Convair CV-880
| Convair 880 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| A Delta Air Lines 880 in flight shortly after delivery: Delta had the second-largest fleet, behind TWA. | |
| Role | Narrow-body jet airliner |
| Manufacturer | Convair |
| First flight | January 27, 1959 |
| Introduction | May 1960 with Delta Air Lines |
| Status | Retired |
| Primary users |
Trans World Airlines Delta Air Lines Japan Airlines Swissair |
| Produced | 1959-1962 |
| Number built | 65 |
| Variants | Convair 990 |
The Convair 880 was a narrow-body jet airliner produced by the Convair division of General Dynamics. It was designed to compete with the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 by being smaller and faster, a niche that failed to create demand. When it was first introduced, some aviation circles claimed that at 615 mph (990 km/h), it was the fastest jet transport in the world. Only 65 Convair 880s were produced over the lifetime of the production run from 1959 to 1962, and General Dynamics eventually withdrew from the airliner market after considering the 880 project a failure. The Convair 990 was a stretched and faster variant of the 880.
Convair began development of a medium-range commercial jet in April 1956, to compete with announced products from Boeing and Douglas. Initially the design was called the Skylark, but the name was later changed to the Golden Arrow, then Convair 600 and then finally the 880, both numbers referring to its top speed of 600 mph (970 km/h) or 880 ft/s (268 m/s). It was powered by General Electric CJ-805-3 turbojets, a civilian version of the J79 which powered the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom, and Convair B-58 Hustler.
The first example of the initial production version, the Model 22, made its maiden flight on January 27, 1959. No prototype was built. After production started, the Federal Aviation Administration mandated additional instrumentation, which Convair added by placing a "raceway" hump on the top of the fuselage, rather than ripping apart the interiors over the wing area. The final assembly of the 880 and 990 took place at the Convair facilities in San Diego, California.
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