Category: Flight Simulator 2004 - Aircraft Repaints, Textures and Modifications
Pacific Western AI Aardvark Boeing 737-200

File Description:
Pacific Western, repaint for the AI_Aardvark 737-200. By RotorRick Deckard. Freeware, textures only, requires AI_Aardvark 737-200 basepack. Pacific Western was a Canadian airline based in the western provinces, back when I was growing up, and I saw their planes all the time. They merged into CP Air, which turned into Canadian Airlines when they also took Wardair. And Canadian Airlines exists no longer either, having been absorbed by Air Canada, many of their staff were let go, and less desirable planes sold off to discount airlines. Pacific Western, in parnership with Boeing, pionered a modification to the 737-200 that enabled it to land on gravel runways! Yes, no joke, with several of the destination runways up near the arctic circle, these runways wouldn't survive the ground temperature changes if they were more common paved or concrete runways. Anyway, I don't know many details, but I do know it involved a large beaver board attached to the rear of the nosegear wheels (which looks very much like that on the Antarctic mission C-130's the US uses to support missions down under), and vortex generators to blow in front of the engines on landing. This is all done to keep the low slung engines from ingesting any FOD. Since that time, such strips are more commonly visited by the Boeing 727, which has it's engines better protected and is generally more suited to such special purposes. See here for more info: http://airlines.afriqonline.com/airlines/205.htm http://www.airtimes.com/cgat/ca/pwa.htm This airline has operated the 707, Lockheed C-130 Hercules (actually L-100 variant), 767-200 and many other planes, but they were always primarily a 737-200 based airline.