Aircraft Templates

Fokker 100 (F-28-0100) blank illustration templates

7 Comments July 13, 2018 Standard

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Just when I think that I’ve finally grown up and that I have elevated myself to “sensible adult status”, along comes this Fokker 100 template and the realization that I’m still the same immature 12-year-old that I’ve been all along. I mean, I just can’t say the name “Fokker” without giggling hysterically as my mind goes to very immature (but hilarious) places. It’s not something I’m proud of, but it’s just the way that I am.

For those of you there who don’t speak English as your primary language, and you don’t quite understand what I’m talking about, it’s best that we keep it that way. Trying to explain why I like the word “Fokker” so much would probably end badly since I’m not mature enough to explain it in an eloquent way which wouldn’t have me censored by Google or something. I ‘m going to try my hardest to keep this as mature and professional as I can from here on out, because hey – this is a family-friendly blog after all and my goal is to scare as few people as possible!

Launched on April 3, 1988 with Swissair, the Fokker 100 (F-28-0100) is the evolution and replacement of the Fokker 28 – a small regional aircraft which was introduced way back in 1969 (and I’m still giggling hysterically every time I type that). By the end of its production in 1997, 283 airframes had been delivered, which solidifies the 100 as a significant aircraft in the world of commercial aviation.

Unfortunately, fierce competition in the regional jet space from other manufacturers such as Embraer and Bombardier put tremendous pressure on Fokker in the 1990s, and they found themselves not being able to compete with those newer, more technically advanced and fuel-efficient regional jets such as the ERJ-135 and CRJ-200. Fokker went out of business for good in 1997, and I can only imagine the embarrassment that the management team must’ve felt to realize that they had been defeated by a crappy little CRJ-200. Those of you who follow my travel blog will know exactly how much I despise those little pieces of crap (as I described in the trip report for a recent SAN to LAX United Express flight), and it pains me to think that it was responsible for killing off one of history’s neatest little aircraft.

Technical side profile line drawing of a Fokker 100 (F-28-0100)

So what’s so neat about the Fokker 100 you might ask? The answer to that is probably different for everyone, but for me, it’s the exclusivity. I began traveling very frequently in 1997, and one of my very first flights was on an American Airlines Fokker 100 from Dayton Ohio (DAY) to Dallas Texas (DFW). At that time, I had no idea what a Fokker was since I was still an aviation newbie at that point, and all I really knew was Boeing and Airbus. And as much as I hate to admit this, the words “What the Fockk?” were indeed what came out of my mouth when I stepped onboard that flight and sat down.

The F100 was never very popular here in the US (compared to Boeing and Airbus at least), but they weren’t a complete rarity since American Airlines, Midway, and US Airways all had sizable fleets of these things over the years. As I mentioned earlier, my only encounter with this aircraft was on American Airlines way back in 1997, and I remember exactly nothing from that experience other than the fact that we arrived at DFW 10 minutes early and we had to sit and wait for a gate open up.

And sorry, I can’t tell you about the really interesting AvGeek things – you know, such as how stable it felt, what it smelled like inside, and what color the fabric pattern was on the seats. All of that juicy info has been obliterated from my brain entirely, likely replaced by all of those silly and very immature jokes related to the name “Fokker” and how best to use it in a sentence at fun parties when you’re trying to impress the ladies.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy these side view templates as much as I enjoy saying “Fokker”. It was actually relatively easy to create compared to some of my other templates, and I’m happy that I was able to get it done a lot faster than I had originally planned.

As far as what’s next, well, I think it’s time that I finally get started on the McDonnell Douglas DC-8. Those of you who have been hanging out in the comments section of all my recent posts will know that there’s been a certain person who’s been requesting this one for months, and I feel bad for not doing it sooner. Sorry for making you wait so long (and thanks for being patient)! I’m going to get started on it very soon…

ATR 42 blank illustration templates

7 Comments June 29, 2018 Standard

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Would it be impolite for me to say that I don’t think at the ATR 42 is a good looking airplane? There’s just something about it’s stubby little nose and low hanging belly that I don’t like, especially since I’ve just spent the past few weeks illustrating comparably sleek A330NEO’s. I’ve been so used to looking at large and beautifully designed aircraft lately that it was a bit of a shock to switch gears and crank out this chunky little ATR 42.

If you’re a huge fan of this aircraft and have been completely offended by what I just said, you might appreciate knowing that no, I do not think that this is the worst aircraft design ever. As a matter fact, it’s not even the worst looking aircraft in the ATR series. The king (queen?) of ugliness just so happens to be the ATR 72 in my opinion, and I’m not afraid to say it out loud. I just don’t like it. I don’t even like flying on them, and my last flight on an ATR 72 had me reaching for the barf bag – even though it was a short 40 minute flight from Kona to Honolulu. And don’t even get me started on the fact that the interior layout is very awkward with a solid bulkhead wall separating the main cabin from the cockpit (due to the cargo space occupying that area). It’s just weird.

As you can see, the ATR 42 that I chose to illustrate is the -600 variant. Launched in 2007, it’s the largest and most technically advanced of the entire ATR 42 lineup. And while I don’t necessarily like the styling of this aircraft, I can certainly appreciate its heritage – which goes all the way back to the early 80s (just like me). This is an aircraft which is been around for a very long time, and it has served many airlines well and has proven to be a dependable workhorse in many areas around the world. See? Even though I’m not a fan it’s not hard to point out it’s good points.

Launched into service in 1985 with Air Littoral, this is a significant aircraft in the history of commercial aviation and it totally deserves to be part of the Norebbo aircraft template collection. Even though it’s ugly as hell.

Technical side profile line drawing of an ATR 42-600

To be honest, I feel like part of the reason for my lack of fondness for this aircraft may be due to the fact that it was never very popular here in the United States. American Airlines had a significant fleet of them for a long time, but they were the only major operator here in the US with only a handful of other airlines dipping your toes into the ATR 42 waters. As a matter fact, I tried doing a little bit of research to see if I could find an accurate list of both current and past operators of this type but didn’t have much luck. The best source I could find was Wikipedia, but it conflicts with some of the other data that I found elsewhere so I’m not really sure what to believe. Wikipedia says that there were about 230 still in commercial operation in 2017, which is a respectable number for an aircraft at this type. If you’re curious, the only current US operator is FedEx.

At the moment, I’m not planning on creating any other variants of the ATR 42. And no, it isn’t because I can’t stand looking at it – I’m just not sure how much demand there would be for templates of all of the others, so please do reach out to me if you need some of the other variants templated. I’ll see what I can do about fitting it into my schedule.

I mentioned in my last post, the next template on my list is the Fokker 100. As a matter of fact, I’ve already started and I’m making pretty good progress on it! Oh – and if it makes you feel any better, I’m starting to think that it may actually be even uglier than the ATR 42. I bet you can’t wait for that post, can you?

Airbus A330-800 NEO blank illustration templates

4 Comments June 20, 2018 Standard

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Well, here it is. The side view airliner template that nobody asked for! Don’t worry, I’m not going to feel bad at all if nobody downloads it – after all, it was super easy to create since it’s basically just an A330-900 NEO with a shortened fuselage (the same as the A330-200 actually). Chances are pretty good that I never would’ve created it in the first place if it wasn’t a simple variant of a template that I just created, so it wasn’t that big of a deal to crank it out and get it here posted to the blog and my online store.

Remember in my last post when I mentioned that I had a few suggestions for the Airbus Board of Directors? One of the most important would have to be the elimination of the -800 series of aircraft across the entire Airbus lineup. I mean, think about it. Every single -800 variant they have created so far has been a dud. We all know that the A380 started out as the A380-800, and sales of that aircraft never lived up to expectations. If it weren’t for Emirates and their conquest to be the world’s most obnoxiously over-the-top airline, it would’ve been a complete failure and likely not even existing at all anymore here in 2018.

Then there was the A350-800, which never even saw the light of day. The only airline that was somewhat interested in it was Hawaiian, but they backed out of thier initial order which left Airbus in a difficult position. With zero orders on the books and not a single other airline interested in making a deal, they were forced to cancel development and focus all of their efforts on the -900 and -1000 instead. Orders for both of those variants have been quite strong by the way.

Interestingly enough, I am seeing the same lack of support for the A350-800 here on the blog as well. It’s one of my least-download templates to date, and I haven’t even sold a single high-resolution version of it on my online store. Nobody (and I mean nobody) was interested in that bird.

And here we are with the A330-800 NEO in 2018. Total orders so far: zero, with none on the horizon. Compare that with the -900 variant, which has a solid backlog of 214 confirmed orders so far, and you can probably guess where things are headed with this. The only question now is when (not if) they will cancel the development of the -800 program altogether to focus on the larger variants only. I’ve got to admit that I find this all very fascinating since it’s the smaller variants which typically have the better performance numbers (overall range, fuel efficiency, etc) and you would think that there would be a lot of airlines interested in that sort of thing. But I guess not. In the real world, it all comes down to cost per seat and it’s only the aircraft with more seats which are economically viable. I don’t really understand it, but that’s just the way things work.

Side profile line drawing of an Airbus A330-800 NEO

I guess what I’m trying to say here is simple: Airbus, I think it’s time to give up on aircraft with the -800 extension. It’s proving to be the mark of bad luck for you, so from now on just start with the -900s and don’t even waste your time with anything else. Gosh I’m smart, and I can’t wait to check my email tomorrow morning and see an official email from Airbus offering me a position on their Board of Directors!

OK, so, now that I’ve wasted my time writing a complete blog post for an aircraft template that nobody is going to download, it’s time to get back to work and do something more productive. The ATR 42 is next, driven by the fact that I’ve got a paying client who needs it for a project he’s working on. Look for that one soon!

Airbus A330-900 NEO blank illustration templates

6 Comments June 12, 2018 Standard

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Does anybody know how I could apply for a position on the Airbus Board of Directors? You see, I’ve got a lot of opinions about the A330 NEO (both good and bad) and I’d love to sit down and chat with the people who made the decision to go ahead with this next-generation variant of the A330. I’d also like to offer a few suggestions as well, and I know that the only way that anybody at Airbus would ever listen to me is if I had a seat on the board. Hold on a second while I check Craigslist to see if there’s an opening…

My biggest issue with the A330 NEO is how much overlap there is with the A350, and I can’t help but to wonder if Airbus is competing against itself and driving customers away from the more expensive aircraft (one that I assume has higher profit margins). But then again, my assumptions could be totally off base and perhaps it’s the A330 NEO that generates more revenue?

But what about all the development costs that went into revamping this old airframe? It couldn’t have been cheap, and I’m still scratching my head as to why they would spend all that effort and money putting lipstick on a pig when they could’ve used those resources to drive more sales to the A350.

The A330-900 NEO is basically an A330-300 with larger Rolls Royce Trent 7000 engines and A350-style blended winglets. The cockpit windows are all new as well, and are very similar to what’s on the A350 – black bandit paint included (which looks totally cool by the way). These changes were significant enough to make the creation of this template very time-consuming, and in order to get the blended winglet looking correct I basically had to re-draw the entire wing. And as I’ve mentioned before, the wings are the most complicated part of any of my templates. The rest cake.

Technical side profile line drawing of an Airbus A330-900 NEO

Speaking of the Rolls Royce Trent 7000, all I can say to that is: wow! The A330 never really looked right to me from any angle, but this huge new engine gives the aircraft a completely different look and it’s really impressive to see the size comparison of this engine compared to some of the older variants. I’m still not sure what I think about the blended winglet, but this new engine is enough for me to consider the A330 NEO to be one of the best looking commercial airplanes available at the moment.

Despite my reasoning to question the existence of the A330 NEO, it seems as if Airbus has a hit on their hands and they made the right decision to go forward with the program. A quick check of Wikipedia reveals that there are 214 confirmed orders for the -900 at the time of this writing, which is very respectable and solid proof that it’s a viable product that the airlines want. Malaysia Airlines is leading the demand at the moment with 66 firm orders. Delta and Iran Air are number two and three, but each of them are way back with roughly 25(ish) orders each. Oh – and a quick check of the A350 reveals that there are 847 confirmed orders at the time of this writing, which is impressive, but I would bet that number would be much higher if the A330 NEO didn’t exist.

Do I even have to tell you what my next template is going to be? Most of you should be able to figure it out without any hints from me, but I’ll say it anyway. It’s the A330-800 NEO! Yes, I know that Airbus has exactly 0 orders for that variant so far, but I’m going to template it anyway just so that I can have it as part of the full collection. It’ll be posted in just a few days!

Boeing 737-9 MAX blank illustration templates

6 Comments May 31, 2018 Standard

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I know that there are many of you out there who have been wondering why the hell it is taken me so long to create a template of the 737 MAX 9. After all, I’ve already done the MAX 7 and 8, so it seems logical that a simple stretch my existing templates wouldn’t seem like such a big deal, right? In theory, that is correct. There isn’t anything significantly different about the max 9 over the max 8 other than fuselage length (and a few other minor details), so what was the problem?

In order to answer that, I need to take you back to 2012 when I first started creating side view airliner templates. Back then, I really had no idea what I was doing, and I was just trying to figure out how to draw airplanes. The very first template I created was the McDonnell Douglas DC-10–30, and I followed that up quickly with the Boeing 737–800. I was a bit disorganized still, as I was so excited to draw those airplanes that I wasn’t really thinking about how to develop a process for creating these templates. Basically, that’s just a long-winded way of saying that my first templates were a bit rough and there were some unfortunate discrepancies between my line drawings and the fully rendered all white versions.

To make matters worse, I’ve based every single one of my 737 templates on that original 737–800 illustration. That means that all of those inconsistencies have been growing as I continued to build up my entire 737 series, and it has been bothering me quite a bit. You should all know by now that I am a total perfectionist, so before I could go and create new variants of the 737 (everything from the classics to the latest versions), I really needed to go back and redo my base 737 template from scratch. That’s what I’ve been working on in my spare time for the past few months.

Technical side profile line drawing of a Boeing 737-9 MAX

You probably didn’t even notice, but I have recently updated my posts about the MAX 7 and 8 with all new illustrations. And now that those have been updated, it allows me to post these templates of the MAX 9 without worrying that it would be inconsistent with them.

This also means that I will be updating all of my other 737 template posts with updated illustrations (yay!). I don’t have an exact time frame for that, but I’m planning to have everything updated over the next few weeks. My best suggestion is to check back a month from now, and I can pretty much guarantee that all my 737 templates will be updated by then and you’ll know that you’ll have the latest and greatest versions. Those of you who have purchased the high-resolution source files on my online store will also have access to the new versions. You’ll get an automated email notifying you of the update as soon as it happens.

Additionally, this also means that I am now able to start working on some of the 737 classics. I’ve been holding off doing those for a very long time now because of how much work needed to go into fixing my base 737 template, but now I’m free to forge a head with those and eventually I’m going to have the entire 737 family of aircraft templated and posted here to the blog. I’m looking forward to that as much as you are!

McDonnell Douglas MD-11 blank illustration templates (with GE engines)

3 Comments May 23, 2018 Standard

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100

I’m actually really glad that I spent the last week or so working on this MD-11 template, because it has reminded me just how much I’ve always liked this big McDonnell Douglas three-holer.

I’m pretty sure that it all started way back in the 1980s with the DC-10, because I vividly remember drawing pictures of them during class and getting in trouble for it. It was totally worth it though, because drawing was the only thing that could hold my attention and it was also a perfect way to let my crazy imagination run loose. I occasionally added missiles and machine guns to the bottom of the wings, and seriously considered writing McDonnell Douglas a letter to propose the idea of a top-secret fighter version. Back then, I was totally convinced that was a brilliant idea. But now, 30 years later, I’m starting to think my obsession with the A-Team and Blue Thunder on TV greatly distorted my perception of reality. Wasn’t 1980’s television awesome?

Interestingly enough, the DC-10 was the very first aircraft template I created way back in 2012. I can’t quite recall exactly why I wanted to start illustrating airplanes, but starting with the DC-10 was the obvious choice since it was one of my all-time favorites and I thought it would be fun to see if I could do it. I did it of course, and the rest is history. Unfortunately, since it was my first ever aircraft template, there is a lot that is wrong with it and a big part of me has been wanting to go back and redo the entire thing to bring it up to my current standards. It’s been on my mind for a while now, but it all came to a head last week when I tried to base this MD-11 template on that old illustration. It wasn’t until I started modifying that old DC-10 that I realized that there was too much wrong with it and I was going to have to start over from scratch.

Side profile line drawing of a McDonnell Douglas MD-11

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the MD-11, it was essentially the second-generation version of the DC-10. Although it shares a vast majority of structural components from that old bird, there are actually some very significant visual differences which essentially made it an all new design:

The fuselage was lengthened by 18 ft 7 in (5.66 m) over the DC-10-30
It has an all new screwdriver-style tail cone
The wingspan was increased by 4 ft 2 in (1.27 m) over the DC-10-30
Winglets were added to the wings
The airfoils under the wings are slightly modified
It features all new engines (General Electric or Pratt & Whitney)
The new engine options necessitated a slight redesign of the number two engine housing attached to the vertical stabilizer. This actually started with the DC-10-40, but it carries over to the MD-11 as well.

There are also a huge number of other little minor visual differences, such as the size and location of the smaller aerodynamic fins on the top and the bottom of the fuselage. Access panels and sensors (such a static ports) are also quite different compared to all DC-10 versions. The landing gear is slightly different as well but visually it’s almost the same.

Anyway, thanks all of you out there who suggested the MD-11 as my next template! I had a lot of fun with it, even though I had to build it from scratch (something that I wasn’t planning on doing). FYI, there will be a slight two-week pause on my airliner template production, as I’m going to be traveling over the next week which is going to cause a backlog on all the projects that I’ve got going on at the moment. As of right now, I’m tempted to do the A330NEO next – but I’ve got a long list of illustrations that I need to do so I’m not really sure which one it’s going to be yet…

De Havilland DHC-8-300 blank illustration templates

2 Comments May 16, 2018 Standard

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Here’s another one that I’ve been getting a lot of requests for recently. It never would have occurred to me that the DHC-8-300 (also known as the Q300) would be as popular as it is today considering that it was launched into service way back in 1989. That’s nearly 30 years of continued operation, and from what I hear, the used market for these things is still insanely strong and competitive. As a car guy, that seems so backwards and odd to me – most used cars (with the exception of some special editions) become generally worthless after 10 years.

It was back in January that I illustrated the smaller version of this aircraft (the DHC-8-200), and to be honest I wasn’t really expecting to do the -300 so soon. It just so happened that one of my clients needed an illustration of a -300 for a proposal he was putting together, so It was relatively easy for me to modify that other template and get him the illustrations he needed. I know a lot of you have been asking for other larger aircraft such as the MD-11 and A330NEO, and don’t worry – those are both currently on my drawing board right now and I hope to have them done relatively soon. I guess what I’m trying to say here is that if there’s a particular type what you need, paying me to do it will make it happen a lot faster. Just contact me and I can arrange to make it happen!

Side profile line drawing of a De Havilland DHC-8-300

For those of you not familiar with Dash 8 lineup, the –300 is a stretched version of the -200. It’s 3.3m (or 11.3ft) longer to be exact, and 6.83m (22.4ft) shorter than the -400. It also happens to be powered by the same Pratt & Whitney PW123 engines are on the -200. And since I’m being nerdy and talking numbers, the –300 carries 52 to 56 passengers, whereas the –200 carries 37 to 39. But what about the –400 you ask? Well, that varies based on which sub type you’re talking about. In a nutshell, the Q400 will carry anywhere from 68 to 78 passengers depending on configuration. As I said before, the Dash 8 family is a colossal and confusing mess of variants and sub types that are difficult to keep track of. If it wasn’t for Wikipedia, I’d have no way to keep it all straight.

OK, so who wants to see a visual comparison between the –200, –300, –400? I know a lot of you really enjoyed visual comparison I did of the Embraer ERJ family of aircraft in my last post, so now that I have three variants of the Dash 8 completed, here’s a graphic depicting the visual differences of the three that I have already illustrated:

Visual comparison between the Dash 8 -200, -300, and -400

I don’t know about you, but I can’t help but to think that the Q400 is…well…kind of ugly. I have a lot of respect for it as a capable and competitive commercial airliner of course, but it looks like they were all doing shots of whiskey one afternoon in the design studio and stretched it a little bit too far on a stupid dare. It’s kind of like what Boeing is doing with the 737 series right now. The MAX 8 is an amazing piece of machinery, but the MAX 10 is pushing it just a little bit too far and beyond the scope of what the original 737 was intended to be. That’s just my opinion anyway.

The next template is one that I know a lot of you are going to like. Finally, after all these years, I’m wrapping up the MD-11! I’m pretty excited about that one as well, because I’ve always had a thing for those big McDonnell Douglas tri jets, and I’ve been having a lot of fun working on the illustrations. Stay tuned, because it’s coming soon!

Embraer ERJ-135 blank illustration templates

7 Comments May 11, 2018 Standard

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Well, I guess I have to stop kicking the can down the road and just get this over with. I actually completed this ERJ-135 blank illustration template about a week and a half ago, but the problem is that I’ve pretty much run out of things to say about the ERJ family of aircraft since I’ve said so much about the -145XR, -145, and the -140 already. I was already scraping the bottom of the literary barrel when I wrote the post about the -140, so you can imagine how blank my mind is right about now as I try to write this post about the smallest Embraer regional jet of them all. What else is there to say about this family of aircraft that I haven’t said already?

Well, for starters the ERJ-135 is a 37-seat aircraft, which is noticeably smaller than the ERJ-140. In my opinion, it doesn’t look all that much different than it’s bigger brother, and I’m not even sure that I would be able to tell the difference between the two if I wasn’t able to see them together side-by-side. It takes a courageous AvGeek to admit something like that, but since I’m feeling brave (and still struggling for things to say) you should probably also know that I still have a hard time discerning between an A320 and an A321 if I can’t see them together to make a direct comparison. Do I need to turn in my AvGeek card for admitting something like that? Gee, I really hope not. I quite like being an airline and aviation nerd thank you very much.

Now that I’ve created blank illustration templates for this entire family of aircraft, it’s time to do a direct visual comparison between them all:

Visual differences between the ERJ family of aircraft

Visual differences between the entire ERJ family of aircraft (ERJ-145XR, ERJ-145, ERJ-140, and ERJ-135)

Which one is your favorite? I think I would have to go with the big daddy of them all: the ERJ-145XR. It’s not even a fair comparison if I’m being honest, because any aircraft with large winglets strapped to it’s wings will always look better than an aircraft without them (by default). That’s my opinion anyway, and it’s a good thing that the XR has winglets because if any of the smaller versions did it would be insanely hard for me to pick a winner.

Side profile line drawing of an Embraer 135 regional jet

Thankfully, this post wraps up what has been a long and grueling series of posts about the ERJ family of aircraft, and I don’t blame you if you’re sick and tired of these posts just as much as I am. It’s not like I have anything against these airplanes, but I made a commitment to illustrate them all, and I never would’ve guessed how much of a challenge that would be for my painfully short attention span. Now that I’ve reached the end of the series, I’m pretty much over it and I’m chomping at the bit to get on to the next batch of templates. Truthfully, I was over it way back with the -145 so it was a real struggle to get this -135 posted. But there. I did it!

Next up will be the DHC-8-300, which wrangled its way into my schedule because I needed it for a client rendering that I was recently working on. The good news is that it’s already complete, and I’ll get it posted as soon as I think of some things to say about it…

Embraer ERJ-140 blank illustration templates

2 Comments May 1, 2018 Standard

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Yeah, the process of completing my ERJ templates is going a bit slower than I had originally planned, but the good news is that I am more than halfway done now with the completion of this ERJ-140. For those that don’t know, the ERJ-140 is a 44-seat version of the 50-seat ERJ-145. If you’re like me and you need pictures to help visualize the differences, check this out:

ERJ-145XR, ERJ-145, and ERJ-140 comparison

Visual differences between ERJ-145XR, ERJ-145, and ERJ-140

Pretty neat, huh? Unfortunately, as interesting as that diagram may be, it reveals the fact that there really aren’t that many differences between the -145 and -140. As a matter fact, there aren’t any differences other than fuselage length – which isn’t helping my case any when I try to defend myself for taking so long to create all of these templates.

The honest truth is that this series of templates is probably one of the easiest I’ve done in a long time, for the simple fact that there aren’t any major visual differences between each variant. The vertical stabilizers, wings, landing gear, and engines are all the same (for the most part). In comparison, the primary competitor to this aircraft (the Canadair Regional Jet) is all over the place when it comes to consistency between it’s variants. Check out my template of the CRJ-200, then compare it against the CRJ-900 and you’ll see that the only thing similar between those two types is pretty much the fuselage and a handful of minor details.

Side profile line drawing of a Embraer 140 regional jet

Thinking back on it, it’s probably a really good thing that this series of templates has been so easy to make. I probably would’ve skipped over the -140 altogether if it weren’t for the fact that it was just a simple shortening of the fuselage. All the research that I did prior to starting this one suggested that the -140 is the least popular variant of the entire ERJ family, and it may not even have been worth creating a template at all. I couldn’t find the exact numbers to prove just how unpopular it is, but a simple search of the airliners.net photo database revealed how frustrating it is to find good reference material for this particular aircraft. There are tons and tons of pictures of -145‘s and -135’s, but the -140 is the proverbial needle in the haystack. Lucky for you, my sick and twisted determination to finish what I start kept me going all the way through to find the reference material I needed.

On a sidenote, I’m writing this post at the Radisson Blu hotel at Zürich airport (ZRH), overlooking the runways from my room, and I’ve been watching a steady stream of ERJ-145 business jets take off and land over the past several hours. I had no idea they were so popular here, and it’s weird to see so many of them in one place! I guess what they say about Switzerland being one of the wealthiest nations in the world is actually true. If that didn’t convince me, the handful of Lamborghini’s and Ferrari’s pulling up to the terminal would have done it for sure. There’s money here. And a lot of it.

Ok then, I’m only one template away now from finishing up this ERJ family of aircraft. The last and final one (the ERJ-135) is next!

Embraer ERJ-145 blank illustration templates

4 Comments April 18, 2018 Standard

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Hold on a second! Before you dash on over to the Contact page and skewer me over the fact that I already made a post about my ERJ-145 templates (just last week!), you need to know that this is actually something completely different. Well, not totally different, but different enough to warrant it’s own post.

My last post was about the ERJ-145XR. This post is about the ERJ-145. Two completely different kinds of aircraft! I’m not sure if everybody would agree with me on that, but I think we can all agree that there are enough differences between the two which requires separate templates. Here, check out this graphic I made which shows the visual differences between the ERJ-145XR and the base model ERJ-145:

The highlights in red are the visual differences between ERJ-145XR and ERJ-145 (base model).

XR stands for “extended range”, which means that there are some additional aerodynamic add-ons to the base model which helps facilitate higher fuel-efficiency for extended range operations. There are a ton of internal modifications of course, but since I am just an illustrator focused on the exterior of these airplanes, here’s the breakdown of what the XR has over the base model -145:

Winglets
A large horizontal aerodynamic fin on the underside of the aircraft between the wings
Vertical slats at the aft of the fuselage underneath the vertical stabilizer

I’m sure there are a ton of other tiny little differences as well, but those are the major items which helps airplane nerds like us quickly identify the differences between these two different aircraft types. And if I’m being honest, I think it’s this base model -145 which looks the best out of the entire ERJ family of aircraft. The XR looks too fancy with all of its flashy add on‘s (kind of like how people add a bunch of crazy shit to Honda Civic‘s thinking that it makes them look faster), while the -140 and -135 (both templates coming soon) look like victims of tragic knife accidents.

Side profile line drawing of a Embraer 145 regional jet (base model)

Perhaps another reason why this base model -145 is my favorite is because it was the launch type for this family of aircraft way back in 1995. It was designed to be the successor for the EMB-120 Brasília, and I was totally on board with it because of my hatred for riding in small turboprop aircraft such as that little 120. I vividly remember when these small regional jets started appearing on the scene, and for someone like me who was terrified of small turboprops, I couldn’t help to think that it was a glorious time to be a traveler. That feeling only lasted five years or so, until most every airline decided to use these tiny little jets for everything – even flights longer than three hours in length. As a passenger, that was downright torture! Regional jets were excellent replacements for the turboprops, but not as replacements for larger mainline aircraft such as the 737.

OK then, can you guess which templates are coming next? If you guessed the ERJ-140 and ERJ-135, you’re a smart cookie. I’m working on them both as I type this (well, not exactly as I’m typing) and I hope to have them posted to the blog very very soon…