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Aviation History
1956
1956 - 0027.PDF
FLIGHT, 6 January 1956 27 CIVIL AVIATION 4s recorded on this page, the first Douglas DC-7C made its maiden flight at Santa Monica on December 20th. Looking decep- tively like its DC-6 and DC-7 predecessors, the Seven Seas is in fact a much more advanced airliner. DC-7C FLIES "ELEVEN days ahead of the Douglas schedule, the first pro--•-' duction DC-7C took off from the company's Santa Monica airfield on its maiden flight on Tuesday, December 20th. Theaircraft flew for three hours in the hands of Douglas chief test pilot Bert Foulds, with A. G. Heimerdinger as second pilot. Ascheduled first flight date of December 31st was called for in July 1954, when the Seven Seas was first conceived. The DC-7C,it will be recalled, is an enlarged version of the basic DC-7, with a 3ft longer fuselage and a 10ft greater wing span, enablingfuel capacity to be increased from 6,400 U.S. gal to 7,860 U.S. gal. Engines are the advanced model of the Wright Compound of3,400 take-off h.p. Seven Seas have been ordered by PanAm, B.O.A.C, S.A.S., Sabena, K.L.M., Alitalia, Mexican, Braniff,Northwest, Swissair, and T.A.I. EASTERN CHOOSE ALLISON HEN the first announcement was made of Eastern Air Lines'order for Lockheed Electras (Flight, September 30th) the choice of powerplant was left undecided, pending a comparativestudy of available British and American turboprops. Eastern now announce that their fleet of 40 Electras is to be powered by Allison501 (military T56) turboprop engines of 3,750 s.h.p. The initial order with General Motors, Allison's parent company, providesfor 200 Allison 501s; a simultaneous order with the Aeroproducts division of G.M. provides for a similar number of four-blade 13jftturbine propellers. Eastern also have an option on a further 150 turbine-propeller units. As recorded in our issue of December 2nd,the Lockheed company have ordered two Rolls-Royce Tynes and two Napier Elands for evaluation as possible Electra powerplants. AIRWORK VISCOUNTS SOLD TTHE three Viscount 755s ordered by Airwork, Ltd., have been -*• sold in advance of delivery to Compania Cubana de Aviacion, S.A., of Havana. The aircraft are due for delivery over the next few months. Airwork state that sale of the Viscounts wasdictated by lack of opportunities to utilize them fully, and that they will not order any more new aircraft unless there is achange in Government policy towards the independent operators. Another independent, Hunting-Clan Air Transport, recentlyleased three Viscount 732s to Middle East Airlines. S.A.S., SABENA, AIR FRANCE BUY U.S. JETS— POLLOWING the K.L.M. decision to buy DC-8s (Flight,-*• November 25th) three more European operators have an- nounced orders for American jet airliners. They are S.A.S. (sevenDC-8s), Sabena (three Boeing 707s), and Air France (ten 707s). In announcing the Scandinavian order with Douglas, Mr.Henning Throne-Hoist, S.A.S. president, said in Stockholm on December 21st: "We are convinced that the future of long-range aviation lies with the jet transport." Douglas state that S.A.S. are considering the use of Rolls-Royce Conway enginesinstead of Pratt and Whitney J75s. Delivery of the S.A.S. DC-8s will begin during the first quarter of 1960. Sabena announced their order for three 126-passenger Boeing707 "Intercontinentals" (see below) on December 28th, for operation on the Brussels-New York and Brussels-Belgian Congoroutes, beginning "in the spring of 1960." The same day, M. Max Hymans, president of Air France, announced in Algeria hisorder for ten 707 Intercontinentals, with an option on another six. The order will be completed within a year from November,1959. Much prominence was given to the Air France order in the French Press on December 29th. L'Aurore said: "Britainhas now lost the enormous market for four-jet airliners." Pan American-Grace brought the DC-8 order-book to 110 onDecember 28th with a contract for four aircraft plus an option on two. The Boeing 707 score to date is 75. —AND BOEING DISCLOSE LONG-RANGE 707T HE Sabena and Air France orders for 707s recorded above arefor the new longer-range version, to be known as the Strato- liner Intercontinental. Compared with the domestic 707, asordered by American, Continental and Braniff, the overwater Intercontinental has increased power, payload and tankage, andwill be the type used by transatlantic operators. (PanAm have substituted Intercontinentals for 12 of their order for 20 707s.) Comparative data for the domestic 707 and the Intercontinentalare: all-up weight 240,000 lb and 290,000 lb; payload 28,000 lb and 36,000 lb; tankage 17,400 U.S. gal and 21,200 U.S. gal;length 134|ft and 146ft 8in; span 130ft lOin and 141ft 6in; wing area increased by 475 sq ft. Engines of the 707 Intercontinental (and presumably the over-water DC-8) will be Pratt and Whitney JT4A-3s (civil J75s), estimated at between 17,000 lb and 18,000 1b thrust each—a con-siderable advance on the JT3 (civil J57) of the domestic 707, estimated at 13,000 lb with water injection. MORE ELECTRAS ORDERED VALUED at £ 16.5m, an order for 20 Lockheed Electras hasbeen placed by National Air Lines. It brings the number of Electras now sold to 104, with 30 more on option. Twelve ofNational's Electras will be delivered between April and December 1959, the remainder following in 1960. Log-books of the first Britannias to be delivered to B.O.A.C. were handed over to Sir Miles Thomas on December 30th by Sir Reginald Verdon Smith (right), chairman of the Bristol Aeroplane Co. Their expressions provide all the commentary needed on the occasion, which is reported on page 5.
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