FlightGlobal.com
Home
Premium
Archive
Video
Images
Forum
Atlas
Blogs
Jobs
Shop
RSS
Email Newsletters
You are in:
Home
Aviation History
1954
1954 - 1486.PDF
FLIGHT, 21 May 1954 653 Convair-liner 340 (K.L.M.). CONVAIR 240 AND 340 • The Convair-liner will be re membered as the outstanding medium-range transport of the late forties and early fifties. More than 350 have been sold to 35 different operators, including a scattering of executive- transport versions. The most important differences between the two models (which, incidentally, have been sold in approxi mately equal numbers) are the 340's fuselage stretch of 4.5ft, enabling standard passenger capacity to be increased from 40 to 44, and its extended wings containing 350 more gallons of fuel for extended range. Provision has been made for fitting both types with turboprops when sufficiently developed units are available. The results of a 1951 series of tests with the Turboliner, a Model 240 equipped with 2,600 h.p. Allison turboprops, were not encouraging. However, a military version of the 340, designated YC-131C, has now been fitted with new Allison YT56 turboprops and was due to have begun flight trials at the time of writing. After near-monopolizing the medium-range market for many years, Convair are beginning to lose ground to Vickers- Armstrongs. Last December one of the American company's sales executives was quoted as saying after an overseas tour: "Everywhere I went the airline operators were talking about the Viscount." CV-340 (two R-2800 CB16, total 4,800 h.p.).—Span, 105ft 4in; length, 79ft 2in; take-off weight 47,000 lb; wing loading, 50.8 lb/sq ft; take-off distance, 4,500ft; passenger capacity, 44; typical performance, 264 m.p.h. for 750 miles at 15,000ft with 11,200 lb payload. Curtiss Commando (Air Djibouti). CURTISS COMMANDO • Designed to be competitive with the Boeing Stratolinef and Douglas DC-4, the Curtiss Wright C.W.20 went into production for the U.S.A.A.F. (as the C-46 Commando) shortly after America entered World War II. Altogether 3,141 were built, of which a small percentage remain in service, the majority in North and South America. The largest operators are the two big American all-freight operators, Slick and Flying Tiger, with respective fleets of 19 and 26. Several companies have adopted Turbomeca auxiliary jet units as a means of bringing the Commando's take-off performance in line with modern requirements. Commando (two R-2800, total 4,400 h.p.).—Span, 105ft 8in; length, 76ft 4in; take-off weight 45,000 lb; wing loading, 35.3 lb/sq ft; take-off distance, 4,955ft; passenger capacity, 44; typical performance, 200 m.p.h. for 1,000 miles at 8,000ft with 10,000 lb payload. De Havilland Heron (Japan Air Lines). Douglas DC-3 (New Zealand National Airways). '-•-_ - - -' O.:. ' ""HIT
Sign up to
Flight Digital Magazine
Flight Print Magazine
Airline Business Magazine
E-newsletters
RSS
Events
