How does this have 66 pieces?

I generally REALLY like small sets as they give you tons of play value for the dollar. But this one just doesn't do it for me.

My first reaction was - Wow! This is cool! I've never come across this before! But I don't like the open roof.

@TeriXeri said:
"Looks very good, even for being in the dreaded late 90s era, not every Town set was terrible, I loved those sloped angled wedges and windscreens.

Also some good other airplane parts like the wing/tail parts and wheels, and a chromed
visor fig.

Interestingly the 2x2 black/red/blue/silver printed tile was from the Spyrius Space theme from 1994 5 years earlier , and used in some later Aquazone and Town sets.

60224: Satellite Service Mission would be the 2019 modern equivalent.


"

Rather 60079: This is supposed to be a training jet.

Look at that visor. Clearly trying to fly to Valhalla if he’s that shiny and chrome

It's quite a sweet little build. You get some great parts.

This is definitely one of the better Space Port sets. I agree with @jkb in that it is most likely some kind of training jet. And @guachi, 66 pieces sounds about right for the plane (I don't have it at hand right now to check). It's very swooshable. And the cargo bay tends to stay closed, depending on worn your hinge piece is, I guess :)

I look at this set and all I see is parts.

I've never been sure quite what to make of this one. It appears in the 1999 US medium catalog as part of value pack 6469-1, but I've never seen it in any catalog by itself. The other two sets in the value pack (6452-1 and 6458-1) were both in Shop at Home catalogs at various times.

I was always 50/50 on the '99 Spaceport sets, but some of these smaller ones did have a lovely charm to them.

I assume he is a test pilot for a super new fast rocket engine, where the flame is so intense you need gold shades. Using the tail piece as wings is a bit different although limits alternative builds. Not sure why there is no roof piece and I like the arrows on the runway. Space port seemed to be the start of today's city space theme.

@ambr:
They were/are averse to making you remove parts to place a minifig in the cockpit. Even with this design, you'd still have to flip open the tail to get enough clearance for the arms, but cap the gap on the cockpit and you'd have to either pop that off, or the entire windscreen, to get a minifig in or out. Besides, the only part they had available at the time that would fit the top of the canopy would have left three gaps that couldn't be filled. That piece is a 4x3 wedge plate, which has a 1x2 notch on the long edge. Besides that, the back of the windscreen has vertical sides, while the hatch behind it has 45 degree slopes on both sides. Trying to "fix" it would have just made it look worse.

This background annoys me with the fake landing baseplate.

@jkb said:
"Rather 60079: This is supposed to be a training jet."

True, I should've mentioned current sets, but you're right, it's a training jet more then a shuttle.

Also the mini-shuttle from 60227: Lunar Space Station has a cargo hold on the back, certainly could be played with in a similar way.