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Aviation History
1960
1960 - 0409.PDF
FLIGHT, 25 March 1960 409 The Air Force recently announced that the JetStar had beendeclared winner of the competition for a utility jet transport (Flight, October 23, 1959). No total numbers of aircraft involvedwere mentioned, but this long-awaited order justifies Lockheed's dedsion to proceed on the basis of civil orders alone, and shouldpermit the company to make money on a selling price of around $1.1 million for the executive aircraft. According to a recent article in The Wall Street Journal, Lockheed has firmdeposits for "some two score" aircraft. Other sources report sales of at least twice that number of aeroplanes. Announced pur-chasers of the JetStar include the Canadian Department of Trans- port and the James A, Ryder Trucking Firm, as well as thetwo previously noted companies. Confirming a move reported in Flight for October 10, 1958, Pan American recently announcedthat they would purchase a fleet of JetStars and lease them to corporate users. But while the Lockheed programme is evidently proceedingquite satisfactorily, the aircraft that had been expected to compete heavily with the JetStar for both military and executive orders—the McDonnell 119—has fared less favourably. First flown on February 13 of last year, the McDonnell aeroplane—which wasdesigned to an identical specification—has four podded engines (JT-12s in production models—the prototype first flew with West-inghouse J-34s) in the style of the big American jets. It is highly likely that Lockheed's considerable civil-transport reputation andorganized sales group enhanced their competitive position and won for them many coveted orders. With the initiative now firmly inthe company's grasp it would not be surprising if the McDonnell project were eventually cancelled, leaving Lockheed as the solecontender in the turbojet business-transport field; but there is still a possibility that the Air Force may award McDonnell a tokenorder for several aircraft, thereby keeping the project alive and forestalling cancellation. Competing with the JetStar for executive sales are several turbo-prop-powered aeroplanes. Newest of the contenders is the Grum- man Gulf stream (Flight, April 3, 1959). Powered by twin Rolls-Royce Mk 529 RDa.7/2 engines, the Gulfstream is an aeroplane of DC-3 size capable of 350 m.p.h. flights (at somewhat less than UScoast-to-coast ranges) with 12 passengers. Production Gulf streams are being delivered at a rate of three per month, and total salesare reported to be in excess of 40. "Basic" price (which includes basic flight—but no special—navigation and radio equipment)is $895,000. Among reported buyers are the Sinclair Refining Co, Harold G. Vanderbilt, Texaco, General Foods, General ElectricCo, Continental Can Co and the Continental Oil Co. A second Dart-powered heavy twin is the Fairchild F-27. Largerand heavier—but less expensive—than the Gulfstream, the F-27 offers nearly 300 m.p.h. and an airline-size interior to the execu-tive in need of short-to-medium range transport. Fairchild re- ported last year that 24 business aeroplanes had been ordered byinterested corporations. Among the buyers was the Continental Can Co, who, having now bought a JetStar, a Gulfstream and anF-27, must be fair game for anyone haying a new aeroplane to sell (if only the airlines could settle their equipment-purchasingdecisions in such a simple manner)! Most of the orders for the Gulfstream and F-27 had been placedsome time ago; relatively few additions have been announced in recent months. Two separate conditions brought about this situa-tion. The first was Lockheed's decision to proceed with the JetStar programme without awaiting a military order (which, as observed,was subsequently forthcoming). The second is the large number of surplus Convair 240/340/440 aircraft now being offered for saleby the airlines or their brokers. The JetStar captured a number of buyers who might have otherwise bought a Dan-powered aero-plane; but, a possible effect of the Lockheed announcement to pro- ceed with production was to cause a lot of prospective buyers tosit on the fence until the production JetStar is available for per- sonal inspection. Rather than compare a "paper" JetStar—theprototypes were not really representative in respect of take-off and landing performance—with off-the-shelf Dart-powered aircraft,it may be that many customers are still waiting to make a decision. Beechcrait Super 18 Aero Commander 720 Alti-Cmiser These fence-sitters may therefore consummate their purchaseslater this year after the JetStar has flown. Whether the JetStar or the turboprops will eventually win most of the sales is difficultto guess. But if Lockheed's aeroplane turns out to be as good as its makers pronouncements say it will be, Fairchild and Grummanmay face an uphill struggle in their sales efforts. Prospective buyers are heavily influenced by airline publicity about the jet transports. The increased availability of surplus Convairliners must bedistressing to all three manufacturers. Made prematurely obsoles- cent by the introduction of the big jets (and the consequent intru-sion of big piston-powered aircraft on shorter routes), the Convairs have been receiving a good deal of attention from the businessworld in recent months. Primarily responsible for this interest, of course, is the extremely attractive price of used Convairs, which inmost cases has been less than $400,000. Business operators can thus obtain a really useful aeroplane for less than one-half the price of anew turbine business transport. It must indeed be tempting to consider buying a used—but by no means worn out—aeroplane atsuch a bargain price. Other competitors in the heavy-twin field are the brand newCanadair (Convair) 540, with its Napier Eland 6s, and conversions of the Convair 440 with Allison T-56s. Interest in these aircraft,however, appears to stem mainly from airlines anxious to offer "jet" transportation to keep in tune with the times. The 540 is saidto cost $1.3 million (in the executive version), while the T-56- powered aeroplane can be purchased at a somewhat lower—but Beechcratt Queen Air Beechcraft Twin-Bonanza
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