Curtiss had obtained tentative approval to build a twin-jet ground-attack aircraft, the XA-43. On 21 November 1945, this project was redirected towards completion of the Blackhawk fighter, mid-wing, four-engine craft with a two-man crew in side-by-side seating and with large fuel capacity. Powered by four 1360kg thrust Westinghouse XJ34-WE-7 turbojets, the sole XF-87 was flown at Muroc Dry Lake, California, on 1 March 1948 following long delays in its development and shipment from the company’s plant (later sold to North American) in Columbus, Ohio.
The two prototypes were S/N identifiers as the 45-59600 and the 46-522. The 46-522 was modified to become the single XF-87A production aircraft.

The XF-87 proved to be underpowered. In the expectation that a different powerplant arrangement would make the Blackhawk more competitive, the twin-engine scheme was resurrected. On 10 June 1948, the USAF awarded a contract to Curtiss for 57 production F-87As to be powered by two 2722kg thrust each General Electric J47-GE-7 engines located in pairs on each wing. A further order was placed for 30 RF-87A reconnaissance aircraft.

The design featured four 20-mm cannon in a fixed nose installation and would have been fitted with a nose turret developed by the Glenn L. Martin Company which revolved in a 60-degree arc enabling four 20mm guns to be fired at any angle from zero to 90 degrees from the centre-line.
Though the Blackhawk was able to overcome teething troubles in flight tests and seemed to offer promise as an all-weather interceptor, Curtiss was suffering from management difficulties and Northrop was developing an interceptor with solid potential, the F-89 Scorpion. On 18 October 1948, the USAF cancelled the F-87 Blackhawk programme in favour of the F-89. A second prototype which would have evaluated the twin J47 installation was never completed. It was to be the last Curtiss fighter.

The first aeroplane was known as the Nighthawk and powered by four Westinghouse J34-WE-7 engines, while the second was known as the Blackhawk and powered by four General Electric J47-GE-15 engines, the XP-87 Nighthawk flew.
The Nighthawk and its Blackhawk counterpart were later be scrapped.

Curtiss-Wright XP-87 / XF-87 Nighthawk
Engines: 4 x Westinghouse XJ34-WE-7 turbojet, 3,000lbs thrust
Wingspan: 18.29 m / 60 ft 0 in
Length: 19.15 m / 62 ft 10 in
Height: 6.1 m / 20 ft 0 in
Wing area: 55.74 sq.m / 599.98 sq ft
Maximum Speed: 585mph (941kmh; 508kts)
Maximum Range: 1,000miles (1,609km)
Service Ceiling: 40,000ft (12,200m)
Proposed armament:
4 x 20mm cannons in remote-controlled nose turret.
2 x 12.7mm machine guns
Crew: 2
Empty weight: 11760 kg / 25926 lb
Maximum Take-Off Weight: 49,833lbs (22,604kg)

Development of the Convair 990 began when the company lost a vital United Airlines order for 30 aircraft. To attract American Airlines, Convair designed an aircraft with transcontinental range and higher speed and on 30 July 1958 Convair announced the Model 30. This was a natural growth version of the 880 and used a turbofan of 16,050 lb. Originally known simply as the Convair 880M, the new aircraft was much more than a ‘slight modification’ contrary to what the General Dynamics’ board was told. The new variant used a redesigned engine (the CJ 805 23), with a rear mounted fan and a higher bypass ratio. This required a new engine nacelle, while the need to reduce drag led to the addition of Whitcomb bodies on the wing trailing edge to ‘area rule’ the aircraft. The new aircraft also included a new proportional anti skid system, a modified undercarriage and a hydraulically powered rudder. The rest of the aircraft was strengthened to accommodate much more fuel, and the fuselage was stretched 10 ft to house 106 passengers (foreign customers later fitted in over 140) and the tailplane was increased in area.
Howard Hughes initially refused to allow Convair to give the new aircraft a designator ‘higher’ than 880, so the new aircraft was instead initially known as the Convair 600. Convair guaranteed a speed of 550kts (1021 km/h) (agreeing to financial penalties if it failed to deliver) and charged American only $100m for its 25 aircraft (later reduced to 20), taking $22.8m of the money in the form of 25 over valued DC 7s (worth $10m at most). Swissair converted its order for five 880s to an order for seven 990s. The Convair 990 originally failed to meet its guaranteed performance and the prices to American and Swissair were reduced. The airlines initially operated their aircraft without making progress or engine payments while Convair sorted out the problems. The problems were solved in the Convair 990A, but Convair’s chance to dominate the jetliner market vanished when Boeing re engined its 707s with Pratt & Whitney’s new JT3D turbofan, which could be produced by conversion of existing JT3C engines. Thus the fan engined 990 lost its unique selling point. Swissair and American began scheduled revenue services during March 1962. Other Convair 990 operators included Aerolineas Peruanas, Garuda, SAS, Thai International Airways and VARIG.
Models built for Swissair and VARIG differed slightly from standard 990s. Powered by CJ 805 23B engines, they carried slightly more fuel and had higher operating weights. They were officially known as Coronados, a name later used to describe all Convair 990s.
The announcement of the new jet was accompanied by a launch order for 20 from American Air¬lines. The aircraft was renamed Convair 990. The first off the production line flew on 24 January 1961, and by this time the programme was in deep trouble. Drag was well overestimate, and it took two years of extremely costly modifications to get near the guaranteed performance.

In addition to four large anti¬shock bodies above the trailing edge (sometimes called Küche¬mann carrots, these also served as fuel tanks) Kruger flaps were added under the wing and a com¬plex series of extensions, bumps and fairings added to the engine pods and pylons. The aircraft’s long range came about by using the four wing pods as fuel tanks. The 24-foot-long pods, known as “antishock bodies,” reduce the intensity of shock waves generated when an airplane reaches the speed of sound. In essence, they control the air flowing over the wing and therefore reduce drag. Payload, at 26,440 lb, was widely considered inadequate. The cabin was criti¬cised, as were the lack of customer options, and in the end, in addition to the launch order, only 17 aircraft were sold. American accepted the first (unmodified) 990 on 8 January 1963, and fully modified 990As en¬tered service late that year.
Lebanese International Airways and MEA operated Coronados during the late 1960s and early 1970s. LIA went into liquidation after its two Coronados were destroyed on the ground by Israeli commandos in 1968, while MEA phased out its aircraft in favour of Boeing 707s and 720s in 1972.
Following their retirement from major airlines, many Coronados found employment with travel clubs and minor airlines. Modern Air Transport obtained eight Convair 990s between January 4, 1967 and January 1971 and operated these primarily on charter work. These were often unorthodox, including polar flights landing at McMurdo Sound (the first commercial jets to do so) and even a unique 1970 Father’s Day ‘Get Away from Mama’ Busenvogel (Bosom flight) from Berlin to Paris and back, in which the stewardesses wore uniforms with transparent bodices. The company fitted new slim line seats which allowed capacity to increase to 149, without reducing leg room.
The last major operator of the Coronado was the Spanish charter airline Spantax. Spantax delib¬erately collected used examples and retired the last of 14 aircraft in March 1987. One Spantax 990 survived a mid air collision with a DC 9 over France. Ten of the surviving airframes were scrapped at Palma between 1991 and 1993, but one was retained for preservation.
In 1988 an ex Ports of Call 990 was sold to Ciskei International Airways, but this flew only a single pre inaugural flight when it could not acquire the necessary permits. The aircraft was eventually ferried to EI Paso in 1991.
NASA had been a long term operator of the Coronado, using a succession of three aircraft for atmospheric, astronomical, meteorological and solar experiments and support duties. The final aircraft was reactivated in 1980 for three years, then again in 1988 for use as a landing systems research aircraft, testing the Space Shuttle undercarriage to expand the vehicle’s landing envelope and to allow increased use of the landing site at the Kennedy Space Center Every time a Shuttle landed at Edwards, it required a piggy back ride back to Kennedy atop a Boeing 747, costing $1m per time, all because Kennedy might have been just outside the Shuttle’s crosswind limits. The tests encompassed 155 test flights ending in August 1995. Two CV 990s remained in store at Mojave.

Gallery

990 Coronado
Engines: 4 x General Electric turbofan, 16,050 lb.
Cruising speed 494kts (917km/h) at 35,000ft (10,668m).
Range 7,741km (4,172nm).
Weight empty 54,686kg (120,560 lb).
Gross weight 115,668kg (255,000 lb).
Payload: 26,440 lbs.
Span 36.5m (120ft 0in).
Length 42.49m (139ft 5in).
Wing area 209sq.m (2,250 sq.ft).
Pax cap: 104-140.

990A
Engine : 4 x General Electric CJ-805-23B, 71613 N / 7300 kp
Wing span: 120 ft 0 in (36.58 m).
Length: 139 ft 5 in (42.5 m).
Height: 39 ft 6 in (12.04 m).
Max TO wt: 244,200 lb (110,765 kg).
Max level speed: 540 kts / 625 mph (1006 kph).
Service ceiling : 41011 ft / 12500 m
Range : 2646 nm / 4900 km
Crew : 9+116

In 1955 Convair went ahead with the Model 22 Skylark, seating 80-108 passengers over sectors up to about 2,500 miles. It was announced in September 1956. During construction the aircraft was renamed Golden Arrow, and it was proposed to anodise the external skins gold. Then, because it was to cruise at 600 mph, the type became the Convair 600, and finally this was changed to Convair 880, because 600 mph is 880ft per second. The aircraft grew slightly in weight, the 880M weighing 193,000lb with 11,650-lb thrust CJ805-3B engines. Designed at the request of Howard Hughes, the owner of TWA, the first 880 made its maiden flight on January 27, 1959 and was technically a very advanced aircraft. Powered by four 49.8kN (11,2001b) st CJ 805 3s it had a boldly swept (35 degrees) wing and was a very fast aircraft indeed, justifying the much hyped claim that it was ‘the fastest airliner in the world’.

Convair 880 Article

At the time of the first flight, 78 Convair 880 variants were on order.

The second aircraft off the line flew on 31 March 1959.

The FAA certified the 880 for airline use on 1 May 1960, and 15 days later Delta Airlines put the liner into commercial service.

It was built in two versions: the 880 Model 22 basic model with 49.8kN General Electric CJ-805-3 turbojet engines, flown for the first time on 27 January 1959; and the 880 Model 22-M with 51.8kN CJ-805-3B turbojets, power-boosted rudder and four leading-edge slats. The first 880 Model 22-M flew on 3 October 1960.
The first aircraft completed to full airline standards (number 7) actually broke a transcontinental speed record on delivery from San Diego to Miami. TWAs aircraft were stored while the airline’s ownership was hotly disputed and Delta gained the honour of initiating the first services on 16 May 1960.

TWA became the largest operator of the type, with deliveries beginning two days after Howard Hughes relinquished control of the airline, on December 30, 1960. Subsequently, Convair 880s were also delivered to Northeast Airlines, though a massive, once nearly firm order from United, was lost to Boeing.

TWA was taking delivery of 20 Convair 990 during 1960 and 1961.

Some 17 Convair 880Ms were built, these having four leading edge slats on each wing, a larger fin and powered rudder, a retractable tailskid, provision for pre loaded baggage containers and a 7,094 lit (1,560 Imp gal) centre section tank. The aircraft also had a strengthened undercarriage and CJ 805 313 engines.

The oil crisis of the early 1970s made the Convair 880 particularly uneconomical to operate and Delta retired its aircraft at the end of 1973, followed by TWA in June 1974. New operators included LANICA in Nicaragua, a number of travel clubs and even Elvis Presley, whose aircraft, named Lisa Marie after his daughter, and callsign Hound Dog One is now part of the Graceland museum. Airtrust Singapore operated three Convair 880Ms until 1979, latterly operating services for Air Malta. Another aircraft was sold to the Ciskei Government.

A number of Convair 880s were briefly used as freighters. Monarch Aviation converted about seven with a cargo door and more without the door. American Jet Industries (later part of Gulfstream American) worked closely with Convair to convert some 20 Model 880s as Airlifters, but the company completed only two aircraft and the remainder were stored at Mojave, many with unused cargo doors installed. Attempts to market the aircraft in the mid 1980s foundered because they were not hush kitted. General Air Services converted one more Convair as a freighter. The last freighter flying was probably retired (in about 1986) in Haiti.

The last aircraft in regular service was the US Navy’s sole UC 880, ‘Old Smokey’, equipped as a tanker, and for missile test control and telemetry. This was retired at the NATC, Patuxent River, in September 1993 and in 1995 was used for ground based tests simulating high-altitude bomb explosions. Some 15 aircraft remained in storage at Mojave in 1998.
Total sales were 65.

Gallery

880 Model 22
Engines: 4 x General Electric CJ805-3 turbojet, 5080 kg / 49.8kN / 11,200 lb thrust.
Max level speed: 615 mph (990 kph).
Cruising speed 482kts (895km/h) at 35,000ft (10,668m).
Range 6,518km (3,513nm).
Weight empty 42,185kg (93,000 lb).
Gross weight 87,772kg (193,500 lb).
Span 36.5m (120ft 0m).
Length 39.4 m (129ft 4in).
Height: 36 ft 0 in (10.97 m).
Wing area 185.8sq.m (2,000 sq.ft).

880 Model 22-M
Engines: 4 x General Electric CJ805-3B turbojet, 5285 kg / 51.8kN / 11,650-lb thrust.
MTOW: 87410 kg / 184,500 lb.
Empty wt. 88,615 lb
Top speed 615 mph.
Cruise 501 mph.
Stall 121 mph.
Initial climb rate 3,565 fpm.
Range 3,995 miles.
Ceiling 41,000 ft.
Takeoff run 8,050 ft.
Landing roll 6,150 ft.
Pax cap: 110.
Crew: 5.
Max fuel cap: 47445 lt / 12,534 USG