[TRANS BRAZIL AN AIRLINE AND ITS AIRCRAFT] Brazil’s Rainbow Airline

This is the sixth in our series of books on the Great Airlines of the World, and is notable for three reasons: it is our first venture into Latin America; the first book to be printed in two languages; and the first time that Paladwr Press has asked artist Mike Machat to portray every colour scheme, rather than a selection of the ones in general use by each aircraft type. Machat’s Law states that, of any single type of airliner, no two aircraft in the service of a company are painted exactly the same. Now, with TransBrasil, our artist has had a field day – or, rather, several months of intriguing and dedicated effort. Because, for several years, every Sadia or TransBrasil individual aeroplane was graced with a different colour scheme. Several of them had more than one each. The Boeing 727 alone had no less than nineteen.

Such an approach reflects the colourful personality and romantic nature of the airline’s founder. Dr. Omar Fontana has guided the fortunes of his airline through thick and thin, during a period of four decades. He started with a single Douglas DC-3, borrowed for a weekend to test out a brilliant idea, and now operates a handsome fleet which includes long-range Boeing 767ERs on intercontinental prestige routes. Paladwr Press was well supported by the airline’s own records, and was also been aided by the world-wide fraternity of airline enthusiasts, whose combined research has been augmented by our Technical Editor, John Wegg.

Tracing the ancestry and subsequent fate of some of the veteran aircraft was a task that would have daunted Sherlock Holmes himself. Today’s aircraft now have a standard colour design on their tails, still echoing Fontana’s desire for dramatic presentation, but also providing the unofficial description of TransBrasil as the Rainbow Airline.