawaiian (PBN called it part of a "nostalgia offensive"), so although the plan for the "Funbird" livery predates the arrival of Mesa's "Go," I think the impression is that this is just part of that response.

Reminding folks of the way things were can work both ways. But my initial response is definitely a warm one. Just that old, orange Aloha logotype... ahh.

Those miniskirt uniforms were the bomb back then...did they go back to those?

[pzarquon]

Re: The Funbird is Back!

When did Aloha change to the current paint scheme? I seem to recall seeing the fun bird scheme up until sometime in the 80s or 90s.

The "Funbird" scheme featured an all-orange, floral-print tail. It wasn't around even in the 1980s, I'm almost sure of that.

A friend of mine was flying in one when the top came off and they had to land in Maui back in '88 was it?

Aloha Airlines Flight 243, in 1988. This is what that exact plane looked like before the incident. Not the "Funbird" scheme, though they still had the TheBus-like stripe and "Aloha" logotype.

Those miniskirt uniforms were the bomb back then...did they go back to those?

The blog aloha-anon linked to has a photo of two flight attendants in their "retro" uniforms. Those the ones you remember?

[Paul]

Re: The Funbird is Back!

The "Funbird" scheme featured an all-orange, floral-print tail. It wasn't around even in the 1980s, I'm almost sure of that.Aloha Airlines Flight 243, in 1988. This is what that exact plane looked like before the incident. Not the "Funbird" scheme, though they still had the TheBus-like stripe and "Aloha" logotype.

Oh that's right. I forgot about that paint scheme they had in the 80s.

[Pomai]

Re: The Funbird is Back!

According to my mother, who retired from Hawaiian Air after almost 40 years of service, this is what she remembers interisland airfares were back in the 60's...

60's Interisland Airfares (ONE WAY):

Honolulu (HNL) to Molokai (MKK) or Lanai (LNY) - $7
HNL to Maui (OGG) or Kauai (KAI) - $13
HNL to Kona (KOA) - $14
HNL to Hilo (ITO) - $15

Any chance Aloha's new 'retro' Funbird will sport those prices?

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: The Funbird is Back!

According to my mother, who retired from Hawaiian Air after almost 40 years of service, this is what she remembers interisland airfares were back in the 60's...

And did she wear the miniskirts that Craig remembers so fondly?

[Pomai]

Re: The Funbird is Back!

And did she wear the miniskirts that Craig remembers so fondly?

She was a ticket agent, not flight attendant. But, even Hawaiian Air agents had some FUNK-i-DELLIC purple and pink uniforms in the 70's.

[oggboy]

Re: The Funbird is Back!

That was the good ole day`s when boarding and deplane was on the tarmac.
Hnl was soo much fun to watch the two airlines leave the gates. The roar of the dc-9`s and the 737 as they taxied out.

Same as Kauai, Maui, and Kona, Hilo was already an updated Int`l and Interisland airport. Nice having something to remember when thing where just a little slower back then....

THE FUNBIRDS OF ALOHA

[mel]

Re: The Funbird is Back!

The funbird livery on Aloha's 737s were one of my favorites too. Glad to see one plane back in this retro color scheme. I hope Aloha keeps this around for more than a year. I like the bright chrome of the engine nacelles too... very cool.

Back to the Aloha funbird scheme. When this livery was first unveiled, it used to have black italic block letters above the colored flowers that spelled out "Aloha Airlines" across 2/3 of the fuselage. It was later shortened to the familiar orange logo type that we see in the photos above.

This livery I believe was dumped around the early 1980s in favor of the more conservative orange stripe and logotype that was seen on planes like the infamous Flight 243 of April 1988.

I was working at an ad agency in the early 1990s when I first saw conceptual drawings of the current design, which I think was adopted around 1993. Guava Graphics has an image of an Aloha 737-400 (which Aloha flew for a little while in the mid 1990s) in one of their Hawaiian clip art collections. I have that on a disc somewhere.

One thing for sure is that flying on Aloha interisland is always a blast from the past no matter what color the plane is. They are one of the few airlines flying the 737-200 series jets.

[mel]

Re: The Funbird is Back!

That was the good ole day`s when boarding and deplane was on the tarmac. Hnl was soo much fun to watch the two airlines leave the gates. The roar of the dc-9`s and the 737 as they taxied out.

Same as Kauai, Maui, and Kona, Hilo was already an updated Int`l and Interisland airport. Nice having something to remember when thing where just a little slower back then....

... and less secure.

But yes, when I was a kid I used to love to go to Hilo and Kamuela airports on the Big Island to see the planes come and go. Everyone could go into the terminal areas to see their loved ones come or go, and watch the passengers board/deplane and observe the aircraft coming in and out.

I also remember when Hawaiian and Aloha used to fly prop planes, of which I road a few of them including the Convair 640 (Hawaiian), Dash 7 (Hawaiian) and the funky little Shorts 330 (also Hawaiian). Come to think of it I never road on any of Aloha's prop planes. They used to fly the 4 engined Vickers Viscount and the 2 engine Fairchild F-27. Both airlines flew DC-3's but I only remember Hawaiian's.

The first jet Aloha flew was a British built twin jet that looked like the DC-9 called the BAC-111. I remember that. They had the old blue, white and gold livery.

Pictures:

Aloha Airlines Vickers Viscount
Aloha Airlines BAC 111
Aloha Airlines F27


Hawaiian Airlines Convair 640
Hawaiian Airline Shorts 330
Hawaiian Airlines YS-11 - Mid Pacific Air also flew these.

[Paul]

Re: The Funbird is Back!

One thing for sure is that flying on Aloha interisland is always a blast from the past no matter what color the plane is. They are one of the few airlines flying the 737-200 series jets.

So the 737s Aloha is flying are old versions? They must have done something to the engines because they seem much quieter. The planes they flew some years ago seemed to make ten times the amount of noise as the current ones.

[mel]

Re: The Funbird is Back!

I'm sure they have some noise abatement technology built into the engines. While the 737-200 series are old, they are probably well maintained and upgraded. Aloha recently took delivery of several "new" 737-200 series jets. Many of the old ones are either sold off or go to the plane junkyards on the mainland. I am sure our resident Aloha Airlines expert can either validate or correct my assumptions.