One summer afternoon in 1979, while looking out from the terrace at Aeroparque, I managed to distinguish among the various aircraft on the apron the unmistakable shape of a particular Fokker F-28. There was no doubt that it looked different from the others operated by the state-owned company since 1975. Not only because of its colour scheme, but also because it was longer.
These were not the days when one could simply go online and find out what it was. However, if one was familiar with the various colour schemes, thanks to the specialised magazines that helped nurture our still fledgling spotting knowledge — Interavia, Air Pictorial and Aircraft Illustrated, to name but a few — it was possible to identify it. This particular aircraft turned out to be the first of its type in Argentina, as the second Mk.4000 did not arrive until 1999, when T-02 - cn. 11203- was incorporated and assigned to the Presidency of the Nation.
Upon its arrival, the aircraft still carried the colours of NLM Cityhopper, and entered service in this guise: wearing "borrowed clothes". Before long, it would receive the full colour scheme of the Argentine company, once it was formally acquired in Apr80. In 1990, the aircraft was destroyed at Villa Gesell.
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