{"id":8273,"date":"2023-05-08T12:00:43","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T11:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/?p=8273"},"modified":"2023-05-07T21:16:31","modified_gmt":"2023-05-07T20:16:31","slug":"the-seven-five-seven-that-dethroned-tango-zero-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gacetaeronautica.com\/gaceta\/wp-102\/the-seven-five-seven-that-dethroned-tango-zero-one\/","title":{"rendered":"The aftermarket Seven-Five-Seven that will finally dethrone Carlos Menem’s Tango Zero One<\/b>"},"content":{"rendered":"

As an ancient Argentine saying goes: “Politicians change everything so that nothing (actually) changes”<\/strong><\/em>… and the recent acquisition of a new (sic) presidential transport aircraft appears to attest to it!<\/p>\n

\"Sol<\/a>
May Sun (Sol de Mayo), an Argentine icon of the 1810 revolt that initiated the path to Independence from Spanish domination, will feature prominently on both ARG-01’s fuselage and tail (photo: author unknown via social media viralization).<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Slated to replace the infamous Boeing 757 T-01 <\/strong>“Virgen de Loreto”<\/strong><\/em> purchased in 1992 by conservative Peronista<\/em> president, Carlos S. Menem<\/strong>, <\/em>the infamous-in-the-making Boeing 757 ARG-01<\/strong> is about to be delivered to the administration of socialist Peronista<\/em> president, Alberto Fern\u00e1ndez.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The change of airframe, color scheme and registration demonstrate that little has changed in Argentine politics in the last three decades: An original (neglected) 7-5-7 is about to be replaced by a second-hand (technically and politically objected) 7-5-7, Peronistas<\/em> remain in power… and the nation continues to fall in one of its customary an repetitive inflation, unemployment and poverty increase cycles!<\/p>\n

Nothing changed? Maybe… the original aircraft cost US $ 66,000,000 and the replacement only<\/span> US $ 22,000,000 (plus the older airframe, valued at US $ 2,800,000), while the “ARG” prefix appears to be more representative of the entire Argentine nation than the Buenos Aires-centric and militaristic “Tango”…<\/p>\n

The new Argentine presidential flying flagship was the 920th 757 (c\/n 29306) built by Boeing and flew for the first time from Seattle (Washington) on 03\/16\/2000, powered by two Rolls-Royce RB211-535 E4 engines.<\/p>\n

\"Iberia\"<\/a>
Registered EC-HIP and named “Panam\u00e1”, it flew trans-European routes for Iberia (photo: Cemal \u0130rfan \u00c7al\u0131\u015fkan\/AirTeamImages, Istambul, Turkey, 2001).<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Originally purchased by Iberia<\/strong>, it spent close to five years operating the Spanish flag carrier’s routes spanning throughout Europe.<\/p>\n

Even though it spent about a semester painted in the livery of the Kazakh airline, Air Astana<\/strong>, the aircraft wound-up cocooned at Goodyear Litchfield Municipal Airport in Phoenix (Arizona, USA) in the first quarter of 2006.<\/p>\n

\"Air<\/a>
Even though it was repainted in full Air Astana livery, it was never incorporated into that Kazakh airline’s fleet (photo: A J Best, Lasham, UK, 09\/29\/2005).<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Shortly afterwards, it reappeared in VIP-transport configuration and was re-registered to Funair Corporation<\/strong>, an Austin (Texas) based firm defining itself as “the superyacht industry\u2019s leading manufacturer of inflatable water toys”<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Industry sources indicate the aircraft spent several years coming in and out of storage and was definitively grounded and totally displaced from the Texan company’s fleet by a Boeing 737-700 business jet in April 2021.<\/p>\n

\"Stored\"<\/a>
After relocation to the USA, it was re-registered N757AG and remained stored while a new customer showed-up (photo: Nicholas Vollaro, Phoenix, USA, 03\/09\/2006).<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Apparently sold to Validus Aviation 757<\/strong>, a limited liability company from Tampa (Florida), the aircraft was licensed to C&L Aviation<\/strong>, a global aviation services and aftermarket-support provider for regional and corporate aircraft headquartered in Bangor (Maine), which entered it into the bid to supply the new Argentine presidential flagship.<\/p>\n

Selected as the winner among three competing offers, the aircraft flew as “Elan Express 757”<\/em> on 03\/31\/2023 from its storage location in Lake Charles (Louisiana) to 1 Vision Aviation<\/strong> facilities in Salinas (Kansas), where it went into repaint and interior work approximately on 04\/08\/2023.<\/p>\n

\"Funair\"<\/a>
Reconfigured for VIP-transportation, it was purchased for luxury inflatable water toys manufacturer, Funair (photo: Wingnut, Victoryville, USA, 01\/25\/2016).<\/i><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Once rework is completed, the aircraft is expected to fly to Buenos Aires, where it will enter presidential service replacing its uninflammable Menem-era predecessor.<\/p>\n

Variants:<\/strong><\/h3>\n