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0212668

An MD-81, a common representation of Gerti.

An aged photograph of a small silver jet aeroplane landed on dusty tarmac.

A McDonnell 220, closer to Gerti's implied size.

Gerti, also known as Gertie or by her callsign G-ERTI, is the only plane of MJN Air. It is an old, increasingly broken example of a (fictional) Lockheed McDonnell 3-12.[1] It is equipped with two jet engines and can provide seating for 16 passengers, plus cabin crew.[2]

The fictional 'Lockheed McDonnell' make is a combination of real aircraft manufactureres, 'Lockheed Martin' and 'McDonnell Douglas' (with the unused names from these makes being 'Martin' and 'Douglas').

The plane used most often to represent G-ERTI is a McDonnell Douglas MD-80, despite this plane being much bigger than G-ERTI's 16-seat capacity. She is more likely to resemble a McDonnell 220 in size, though that aircraft has four engines to the 3-12's two.[2]

In the Show[]

Gerti was previously owned by Gordon Shappey, but was won by Carolyn Knapp-Shappey as part of their divorce settlement. She then used Gerti to start MJN Air. Throughout the series, Gordon makes repeated attempts to buy Gerti back from Carolyn, with such attempts forming the basis of episodes in St. Petersburg and Zürich. While Carolyn always assumed this was out of spite, Douglas eventually deduces that Gerti is more valuable than she appears.

It transpires that Gerti's wiring is made entirely from gold, rather than the more usual copper. Gordon installed this wiring to allow him to evade losses in his divorce settlement; when Carolyn is unexpectedly awarded the jet in the settlement, he became willing to buy back Gerti even at a very high price. This discovery explains Gerti's extreme sluggishness in the air and, once the gold is sold, allows MJN to continue functioning, renamed as OJS Air (Our Jet Still).

Condition[]

There are an alarmingly large number of mechanical problems with the dilapidated aircraft, being described as held together by 'only gaffer tape and hope'.[1] When Linda Fairbairn remarks that she didn't think there were any Lockheed McDonnell 3-12s still flying, Douglas remarks "...those there are, barely do".[1]

Some of Gerti's non-smoking lights fail to switch on, and one makes the cabin smell of fish.[3] Other examples of faults on Gerti include Number One Hydraulics System on approach to Douz, (the warning light for) the deicing system while flying to Johannesburg, the APU startup motor in Xinzhou, and the time she gave a ground proximity warning when they were on the ground.[4] She also experiences a rather larger fault when one of her engines loses a fight with a goose on takeoff from St. Petersburg.

Crew[]

For most of the series, Gerti is flown by Captain Martin Crieff and First Officer Douglas Richardson, with Arthur Shappey, and sometimes owner Carolyn Knapp-Shappey, serving as cabin crew (Arthur in an unofficial capacity since Ipswich).

After the events of Zürich, Douglas assumes the role of Captain and Hercules Shipwright takes the role of First Officer.

Callsign[]

Gerti is so-called because it is the registration of the aircraft, G-ERTI.

The full callsign (Golf Echo Romeo Tango India, phonetic for the registration, G-ERTI) must be said when joining a new ATC region, or in the case of an emergency. At other times, it may be shortened (which is why it is sometimes heard as being Golf Tango India).

G-ERTI is MJN’s only aircraft, which is the most likely reason for the registration also being the callsign. Bigger airlines (i.e., actual airlines) usually use their airline name or some other identifying word as their callsign, often alongside a number - British Airways are Speedbird, South African Airways are Springbok, and QANTAS are (wait for it) QANTAS.

In general aviation, the aircraft registration doubles as the call sign. MJN’s callsign (although a company—civil, not general, aviation) is probably their registration because, having only one jet, they are not technically an airline[5] (and barely even qualify as a functional company most of the time). They could (legally) go by their company name (some airlines do, such as Monarch Airlines and QANTAS), but G-ERTI being called MJN-1 would make no sense and implies that they are a functional airline with at least two jets. Which they are most certainly not.[6]

The registration G-ERTI is, in real life, allocated to a Staaken Z-21A Flitzer.[7]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 S3E1: Newcastle
  2. 2.0 2.1 S2E3: Ipswich
  3. S1E2: Boston
  4. S2E4: Johannesburg
  5. S1E1: Abu Dhabi
  6. scrooge mcduck air: Why is the airplane called "Gerti"? Can you explain? Retrieved on 20th September 2023.
  7. G-ERTI/GERTI aviation photos on JetPhotos. Retrieved 28th February 2024.
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