Set name: Trans Air Carrier
Set number: 6375
No. of pieces: 208
Year released : 1990


Box picture

The front of the box showing the plane having a close fly-by with the camera. Picture taken from Brickshelf.


Once again the alternate models are out of the ordinary. Who would have thought about a rocket launch pad? Picture from Brickshelf.



The packaging

I bought this second hand with my other parts at the start of this year during the bulk purchase with Yaki. The seller package it really well. Unfortunately once it is opened I will have to use other means of storage.



The instructions

The instructions are like an A4 sized booklet. The front page has the smae picture as the box and also shows the loading and unloading operation of the plane.


The page showing the building steps for the little forklift and pickup. Black isn't really shown as black, more like dark grey.


Another page showing the final step in the instructions.



Flat floor

The shot below shows the interior floor of the plane. It is blue in color and is smooth compared to the studded floor of the other airplane. This is so that the cargo can be loaded and unloaded with ease and can be moved throughout the aircraft.



Minifigure

There are 2 minifigures in this set; a pilot minifigure and a cargo handler with the airport logo with blue cap. Two is sufficient for this set.



Unique pieces

This set also has some unique printed pieces such as the control panel as well as the tail and panel with the cargo logo. The panel and tail only appears in this set.



Forklift

The forklift is a simple 4 stud wide vehicle with a special fork to lift the 2x2x2 yellow containers. The fork has a spring so that the fork return to the upright position when it is not pressed.



The place where the fork is pressed have a Lego logo!



Little Pickup

The pickup is of a simple design, with a flat bed at the rear to hold only 1 yellow container and a seat in front.




Trans air carrier

Finally, onto the plane itself! This plane has all the features that make it a heavy cargo hauler such as additional landing gears, windowless body, twin engines on either wing and a transport logo on its fuselage and tail. The wings top mounted unlike the planes from the airport sets.


From the side view, you can see that the bottom part of the fuselage is of light grey color, followed by white, red and white again for the roof. I still do not understand why the bottom part have to be different. It could have been white in color.


The front have a hinge to allow the side to open. This allows the cargo to be loaded by the side.


The rear portion of the plane can turn sideways. This is by removing the 2x2 tile which locks the tail to the body. The rear part also has a hinge to allow the roof to open, but it is quite unnecessary since it will impair how much the tail will open.


Another view showing the tail opening sideways to allow straight access into the cargo compartment.



Loading/unloading the trans carrier

Loading by the side reveals that the forklift can't lift high enough to place the cargo container into the plane. If the bay is lower by a plate or 2 then the fork would be able to reach into the plane. As it is, you can see the wheel of the forklift is above the ground.


Loading by the rear is slightly better. The cargo level is much lower than the side. For some reason although the width is 2 studs wide, the cargo container will somehow get stuck between the walls of the fuselage. You can load the container in, but cannot really lift it out.



Comparison with the other Lego airplane.

How does it compare to the red Lego airplane from the 1985 airport set? Very well I would say! In fact both of them seem to be designed at about the same time and they both look from the same airline.


Another view with all the doors are open and support vehicles around the plane.


Would look great in an airport scene too!



The pilot from the airport set having a chat with the pilot from the Trans Air Carrier set



Extras!

Pilot Trans-air: I never knew the tankers nowadays are so big! And what is up with all those stickers on the panels? We always had printed pieces back then!
Pilot airport: Well, times have changed.
Octan attendant: Printed pieces are expensive. Besides, the price of oil has risen dramatically.
Pilot Trans-air: If the price of oil has increased shouldn't Octan have more cash for printed parts due to higher profits? Also, no need to pay royalty unlike those days where the fuel came from Shell!
Octan attendant: errr......


Pilot Trans-air: You look awfully perky too.. Wonder why?
Octan attendant: Too much coffee haha.

You passenger plane looks complete after all this years. I wonder if my passenger jet is more yellow than yours haha.

Since I was not able to take the photos using the usual home camera, I had to use my Blacberry Bold 9700 to take the photos. I am surprised with the photo quality and the fact it can auto-focus! 

I bro has a D40 DSLR but too ma fan to use it.