You are correct. The entire plane except for the tail fins are all connected together. The wings only come off if you unscrew it and take it apart.

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So I finally got around to doing this. I really liked that stand posted above from ebay but $40 was just too much. So I went to Lowes, picked up some supplies, and made my own. When I finally started working on this, It went together really quick and was pretty easy to do with the right tools. I will be up front, I have little experience with wood working. My quality of work is generally "good enough". You might not be able to see it in the pics but the rods that go in the engines are crooked. But when the plane is on top, you can't see that at all. If I end up doing another one, I will take some more time to not only make sure things are even, but to see if I can add that angle that the original display has. Still this was far cheaper to make, about $10. And even that price was high in my opinion. The base you see was about $8 by itself. It came like that, I didn't cut it at all. Pretty pricey for for what it is. I bet cheaper bases can be had at a craft store, I just didn't look. The rods are a 5/8" dowel rod. Find the right base and you can probably do these for $5 each. Or if you have the tools, cut the base yourself from standard lumber. (I don't have a router so...)

The center of the engines are 3-1/2" apart. Measure that out on the base and pick your points where the center of the rods will go. Use a 5/8" drill bit to start drilling but go slow. When the point of the bit just breaks through the bottom, your done. Cut 2 rods off the dowel 4" long each. Insert the rod in the hole drilled. From the bottom, drill flat head screw through the base in to the rod. When the screw is flush with the base, stop. That is about it. Of course you can tweak it by using longer or shorter rods if you want. I also figure that if you use a narrower dowel, you can get that leaning angle on it. Just have to be careful to not get too narrow of a dowel or it will break. You also don't want too much of a lean otherwise it will tip over. And finishing can be done however you want. Stain, paint, clear coat, etc.

9th grade shop class pays off again!

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That came out pretty well! Really interesting way to display...

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That works like a charm.

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That round base looks very professional. I will try to give an angle (maybe 70 degrees) on mine to avoid the jet flipping on his back.

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It's pretty stable and balanced. I tried nudging to to make it tip over and it took quite a bit of effort for that to happen.

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