Aviones que cambiaron el Mundo| Convair 990 Coronado

Video from the channel Hora de Vuelo about Convair 990 Coronado, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 12:26. Language: Spanish. Video type: Documentary.

Documentary about the Convair 990 Coronado, Convair's attempt — a division of General Dynamics — to carve out a place against the Boeing 707 and the Douglas DC-8 with the fastest airliner.

The Convair 880 had sold only 65 units when American Airlines asked for a version with more capacity and range, capable of flying nonstop between New York and Los Angeles at 635 mph. Convair agreed to pay penalties if it failed to meet that, and American ordered 25 aircraft. The 990 flew on 24 January 1961, and in May of that year a test aircraft reached 675 mph, Mach 0.97, in a controlled dive. In level flight it fell short of what had been promised: it was nearly 40 mph short, the exhaust from the inner engines disturbed the stabilizers, and the fuel-laden outer wing fairings made the engines oscillate. American cut its order and Convair revised the design until it produced the 990A, which reached 635 mph, Mach 0.84.

It measured 42.6 m in length, 3 m more than the 880, with a 37 m wingspan and 12 m height, carrying between 110 and 149 passengers. It was powered by four General Electric CJ805 rear-fan engines, a civilian version of the J79, with a wing swept at 39° and anti-shock bodies that also held fuel. Its range was 3,800 nautical miles. Swissair named it Coronado in 1962; it was also operated by SAS, Spantax, and Varig. 37 were sold and the line closed in 1963. Spantax retired the last one in September 1987, and NASA kept it in service until 1994.