Boeing 747-100 with Shuttle Orbiter

These Airplane Model are finely handcrafted, and hand painted by our artists – to scale and museum quality.

18 inches in length with custom models available.

The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) are two extensively modified Boeing 747 model airliners that NASA uses to transport Space Shuttle Orbiter. One is a 747-100 model, while the other is a short range 747-100SR.

The first aircraft, a Boeing 747-100 registered N905NA, was originally manufactured for American Airlines and still carried visible American side stripes while testing Enterprise in the 1970s. It was acquired in 1974 and initially used for trailing wake vortex research as part of a broader study by NASA model Dryden as well as Shuttle tests involving an F-104 flying in close formation and simulating a “release” from the 747.

The Aircraft Models was extensively modified by Boeing in 1976 Its cabin was stripped, mounting struts added, and the fuselage strengthened; vertical stabilizers were added to the tail to aid stability when the Orbiter was being carried. The avionics and engines were also upgraded, and an escape tunnel system similar to that used on Boeing’s first 747 test flights was added. The flight crew escape tunnel system was later removed following the completion of the Approach and Landing Tests (ALT) due to concerns over possible engine ingestion of an escaping crew member.

The C-5 Galaxy was considered for the shuttle-carrier role by NASA, but rejected in favor of the 747—in part due to the 747′s low-wing design in comparison to the C-5′s high-wing design, and also because the US Air Force would have retained ownership of the C-5, while NASA could own the 747s outright.