Convair Jetliners: voo rápido rumo ao fracasso

Video from the channel Flap TV about Convair, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 18:32. Language: Portuguese. Video type: Documentary.

An overview of Convair's two commercial jets, the 880 and the 990 Coronado: first-generation aircraft, very fast but with little commercial success. It pays particular attention to their operators, including those that flew to Brazil.

Convair was formed in 1943 from the merger of Consolidated Aircraft and Vultee. Before moving into commercial jets it had built the Catalina, the B-36 bomber, the F-102 and F-106 interceptors, the B-58, and the Convairliner family of piston twin-engine aircraft, whose last model was the 440. It arrived late to the four-engine jet race against the Boeing 707 and the Douglas DC-8, and bet on a smaller, faster aircraft for medium-haul routes. The project was called Skylark, Golden Arrow and Convair 600 before settling on 880. Delta was the launch customer and inaugurated scheduled service on 15 May 1960.

The fuselage, narrower than that of the 707 and the DC-8, did not allow six seats per row, which made the cost per seat higher. Its General Electric engines produced about 11,700 pounds of thrust and consumed a lot of fuel. 65 units of the 880 were built; one of them, Elvis Presley's Lisa Marie, remains on display. The 990 was commissioned by American Airlines to cross the United States nonstop: it incorporated four fairings above the wing to improve transonic flight and engines of nearly 16,000 pounds. It was operated by a Swiss airline, Varig (which inherited three from Real and received them reluctantly), NASA, and Spantax, which was its final operator. Only 37 were built, and it was Convair's last commercial jet.