The Also Rans, Part Ill

On the basis of an extensive market survey carried out for Handley Page, the HPR3, a four-engined piston aircraft became a twin-engined turboprop.

The Handley Page Herald made its first flight as a dartpowered turboprop on March 11, 1958, some days before the F-27 prototype took to the air; one month later Fairchild-built F-27s were rolling off the production lines for this US version built under licence from Fokker.

The first production model Herald, the 100 Series, flew in October 1959 and three went into service with BEA on Scottish routes. They were sold to Autair in 1966 then Lineas Aereas La Urraca in 1970.

In 1960 a stretched Herald was produced – the Series 200, with a 42-inch longer fuselage, and accommodation raised from 47 to 56 seats. This version proved to be a winner and sold principally to Air Manila, Arkia, Bavaria, British United, Easter Provincial, Globe Air, Latvia and Sadia. In all 48 aircraft were built as Handley Page Heralds, excluding the two prototypes.

Various other marks had been proposed with more powerful Darts and longer fuselages, but with the exception of the Series 400 for the Royal Malaysian Air Force, of which there are eight examples, no other marks were produced.

The Handley Page Herald is powered by two Rolls-Royce Dark Mk 527 turboprops each rated at 1,910 shp.

Max speed 275 mph in cruise, range with maximum payload 700 miles.

Weights: empty equipped 24,400Ib, maximum loaded 43,000lb.

Accommodation: crew of two and a maximum of 56 passengers.

Span 94ft 9in, length 75ft 6in, height 24ft 1in.

The Bristol Britannia

The Bristol Britannia first flew on August 16, 1952, as the result of a BOAC requirement of 1947 for medium-range Empire routes transport. BOAC subsequently put into service 15 Britannia 102s with 3900shp Proteus turboprops and seven 300 Series which were 10 feet longer and had more powerful Proteus turboprops of 4120eshp.

Later versions were the Series 310 and Series 320 with even more powerful Proteus 765 turboprops of 4,450 esp. The Viscount was highly successful and the logical projection was the larger, more powerful, and longer-range Britannia.

The Britannia did not enter service until February 1, 1957, when BOAC introduced the type on the London-Johannesburg route. In high-density layout, they could carry 139 passengers and BOAC operated them on the North Atlantic – the first turboprops to do so, when a 312 Britannia crossed the Atlantic on December 19, 1957. On the very same day, an El Al Britannia made a nonstop proving flight of 6100 miles from New York to Tel Aviv at an average speed of 401mph.

Principal operators were Air Spain, BUA, British Eagle, Caledonian, Canadian Pacific, CSA, Cubana, El Al, globe Air, Lloyd, Monarch and Transglobe. By 1974 most operators had replaced the Britannias with jet aircraft, and today the remaining Britannias are operating highly successful freight operations across the Atlantic and Europe for companies such as Redcoat, Aer Turas, and Afrek Ltd.

The Britannias got a reprieve when the RAF ceased operating their Britannias and put them up for sale. Many of the 20 aircraft were bought for spares by the current operators at the time, but several were bought by Young Cargo of Belgium.

The RAF Britannias were model 250s in effect 100 Series with cargo doors. As RAF aircraft they were occasional visitors to Sydney but very rarely came as freighters, with the exception of Southern Cross and Flying Tiger. The latter was a CL44 – a larger fuselage Britannia with more powerful engines and a swing tail.

Cargolux and Transmeridian operated these into Sydney right up to 1977. The CL44 was a Canadian-built version primarily for the Royal Canadian Air Force and used principally as a freighter. They were a highly successful version and although no match for a 707 or DC-8 could not be categorised as also-rans, like their older brothers the Bristol Britannias.

The Britannia was a superb aircraft, once known as the whispering giant, but was eclipsed by the faster, larger Boeing and Douglas jet aircraft which had greater economy ratings, and more passenger appeal because they did not have propellers. Only 85 were built, including the prototypes and the 20 RAF 250s.

Today they are virtually finished, bar the single-digit examples still flying in freighter service. They were quiet and economical, factors which today are becoming increasingly popular with both operators and environmentalists.

The Britannia was ahead of its time, and yet too late to compete with the emerging jet age, which overtook it and sealed its fate.

Principal data for the Bristol Britannia:

High-speed cruise 410mph at 21,000ft. Economical cruise 357mph. Max fuel range 5334 miles. Max payload range 3570 miles with space limited 30,000lb payload. Weights: 320 series – 93,631Ib. Max takeoff 185,000/b.

Accommodation: Flight crew of five and up to 139 passengers in high-density configuration. Typical mixed class layout was 28 first class and 66 tourist class.

Dimensions: Span 142ft 3½in, length 124ft 3in, height 37ft 4½in.

The Convair 880

With the jet era looming on the horizon, and Boeing and Douglas making overtures to the airlines to order new aircraft, the Convair Division of General Dynamics felt they could continue their line of successful propellor aircraft from the Convair 240, 340, 440, 580, 600 and 640 – the last three models being turboprops, and at the time of the introduction of the CV 880 had not yet flown.

Market surveys done by the company in 1955 had shown the need for an aircraft with a capacity for 90 passengers or 124 in high density. The fuselage cross-section was to be narrower than the 707 and DC-8, with five-abreast seating. Power was to be provided by four General Electric CJ805 engines, versions of the military J79 engine, and the top speed was to be 600mph.

The aircraft was thus designated Model 600, and started out as the Model 22, with the name Skylark, and then Golden Arrow, with an ingenious scheme to anodise the external surfaces in gold.

This was dropped, and the name 880 was chosen, as this equates to feet per second at 600mph.

The first flight was on January 27, 1959, while the first flight of the Model 31 or 880M was on October 3, 1960. The 880M had extra fuel in the centre section and higher weights.

This version, designed for intercontinental flights, also had a power-boosted rudder, to maintain satisfactory field performance at higher gross weights, leading edge slats, strengthened undercarriage, and more powerful engines.

However, only 65 Convair 880s of both models were built. The first operator in the US was Delta. TWA was the largest user with 28 aircraft, whilst Delta operated 17 of the type and the last production model. Northeast Airlines operated nine of the type. By 1974 all US airlines had retired their 880s, due no doubt to noise considerations, and high fuel consumption from the GE turbojets, as well as seat-mile costs when compared with DC-9s and 727s. Outside the US, Cathay Pacific operated the largest fleet, using ex-JAL and VIASA aircraft.

After retirement from the airlines, the CV880 became a widely-used executive jet with one of the most well known aircraft being the late Elvis Presley’s private jet. Several have been written off in crashes, and others have been broken up for scrap. Several are in store at Burbank and Marana airfields, but a new life has been given these by Gulfstream American. Twenty-four CV880s are being converted to Airlifter cargo transports. It is an extremely cost-effective freighter, which shows excellent payload to range figures, and current aviation magazines feature full page advertisements advertising these for sale, as completely reconditioned zero-time, aircraft.

Sydney was never a Convair 880 port; Perth was, and was one of the major destinations on the Cathay Pacific route system, prior to the introduction of Boeing 707s to Sydney and Melbourne.

Power Plants for the CV880 are four General Electric CJ- 8053, 3b turbojets of 11,200Ib st or 11. 650Ib st for the model 22M.

Performance: High speed cruise 605mph at 22,500ft, economical cruise 541mph at 35,000ft. Maximum fuel range 3130 miles or 3385 miles for the 22M model. Maximum payload range 2845 (2880) 22M miles with 22,500 (24,000)lb payload.

Weights: Operational equipped 89,000 (94,600)lb. Maximum take-off 184,500 (193,000)lb.

Dimensions: Span 120ft Oin, length 129ft 4in, height 36ft 3¾in, wing area 2000sq ft.

Convair 990

The Convair 990 also began life with the designation Convair 600. It evolved from the Convair 880 to meet the requirements of American Airlines – with a longer fuselage, uprated fan engines, and greater range. American Airlines launching order came on July 30, 1958.

First flight was on January 24, 1961, but flight development was delayed and protracted as two serious problems occurred.

One was an undamped oscillation in the outer engine pods, which was corrected by extending the engine cowling rearwards. The other problem was excessive airframe drag, overcome by fitting large fairings on the upper wing trailing edge, between the fuselage and numbers two and three engines and between numbers one and two and three arid four engines.

These Kuchman Humps (as they are known after their inventor) reduce drag and speed up airflow over the wing upper surface. They can be used to carry extra fuel, and give the aircraft a distinctive silhouette. The droop on the wing leading edge was reduced and full-span Krueger flaps were fitted.

American took delivery of the 990 on January 8, 1962 but the modified versions, known as 990As, entered service later that year.

The delivery delays affected sales so badly that a total of only 37 models were built.

Accommodation is provided for 106 passengers in mixed class arrangement or as it is used today, 131 in high-density seating. Principal operators were Swissair, with eight aircraft, Lebanese International, with seven, with two destroyed on the ground at Beirut on December 28, 1968 in the Israeli commando raid, Garuda of Indonesia -with three. Varig of Brazil with three, and five operated by SAS and interior of Denmark. Three were operated by Aerolineas Peruanas of Peru.

Principal operator today is Spain’s charter airline Spantax, who are very pleased with the type, and plan to continue using their 12 aircraft well into the 80s. Swissair flew their last 990 in 1974, but have one preserved in a museum. Modern Air Transport, a charter company operating in the US, had a fleet of up to 10 aircraft, one of which visited Sydney in 1968 on a world charter tour.

The 990 is now virtually in the hands of the charter operators. Nomads Incorporate N990E which was an ex-Modern Air, ex-American Airlines aircraft, and its distinctive blue and white colour scheme has called at Sydney on two previous occasions in the past five years.

Another frequent visitor to Sydney and Melbourne, usually once a year, is the Travel Club Denver Ports of Call who fly five 990s with two set aside for spares. Registrations are N860C, N825C, N8357C, N8356C, N8259C, and they are operated in high-density configuration. N8160C made a visit to Melbourne and Sydney, March 5-12, 1980.

They are smoky aircraft, using water injection like their 880 counterparts, noisy on take-off, and pilots report that they are not easy to handle, requiring high approach speeds, and large turning radii.

Several models returned from the airlines were completely rebuilt and are now operated by NASA. N712 NA made a technical stop in Sydney on its way to Melbourne in 1977, for a scientific survey.

Thus the fleet of Convair 990s in the 1980s is down to about 20 examples in the USA and Spain, and when compared with the rest of the world’s fleets, the two Convair models must surely rank with the also-rans. One saving grace is the top speed as designated by the 990 feet per second which makes the 990 the world’s fastest airliner, with the exception of the Concorde, narrowly beating the 880 by five mph.

Spantax’s fleet of 12 CV-990s is the largest in the world and are fitted with 149 seats. They have a range of 3900nm enabling them to be used on long distance European routes as well as provincial airports where loadings are not high. Spantax feel that there is no other aircraft that can match the 990. The airframe has been built to “last forever” and this will ensure that the 990 will be around for quite a while yet. On close examination of the underside of the fuselage, a sturdy Keel can be seen to run the entire length. Noise is however likely to become a problem as the decade runs on. The 990 can satisfy FAR Part 36 requirements on take-off, but on landing there is nothing to blanket the sound of the aft fan, and perhaps hush-kitting of the forward nacelle will quieten down this problem area. In order to economise on the rather thirsty engines, Spantax cruise at Mach 0. 8 instead of the potential 0. 9, and smoke-reducing mozelles which were fitted in 1975, have improved consumption by one per cent. The CJ805 engine is a derivative of the military J79 engine which powers the Phantom, Vigilante and Starfighter so that there is no lack of support from General Electric.

Spantax’s 990s have come from American Airlines and Swissair. Major engine and airframe overhauls are still being carried out by Swissair, but Spantax is gradually becoming self-sufficient. The only 990 simulator in the world was purchased from Swissair and is used by other operators through the world, notably NASA.

CV-990 specifications:

Engines: Four General Electric CJ80523B aft turbofans.

Performance: High-speed cruise 610mph at 20,000 feet, economical cruise 556mph at 35,000ft, max fuel range 5446 miles with 19,440lb payload. Maximum payload range 4375 miles with 26,440Ib payload.

The VC10

The revolutionary T-tailed rear-engined airliner designated Vickers VC10 was probably one of the noisiest types to operate, with its four 20,370Ib st Rolls-Royce Conways at full power on a heavy take-off.

Yet, by a clever piece of advertising BOAC referred to their VC10s as having hush power. This was of course meant for the passengers who all sat in front -of the rear-mounted engines. It was a gimmick, but it paid off.

The VC10 had tremendous passenger appeal and was liked by crews and passengers who were fortunate to fly in these sleek and powerful birds. On the ground, the distinctive whine of the Conways left no doubt in one’s mind that this was a VC10 taxiing – if one was waiting for one but could not see it. On take-off, the whine would change to a deafening roar and after a fairly short run of some 7000 feet the VC10 would rotate and quickly become airborne, even on a maximum gross weight departure. The crackle left behind would most certainly have spelt the end of the type if still in commercial service in the mid-1980s when stringent noise regulations will put paid to most narrow-bodied airliners not converted to quiet propulsion in the form of CFM-56s.

But for all its great engineering features, like parts machined from solid metal, revolutionary engine position, and high power-to-weight ratio, the VC10 and its larger brother the Super VC10, were to become also-rans.

Built to a BOAC requirement, it was conceived in 1956 by the Vickers Armstrong design team at Weybridge, where the Viscount and Vanguard were being built. To its credit the design spawned the current fashion of rear-engined aircraft from the Lear Jet to the DC-9. BOAC required an airliner that would operate out of hot and high fields and carry a payload of 32,000lb over ranges of 2500 miles, with speeds in excess of Mach 0. 8.

BOAC then set about ordering 35 aircraft on May 22, 1957, and contracts were signed on January 14, 1958, with an option on 20 more V10s – what was then the largest airliner order ever placed with the British aircraft Industry. The prototype flew on June 10, 1962, but not before changing the order to 30 Super VC1Os and 12 Standards.

Then, with much political interference, the order for the Super VC10s was cut to 17, while the physical size of the Super VC10 was cut from its original design length of a 27ft stretch to a 13ft stretch. With a little less meddling and a lot less introspectivity, the Super, super VC10 could have been a challenge for the Super 60 Series DC-8s, as it was designed for 212 passengers. Ten were ordered with 10 options, but BOAC changed the order to 15 (later 12) standard VC1Os, and 30 Supers, and even that was finally changed. Another minus was the fact that the VC10 had a smaller range with maximum payload than its contemporaries the Boeing 707-320 series and the DC-8 series 50.

Coupled with its higher fuel never really got past first base.

The first Super VC10 flew on May 7, 1964, and was designated Model 1151. Standard VC10s were designated 1100 series and the BOAC VC10s were Type 1101. They carried 16 first class and 93 economy class. Ghana Airways had two Type 1102s, with a hydraulically-operated cargo door, BUA had five Type 1103 which had a four per cent leading edge extension and a cargo door, East African had five Type 1154 – Super VC10s with cargo doors and the RAF had 14 Type 1106 which are VC10s with the more powerful engine of the Super, and have the extra fuel tank in the fin as well as the cargo door and strengthened floor. BOAC Super VC10s designated Type 1151 seated 16 first class and 123 economy passengers.

The standard VC10s made their first appearance In Australia on October 26, 1969 when on a flight from Heathrow amidst much advertising fanfare featuring Captain Norman Bristow who later retired to become a television personality.

Super VC10s took over a year or so later, but returned for the best part of 1973, when the fuel crisis of that year made its presence felt, and a mix of the two types was operated in Australia.

By 1975 all Standard VC10s were withdrawn from Company service, five going to Gulf Air, and one from BUA going to Air Malawi.

But by 1977 all were in storage at Stansted; the East African aircraft were seized after the Kenya-Uganda rift, and flown back to the UK.

BA will shortly be retiring their Super VC10s but these have been earmarked by the British Government for conversion to tankers for military inflight refuelling.

The RAF VC10s are still the mainstay of Transport Command and are regular visitors to Australia. Registered XR 806-10 and XV 101-9, they are used in a multi-role service, named after VC winners.

The first of their type with a T-tail, flight testing was extensive; deep stalls and stalls, in general, had to be thoroughly explored through the whole flying envelope, and this set back the introduction of services by some two years so that BOAC made their first flight to Lagos on April 29, 1964 from London.

All in all a quite magnificent aircraft, but designed too rigidly to the specifications of one airline and incapable of meeting the flexibility, ease of maintenance, and commonality of parts that came with the popular Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 aircraft, for which the VC10 was designed to compete, but which in the final analysis joined the ranks of the AlsoRans.

Dimensions: VC10: Span 146ft 2in. Length 146ft 2In. Super VC10 171ft Bin. Height 39ft 6in; wing area 2851sq ft. Super VC10 2932sq ft.

Power Plants: Four Rolls-Royce Conway (VC10) R. Co. 42 turbofans of 21,000lb st of Super VC10 and Model 1106 RAF Version, R. Co. 43O turbofans of 22,5001b st.

Performance: Super VC10 – high-speed cruise 680mph at 25,000ft. Economical cruise 553mph at 35,000ft. Max fuel range 6850 miles with 23,450Ib payload. Max payload range 4895 miles with 58,1501b payload.

Weights: Operational equipped 156,8281b, max take-off 335,000lb.

VC10: High-speed cruise 578mph at · 25,000ft, economical cruise 553mph at 35,000ft. Max fuel range 6735 miles with 21,600Ib payload, max payload range 5585 miles with 40,4001b payload. Rate of climb 1920ft/minute. Weights: Operationally equipped 146,979Ib, max take-off 312,000lb.

Accommodation: Basic flight crew of three with provision for a navigator and ‘. ‘odd bod” and maximum accommodation for 174 passengers on the Super VC10 or 151 on the VC10.

NEXT ISSUE: In the final part of the Also-Rans John Vogel examines the fate of the Short Belfast, Vickers Vanguard, the Argosy freighter, Mercure and the VFW-614.