That “Med-Star” symbol looks a whole lot like a red cross.

Just blend the cockpit parts into a standard issue cockpit piece, add a motorcycle, and you are halfway to 60116-1. Good design in 1988, and still looks good after modernization!

@CarolinaOnMyMind said:
"That “Med-Star” symbol looks a whole lot like a red cross. "

Whats wrong with a Red Cross??

What a beauty!

@Brickchap said:
" @CarolinaOnMyMind said:
"That “Med-Star” symbol looks a whole lot like a red cross. "

Whats wrong with a Red Cross?? "

From what I've been told, the Red Cross symbol is protected and only supposed to be used by actual medical personnel, but often it's used as a generic symbol for first aid. I guess Lego tried to get around with including it in the hospital sets by calling it Med-Star, although an earlier set @6523 is called "Red Cross"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emblems_of_the_International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movement

Great to have an air ambulance as more interesting than just another 'airline' jet plane with the opening roof for the stretcher and all the printed red crosses which have survived over time. The 'med-star' rescue name suggests if someone injured themselves mountaineering or was bitten by a snake, spider etc. in a very remote part of the world then this would fly them back to civilization and a hospital rather than a helicopter which is more city based A&E.

I dreamt of this plane since I had a large poster of the 1988 new city sets. The rear design is so cool !
Finally it was my first purchase on eBay back in 2004, with its box.

Too bad, I never found the lovely 2064 to add to my airport. And the 60116 is a nice update from 2016.

So, does this vehicle exist as a medical rescue plane historically?

Another good medicial airplane is 2064 . I know, there was 60116 , but that's not that style anymore. I like old City sets. I'm looking for them by MiSB on Bricklink or Ebay. Sadly for several years, I completely don't care about the new City sets. Just compare 7237 or 7744 with new 60246 .

Yes, what a beauty! Love those classic slightly chunky airplane noses. 3 minifigs, a stretcher, it's complete!

There is no way those teeny tiny propellers get that thing off the ground XD

@Pekingduckman said:
" @Brickchap said:
" @CarolinaOnMyMind said:
"That “Med-Star” symbol looks a whole lot like a red cross. "

Whats wrong with a Red Cross?? "

From what I've been told, the Red Cross symbol is protected and only supposed to be used by actual medical personnel, but often it's used as a generic symbol for first aid. I guess Lego tried to get around with including it in the hospital sets by calling it Med-Star, although an earlier set @6523 is called "Red Cross"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emblems_of_the_International_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_Movement"

I guess it's the recognisability for children, that's important here. Kids see the Red Cross on vehicles and, as you wrote, associate it with first aid, so they expect it to be present on toy representations (as in th third paragraph of the article). Kids are not firm in all that legal stuff at that young age - I certainly wasn't and in my mind all my ambulances were correctly wearing a red cross =)

Much better then those current prefab cockpit planes.

60116 is a good update in almost every way except that cockpit piece being too specialized.

I don't mind the largest cockpit parts as much as seen on the largest aircraft like : 60262 : Passenger Airplane , but that set has flaws with the huge premade wing piece taking away so much interior space.

7734 : Cargo Plane looks fine too, and has 4 props, while 60101 : Airport Cargo Plane just look terrible with that cockpit piece again.

I understand it's the difference between 6 and 8 wide ,but most 6 wides using a few prefab cockpits over and over and over is more playmobil and not LEGO like.

I understand reasoning behind those large hollow cockpits is clear, it can seat 1-2 figs , easy to build, and takes few parts, but to me it's less useful then reusing a BURP piece or something.

Love this plane and this set, although those propellers still seem way too small to me (even though there are four of them). I always liked those trans-light blue panels on the sides of the cockpit; they gave the impression that this was a rough-airfield, bush plane that needs to go out to the wilderness to execute a rescue, and that the pilot needs all the visibility possible to land on those dirt strips in the middle of nowhere.

Ambulance airplanes do exist, but they're not much about "rescue" rather than transportation of patients to a distant facility where they can get a treatment they need that can't be found locally - or more often, rich patients who want to move to a better place than they are - and they need constant medical attention or special equipment, so a regular airplane isn't suitable.

@Lego_lord said:
"Well, it’s a classic alright."

it's an entirely different kind of flying.

One of my earliest and most favorite sets :)

What I don't like in the new sets i.e. 60116 is the huge 'block' above the rear wheels. This model has 2x3 33 slope which look like a real aircraft (as close as possible while maintaining integrity). This is the main problem I have with more recent models, they are probably more solid but also less detailed - or need to use specialised parts. Also, ambulance planes do no have flashing blue lights to signify they are emergency vehicles. To me this is one of the best planes Lego has ever made.

@Pekingduckman:
If you carefully read the page you linked to, Johnson & Johnson legally registered the red cross symbol as a trademark, so they are free to use it as they please, at least in the US. I don’t know if its use for first aid stems from the J&J trademark, or from its use by the Red Cross. For use in cases like what this set is meant to depict, it could be seen as a precautionary measure, making sure that all medical facilities, transports, and personnel are pre-marked for protected non-combatant status in case war breaks out on home soil. This does complicate its use on toys. M*A*S*H accurately depicted its use by military medical units, and toys based on the show accurately depicted its use by the show. But under Geneva Convention, it sounds like this is a problem. I suspect the Geneva Convention provides no legal standing to do anything about it.

@Jack_Sassy:
I don’t think unmanned medical drones with cockpits and passenger seating exist.

Very interesting use of the trans-light-blue 4865 panel in the cockpit there. Most Lego aircraft from the era would use a solid 4865 rather than a transparent one. I guess the pilot needs to look down and observe the landing zone?

Well I owned the L&S twin rotor 6482, so there wasn't any need to get this one. Having said that, I loved the look of it and dreamed of having it. It's so elegant. A perfect classic set.

@bananaworld said:
"It's an entirely different kind of flying altogether."

It's an entirely different kind of flying

I wanted this set so bad back in the day. I've always loved twin-tailed airplanes. I also loved those old stretchers with the collapsible wheels.