Profiles and Logos
The Convair 880 was an American airliner built by Convair, a division of General Dynamics to compete with the Boeing 707 and DC-8 but being smaller and faster. The development of the aircraft started in April 1955 with the first flight on 27th January 1959. The aircraft was unusual in that no prototypes were built, the first aircraft also being the first production aircraft. The aircraft was powered by the General Electric CJ-805-5 turbojets, the civil version of the J79 fighter engine. The aircraft entered service with Delta in May 1960 but the aircraft was not a commercial success with a production run of 65 over three years. The last aircraft flew with the FAA until 1986.
The Convair 990 was an American airliner designed to compete with the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8. The aircraft was a development of the 880 being larger and more powerful, however it was smaller but faster than its rivals. The aircraft first flew on 24th January 1961 and entered service with American Airlines later the same year. The aircraft is notable in two areas, firstly it is the fastest sub-sonic airliner holding many point to point records and also it was powered by the General Electric CJ-805-23 which was unique in having a fan stage at the rear of the engines. The 990 was named the Coronado as that was the location of its first landing. The aircraft also differed from the 880 by having anti-shock bodies on the upper trailing edges to increase the critical mach number by using area ruling.