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The 1960s saw
the Jet-Age take hold with all major airlines
replacing their aging piston engined types with jet airlines. Boeing 707s, DC8s, Convair 880s and
VC10s replaced the earlier DC7s, Stratocruisers,
and Constellations on the long-haul routes. Boeing 727s, Caravelles,
DC9s, BAC111s and Tridents replaced the piston-twin types on medium and
short-haul routes. The new turbo-prop short-haul types
like the Fokker 27 and Viscount which were introduced in the 1950s became
the main types for many regional airlines where pure-jet aircraft were
less economical on very short routes.
Boeing 720
The 720B was also used by holiday
charter companies for medium-haul flights requiring heavy passenger loads.
Boeing 727 series 100
Boeing
727-200Adv
Boeing 747-100
By the mid 1970s most long-haul airlines had purchased the
series 100 or 200. In its battle against the latecomer Douglas DC10-30 it
won hands down.
Britten-Norman BN.2a Islander The BN.2A was designed as a rough strip and STOL (short
take off and landing) feederliner. The Islander is still used as an
island-hopper due to it's STOL and rough-strip capabilities.
The Trilander was a larger variation on the
successful BN2a Islander twin. The Trislander is still used as a regional
feeder liner and island-hopper due to it's STOL and rough-strip
capabilities.
The Convair 990
was used by many airlines including Modern Air, VARIG and Northeast.
Swissair used them extensively in Europe and named the aircraft the
'Coronado'. The 990 was the fastest jetliner ever,
with an amazing 615 mph! It had speed pods on the training edges of the
main wings unlike the more conventional CV-880. It's CJ805 engines were
very dirty at full power leaving a black trail in the sky on takeoff. It was still in use into the 1980s with
Spanish holiday airline Spantax who still operated a fleet of Coronados.
The 'Skyservant' was a
1970s attempt to produce a small feeder liner. The Do.28 was used by some
small airlines and by the German Air Force.
The
Super-61
and Super-63 variants of the DC-8 were very successful considering
that this was the first time anyone had seen an airliner 'stretched'
beyond what would seem reasonable. The extra payload the extra 30 feet of
fuselage gave was a commercial winner for many airlines. The jet was used on trans-Atlantic
services until the wide bodies came along in the 1970s. Even then airlines
continued to use the Super 63 and later it was used effectively on charter
flights. When noise regulations came along in Europe Many Super-DC8 jets
were re-engined with modern fan units and flew as series 71 and 73
airliners.
The DC9-30 was the
most successful of the DC9 series. Used all over the world as a general
purpose fleet type it can still be seen in use today, mainly as the series
32.
This original
Fellowship variant was designed for short runways and regional routes.
This lovely little feeder jetliner used air-brakes in the tail that opened
sideways into the airflow and could be used in flight. It was used in Europe by airlines like
Iberia, Aviaction - a German charter airline and Braathens SAFE but
it was sold worldwide in small quantities for civil and military
operators. In America it was used by Empire and Piedmont.
The Fellowship was
made in longer-fuselage variants including the series 4000 and 6000
(pictured above). At this point the new Fokker 70 and Fokker 100 jets
replaced it. It was used in Europe by NLM Cityhopper,
SAS, Martinair and many other small operators. Again the later model
Fellowship can still be found working around the world.
The Herald was a
British turboprop designed in competition with the Fokker Friendship
regional airliner. It was originally destined for the state airline BEA
and also for the Royal Air Force. When Handley-Page chose not to join a
nationalisation merger of British aircraft manufacturers the government of
the time cancelled the RAF contract and the Herald project fell on
commercial hard times. Many Heralds were sold though, to
independent British airlines like BUA, Jersey Airlines, Channel Airways,
BMA and Air UK. BEA even purchased a couple for the Scottish islands
services and many were sold abroad. Sadly, this was not enough to save
Handley-Page who needed the cancelled large RAF order for the type. By the
mid 1980s the Herald fleets were mostly retired, the last operators in
Europe were Air UK and Channel Express.
The Trident Two-E
was an effort to bring the Trident 1C closer to the Boeing 727-100 which
was winning over most of Europe's airlines. It carried more passengers and
had an extended range of 3600 miles. By this time BEA had decided that, like
everyone else, it also needed a jet with a bigger cabin and with more
powerful engines. Being the state airline it could not purchase the
American-made Boeing 727 although it wanted the jet. The Trident 2E
variant - build in Britain - was what it was forced to order. The Trident Two was the most elegant of
the three variants. The wings were a few feet longer and came to a
graceful tip. It was an all-round nice looking jet. BEA ordered a large
fleet of jets. Other operators of the Trident Two were
Cyprus Airways whose planes were destroyed during the civil war there, and
CAAC, the Chinese state airline ordered the type.
In the late 1960s
BEA again asked the government for permission to purchase a fleet of
Boeing 727 jets but as a nationalised airline it was ordered: 'Buy
British'. BAC offered the Three-Eleven still on the drawing board but BEA
needed a new jet fast so a 'stretched-cabin' Trident 3B variant was
quickly put together by Hawker-Siddeley and it entered service with BEA by
1969. Hawker-Siddeley could not get a more
powerful British-built engine for the Trident Three so a smaller fourth
jet engine was placed in the tail above the central number two engine, in
place of the ground power unit. This forth engine was used for takeoff and
climb-out only. Not surprisingly the Trident was
known by those who flew it as 'Gripper'! The Tridents were scrapped in the
early 1980s and no other airline except CAAC - Chinese Airlines bought the
3B.
The ILYUSHIN IL-62
was a long-haul passenger airliner, one of a few jet types being designed
purely for civilian use. It resembled the Vickers VC-10 except that it was
very underpowered. If the crew lost an engine on take-off they would
usually abort and keep the jet on the runway (or where-ever), even if the
jet had passed the V1 position. It was used extensively internationally
by Aeroflot and by Soviet Block nation airlines like LOT, CSA, Interflug
and even Cubana.
Airline: Prototype number w D-BABB in 1974 The VFW-Fokker 614 was a strange concept
for a passenger airliner with 2 jet engines mounted on wing upper surface
directly opposite the passenger cabin windows! This jet was like a Fokker
Fellowship gone badly wrong! Only three operators used it: the
Luftwaffe, Air Alsace of France and Cimber Air of Denmark. However in
those pre-twin-engined, computer designed days it is interesting to see
variation in airliner design was not quite dead!
The Vickers VC-10 was
probably the most aesthetic and elegant of the British airliners. It was
designed purely for the needs of state airline BOAC for long-haul routes
especially to the USA. They ordered a large fleet of Standard VC-10s.
The Comet 4 fleet needed replacing and the
VC-10 design was behind schedule by a couple of years. But when they
finally got it in the air what a beautiful shape it was! Pilots liked for
its large and well lit cockpit and great handling characteristics. Several other airlines also used the VC-10
i small numbers including MEA, Air Malawi, Ghana Airways, BUA and Gulf
Air. The Royal Air Force ordered a large fleet of a special series similar
to the Standard model VC-10.
The Super VC-10 was
an improvement on the original design with a longer fuselage to carry more
passengers. It even looked sleeker and more elegant. |
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