The very first "full" special livery ever was unveiled on October 29, 1973 at Braniff's Dallas Love Field base. On that day the aircraft made a fly-by at the newly opened Dallas-Ft Worth Regional airport and then landed there to meet additional airline staff. After having revolutionnized the airlines' liveries in the 1960s with "The End of the Plain Plane" campaign (and the so-called "Solid Colors"), Braniff went further in 1972 by contracting contemporary artist Alexander Calder to use an airplane as a flying artwork.
The livery was designed and partly painted by Calder himself, depicting the bright colours of South America, which made up for an important part of the airline's international network. The special livery was announced as the airline was celebrating 25 years of service to South America, which had begun on June 4, 1948. It was what we can consider the first "full" special livery to fly in the World and proved to be an excellent asset to promote Braniff in the US and worldwide.
The aircraft was flown to the 1975 Paris Air Show during which Calder painted additionnal artwork on each of the 4 engines. Note both the upper and lower sides of the wings and horizontal stabilizer also had special paint on them.
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