Boeing 720 - The Forgotten Boeing

developed as the first short haul jet airliner for Boeing the 720 was essentially a direct translation of the company's pioneering Boeing 707 and would turn out to be something of an oddity in many ways for the various conventions that would come to define the Boeing firm as it went into the 1960s while its reputation within the aviation industry is polarized by its sales performance being perceived largely as a commercial failure but in so doing demonstrated that the market for a dedicated short to medium Hall jet airliner was present for the company to invest in a new model that would ultimately conquer the aviation world the Boeing 720's existence is out directly to its larger brother the Boeing 707 of 1958 the first commercial jet airliner design to be released by Boeing and had originally been derived from a contractors issued by the U.S Air Force to provide a military air-to-air refueling tanker and transport aircraft Boeing eventually answering the call initially with the 367-80 Prototype which proved not only that the aircraft could suitably perform in the role of an air-to-air refueler but also had the potential to be put to work as a commercial airliner with a simple flexible fuselage powerful Pratt and Whitney engines and a superb external style making it a sales coup in a time when the closest Rivals to the model were the piston-powered Douglas dc-6 and Lockheed Constellation and the pioneering though grounded to Haviland Comet jetliner of 1952 which had faced public relations Calamity in the wake of several major crashes that required a comprehensive redesign of the aircraft structure the original Boeing 707 120 strato liner made its Maiden flight on December 20 1957. followed 10 months later by its entry into service with Pan-American World Airways on October 26th of the following year while building on the innate flexibility of the fuselage design a stretched variant dubbed the Boeing 707 320 InterContinental first flew on January 11 1959 and thanks to its ability to share as many components as possible with the original 707-120 was able to begin commercial operations with Pan Am on August 26th at the same year the 707 becoming an immediate cultural icon thanks to its incredible good looks and flying characteristics that far exceeded its piston-powered predecessors with 725 of the 865 examples built being delivered to Airlines while the remainder was sold to military clients the Strategic or VIP transports there were however some issues with the Boeing 707 primarily due to the restrictions of the aircraft's economic operation in a still fledgling Airline Market the model performing at its very best on long-haul high-capacity routes between the major capitals and Regional centers of the world including Coast-to-Coast runs across the continental United States transatlantic routes and services across the Pacific all of these yielding the best cost per passenger mile ratio for the model although for many carriers this figure appeared far too high as for various transcontinental services including runs within the United States and across Europe the demand for utilizing a full-size 707 on short low to mid-capacity runs meant The Airliner was simply far too big to be operated efficiently and reap the best cost per passenger mile outcome therefore as early as 1956 Boeing had undertaken studies that would address the issue of providing a jet airliner for the medium Hall Market segment beginning in consultation with major customer United Airlines development of what was dubbed the Boeing 707020 of which 10 configurations were initially considered the majority of which comprised of four engine layout While others came in the form of twin Jets the most promising twin jet design being the 707020-6 which was six feet shorter than the future Boeing 737-200 but with nearly twice the wing area and a large tail eventually in July 1957 Boeing opted for a four engine configuration that will provide a capacity of up to 130 passengers on routes with a maximum range of 1 700 miles the aircraft adopting the exact exterior dimensions of the 707 120 strato liner but with significant structural changes which reduced the gross weight from 247 000 pounds to 185 000 pounds with engine options including the original Pratt Whitney jt3 turbojet from the 707-120 General Electric j79s from the Lockheed f-104 Starfighter and Rolls-Royce Avon 26s from the sudabyashank Carvel and the Vickers Valiant nuclear bomber although by this stage no orders had been placed by any of the potential customers with which Boeing had initially started discussions the previous year in late 1957 Boeing once again sat down with the CEOs of the airlines who were demanding a medium-range Boeing 707 principally United Airlines and after further deliberation the design would eventually be frozen in a far more simplified configuration whereby the Boeing 707-120 will be reduced in length by nine feet so as to carry 18 fewer passengers but would retain the 707's 130 foot wingspan with a modified fiberglass glove fitted to the Leading Edge between the fuselage and the inner engine pylon that would increase the cruising speed slightly and assist in short field performance the Leading Edge flaps being fitted to the full span of the wing which thereby reduced the landing and takeoff speeds by 10 miles an hour and on approach the aircraft flew with a more nose up attitude with other modifications primarily revolving around the reduction of the airframe's weight which included a thinner fuselage skin and smaller Wheels on the undercarriage the engine option for the type ultimately being standardized on the Pratt and Whitney jt3c however by the time Boeing's new model had been finalized the company was now facing serious competition from other major American aircraft manufacturers who were also attempting to appeal to the mid-demand medium Hall Market convair proposing to outdo its opponents through lower capacity but higher speed with its CV 880 which roped in Transworld Airlines Delta and even United Airlines who placed an order for 30 units alongside a pre-existing order for several Douglas dc-8s which presented configurations that were generally smaller than the Boeing 707 and thus satisfied the mid-demand market more appropriately Boeing responding by launching the new 707020 during 1958 although immediately after the aircraft was made available to order United Airlines President William a Patterson requested that the name of the model be changed so as not to give the impression that his company was backtracking on its commitment to the dc-8 leading initially to the model being redesignated the Boeing 717 but due to this name being used in an official capacity with Boeing's own kc-135 military tanker the emerging 7x7 naming convention for the firm was broken when the Boeing 720 title was finally settled upon in the end the first Boeing 720 November 7201 uniform was rolled out of the Boeing Renton Factory on October 30th 1959 followed less than a month later on November 23rd by its Maiden flight which was commanded by Boeing test pilot Tex Johnston who had famously Barrel rolled the Boeing 367-80 prototype in August 1955 and co-pilot Lou Wallach the first unit followed by the second example November 7202 uniform which undertook its first flight on January 8 1960 and a third prototype November 7203 uniform in March of the same year tests for the 720 including maximum gross weight takeoffs and landings stalls at every weight and configuration and flutter tests while maximum speed tests were able to attain Mach 0.95 the certification process with the FAA beginning on January 18 1960 while in order to test the aircraft's short field performance as desired by its customers November 7201 uniform at Boeing field Washington weighing 135 000 pounds and with a six mile an hour Tailwind cleared a simulated Obstacle of 50 feet with a steep approach and came to a Full Stop within 2 200 feet the intention being for the 720 to routinely operate from airports with a runway length of only 5 500 feet following aborted takeoff tests being conducted at Edwards Air Force Base in the California desert wherein the aircraft was accelerated up to 165 miles an hour before the throttles were slammed shut and braking began and was undertaken with various weights that resulted in none of the tires bursting Pioneer Boeing 720 November 7201 uniform was released to United Airlines for crew training on April 28 1960 with an expected entry into service for the summer of the same year the five-month test program with three 720s flying a total of 442 hours which included 148 hours specifically for certification with FAA inspectors present resulting in the type being certified for public transport service on June 30th 1960. the first commercial operation for the 720 took place on July 5th 1960 when November 7201 uniform configured with 44 first class and 53 coach seats flew from Los Angeles to Chicago via Denver followed three days later by the opening of routes from Los Angeles to Seattle via Portland and Los Angeles to San Diego and Las Vegas the second customer for the Boeing 720 American Airlines following on July 31st of the same year with the newly established jet Gateway service out of Cleveland to Los Angeles via Saint Louis while 720s would later start work on the New York to Chicago run on August 14th with extensions to Phoenix and San Diego from August 27th the result being that by the end of the summer of 1960 American Airlines Boeing 720s were operating the New York Chicago run five times per day in both directions the carrier being so happy with their 707s and 720s but they were subsequently dubbed the astrojet within the same year of the 720s launch though Boeing were already preparing to offer new engine options by way of replacing the existing jt3c turbojet power plant with the modified jt3d turbofan which was quieter more efficient and more powerful especially at low speeds with Boeing offering the new engine option for aircraft on order as well as conversions for existing jt3c powered machines and was subsequently equipped to both 707s and 720s which appended the designation B to the end of their names thus creating the Boeing 720b pilot feedback of the new power plant being extremely positive as they stated that the new jt3d felt like a fifth engine had been fitted to the aircraft the first 720b November 7537 Alpha taking its first flight from Renton on October 6 1960 and after 60 hours of test flying was followed by the FAA certification process in December the 720b being certified for commercial service in March 1961. in the end 16 carriers ordered the Boeing 720 new one of which was Irish flag carrier Air Lingus who put the model to work on their shorter distance transatlantic operations between Shannon and Western Ireland and Boston and New York with flying times often being as short as four hours and thus seeing the middling 720 outperform even its larger Boeing 707 brother on among the fastest transatlantic services available for the time Aer Lingus having inaugurated their Dublin Shannon New York Boeing 720 service on December 14 1960 followed in early 1961 by the employment of the type on higher capacity runs between Dublin and London Heathrow elsewhere within the industry the Boeing 720 superbly filled a gap in The Airliner market for frequent stop Services primarily in the United States with braniff taking on five units that flew the Chicago Dallas San Antonio run and the multi-stop Minneapolis Kansas City Dallas San Antonio Mexico City service while Western Airlines who had famously noted their resistance to jet airliners saw the 720 as the perfect model to open up services to Hawaii from May 1961 as well as on their primary service from Los Angeles to Mexico City and Los Angeles to Seattle either non-stop Via San Francisco or via Portland in Oregon the first non-us carrier to begin using Boeing 720s being West Germany's Lufthansa who put the model to work on exotic South American runs from Frankfurt to Santiago to Chile via Paris Dakar in Senegal Rio de Janeiro Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires followed by the start of 720 services to Tehran with stops in Vienna Rome Beirut Cairo and Baghdad another exotic assignment for the 720 being with Northwestern Orient initially on their Minneapolis to New York run but later on intra-asia flights out of their Tokyo Hub to various points across the Far East including Guam Saigon in South Vietnam Taipei Seoul and Hong Kong Beyond this 720s were also taken on by carriers which needed a suitable airliner to work out of high altitude airports and thus were perfect for the likes of erodesia on their run to Nairobi Ethiopian Airlines on their services out of Addis Ababa and Avianca Colombia at their basis of Quito and Bogota first appearing on the route from New York to Montego Bay Kingston and Bogota in November 1961 while El Al Israel took on two Boeing 720s for their service from Tel Aviv to various European destinations as well as a long-haul route to Johannesburg via Tehran that avoided the airspace of Nations unfriendly to the state of Israel a 16-hour trip with two complete Crews on board and 25 course changes along the way at the same time in order to support its extensive domestic Services Continental Airlines were forced to work their existing Fleet of Boeing 707s practically to exhaustion so as to meet their strict diagrams until Boeing 720s eventually arrived in April 1962 to supplement them although in the wake of the Continental Airlines flight 11 disaster wherein one of the company's 707s was blown up mid-flight as part of an insurance scam by Suicidal passenger Thomas G Doty an event that formed the basis of the best-selling 1968 novel and 1970 box office movie hit airport the 720s were rushed into service on routes from California to Texas and Chicago and additional units were ordered to try and keep up with the rapid expansion of the carrier and its increasingly limited capacity the introduction of the Boeing 720 despite its Simplicity and modest differences from the Boeing 707 was a watershed moment for the domestic American Airlines scene as it allowed for Rapid expansion across the entire medium Hall sector that would see many important Regional centers served for the first time by jet airliners the rotations for Boeing 720s also being extremely stringent as these machines often ran up to nine daily round trips between major cities one example being United's primary run between San Francisco and Los Angeles which was one of 25 high frequency United Airlines services that employed the 720 and although only 16 operators eventually bought the model new from Boeing the ones that did opted to buy in bulk so as to exploit the performance of the aircraft ultimately leading to 154 units being produced by the time assembly ended in September 1967. the last example being sold to Western Airlines which had standardized its entire fleet on Boeing 720s and Lockheed Electra turboprops in the end the lessons learned by the Boeing 720 and its highly influential presence on the medium Hall airliner Market meant that it could start development on a dedicated mid-demand jet that would fill the role of what was dubbed the bus stop airliner undertaking multiple stopovers on vital Regional runs across the continental United States Europe and Southeast Asia the resultant Boeing 727 a concept that had been launched alongside the Boeing 720 in 1957 as a long-term Regional Jet design eventually Taking Flight on February 9 1963 and would go on to be a sales smash across the globe once again thanks to Boeing's perfect mixture of flying performance a flexible design and crisp external looks that captured the Public's attention and became yet another cultural phenomenon as air travel continued to be opened up to the mass Market with the arrival of the Boeing 727 which presented improved shortfield performance and higher fuel efficiency thanks to its trijet design the Boeing 720 rapidly Fell From Grace as the Renton Factory was able to Output hundreds of new 727s by the end of the decade and thus during the early 1970s the 720s faced a mass withdrawal by their original operators with the likes of TWA and Eastern Airlines having retired their units by 1970. braniff and United by 1973 American Airlines by 1975 and Continental Airlines by 1976 with the last of the original Mainline American operators of the type Western Airlines continuing to work their small Fleet of Boeing 720s out of San Diego on the Honolulu and Mexico City runs until October 1979 whereupon they were replaced by Douglas DC-10 wide-body trijets while elsewhere Aer Lingus continued to use the 720 on transatlantic Services until 1971 when they were withdrawn in favor of larger and longer range Boeing 707 320s this wasn't completely the end of the Boeing 720 though as while their Mainline operations in the United States were now behind them their performance and practical design put them in good stead on the second-hand market for carriers across the world primarily in Latin America the Caribbean South America Europe the Middle East Africa and Southeast Asia with further carriers utilizing the fleet including Greek national carrier Olympic Airways which used seven examples on their European Network Somali Airlines for services out of pogadishu air Malta Ariana Afghan Airways on their multi-stop Kabul to Paris Frankfurt and London service via Tehran and Beirut and British Charter Airline monarch further to its Airline use the Boeing 720 also took on a star-studded role for the transportation of several major rock bands and music icons of the 1970s with two units Pioneer Boeing 720 November 7201 uniform and November 7224 uniform both ex-united Airlines examples being bought following their retirement from commercial service for use as flying tour buses November 7201 uniform being purchased by contemporary entertainment in 1973 and was refitted at a cost of two hundred thousand dollars or 1.3 million dollars in 2022 with a luxurious interior that reduced the seating capacity to 40 and saw the installation of a bar seats and tables revolving armchairs a 30-foot long couch along the starboard side of the aircraft a TV with video cassette player an electronic organ and at the rear of the plane two back rooms one with a low couch and pillows on the floor and the other a bedroom complete with a white fur bedspread and shower room making it the largest private jet behind contemporary State trans Sports such as Air Force One this aircraft being christened the starship the Starship was later joined by November 7224 uniform Caesar's Chariot which was bought from United Airlines in 1975 by Desert Palace Incorporated and was again fitted with huge overstuffed chair-site seating a bar private rooms for each member and a Hammond electric organ the Starship and Caesar's Chariot between them being flown for all manner of contemporary music groups and stars throughout the 1970s primarily for English rock band and heavy metal Pioneer Led Zeppelin for their 1973 1975 and 1977 North American tours but also saw use with other major icons of the time including Elton John Alice Cooper Bob Dylan Deep Purple The Allman Brothers The Rolling Stones Peter Frampton the Bee Gees John Lennon Frank Sinatra sunny and Cher and Olivia Newton-John the Starship eventually being put out of service in 1979 and went into storage at Luton Airport near London before being scrapped in July 1982 while Caesar's Chariot remained in use as a touring plane until 1980 6 whereupon it was sold to the U.S Air Force as a spares donor for kc-135 tanker aircraft and was ultimately broken up in 1987. most famously though was Boeing 720 November 113 which had been bought new from Boeing by the Federal Aviation Administration in May 1961 and was used primarily to train safety inspectors so as to acquaint them with the regular performance of airliners in order to monitor whether they had either been maintained or were operating in a correct Manner and was notable for being the only 720 build to never carry a single passenger the aircraft after 22 years in service eventually been considered life expired as Boeing 707 type models were replaced on mass by new airliner designs and thus the decision was made to use the aircraft in the upcoming controlled impact demonstration which was undertaken to study the effectiveness of a fuel additive which was hoped would inhibit ignition in a crash as well as observing the crash worthiness of aircraft seats infused large structure on December 1 1984 November 113 flying under remote control climbed away from Edwards Air Force Base to a height of 2 300 feet carrying on board 76 000 pounds of the modified fuel together with a complement of Crash Test Dummies before circling around flying in low over the California desert and crashing down onto a designated concrete strip that was littered with metal obstacles cemented into the ground so as to represent solid objects in the event of an off-airport Crash Landing the intention being for the aircraft to land level but at the last minute euroed notably to the left and struck the ground Port Wing first causing the aircraft to Pivot and expose the number three engine to the metal obstacles that ruptured its fuel tanks and sparked an inferno that engulfed The Airliner the resulting fire representing a major setback for the experimental fuel although the data gathered from the crash test dummies inside the Boeing 720 allowed for Vital Information as to the survivability of passengers in the event of a severe crash the largest operator of second-hand Boeing 720s however was Middle East Airlines or mea of Lebanon which took on 20 examples for their vast Network across Central Asia and Europe although 11 of these were destroyed as a result of tactical situations during the Lebanese civil war which began in April 1975 and subsequent conflicts with neighboring Israel the first loss being mea Flight 438 which was blown up mid-flight by a bomb while over the Saudi Arabian Desert on New Year's Day 1976 killing all 81 aboard followed six months later by another unit being destroyed on June 27 1976 when it was struck by an artillery shell during a bombardment of Beirut Airport by the Lebanese front a third unit being blown up by Dynamite shortly after arriving at Beirut from Tripoli on August 31 1981 and four additional units being destroyed on the ground by an air raid conducted on Beirut Airport by Israeli fighter jets on June 12 and June 16 1982 during what was known as The Siege of Beirut a response to the attempted assassination of the Israeli ambassador to Britain [ __ ] argov by members of the Abu nidal terrorist organization while another two units were destroyed by further shelling by the Lebanese front on August 21 1985. more notable was the role of the Boeing 720s in providing a vital transport Corridor across Beirut during the bloodiest period of the Lebanese Civil War in the late 1970s and early 1980s as with Lebanese government and Splinter factions conducting exceptionally brutal Street Warfare often seeing hundreds of casualties being incurred in order to capture a single City Block during what was described as the modern day Stalingrad attempting to access beirut's airport by land transport was far too dangerous for travelers entering and leaving the country and thus to provide a safe Corridor mea used their Boeing 720s to fly a 61-mile run from Beirut International to the cliarty Air Force Base to the northeast of the city climbing to a low altitude flying North along the Lebanese Coast to avoid anti-aircraft fire and then traveling Inland so as to reach the remote Airfield essentially providing an airport taxi service the clayate air base being only used for loading and unloading for the shuttle flight while Customs checks and onward travel to International destinations would take place at Beirut eventually the Lebanese Civil War ended in 1991 following the occupation of the country by the Syrian Army and the passing of an amnesty law by the Lebanese parliament in March of that year although by this time mea were ready to retire their six surviving Boeing 720s from Frontline passenger service which was done in 1992 but even this didn't prove to be the end of the Boeing 720s as two units Oscar Delta Alpha Gulf Bravo and Oscar Delta Alpha foxtrot might were initially retained for pilot training and ad hoc Charter use before being returned to Mainline passenger work in 1994 due to a rapid surge in post-war passenger traffic levels and delays in receiving brand new Airbus a321s Oscar Delta Alpha Gulf Bravo originally delivered to American Airlines as November 7535 Alpha in September 1960 being the oldest flying jet airliner in the world at that time while Oscar Delta Alpha foxtrot Mike also an ex-american Airlines unit had been delivered to the carrier in February 1961. in the end the arrival of Airbus a321s in the summer of 1995 meant the two Boeing 720s both of which survived nearly two decades of shellings bombings and anti-aircraft fire left Beirut for the last time as while their story with mea was now over these units still found some use in the ranks of Pratt and Whitney Canada which had acquired xmea Boeing 720 Oscar Delta Alpha foxtrot Quebec a 1961 built ex-american Airlines unit as a flying test bed for their aircraft engines during 1986 and had conducted air tests over the years for power plants which included the pw307a for the dassol Falcon 7X the pw308 for the Scaled Composites White Knight 2 the pw545 for the Cessna Citation XL and the iae v2500 for the McDonald Douglas md-90 Oscar Delta Alpha Gulf Bravo and Oscar Delta Alpha foxtrot mic being flown to Mojave in California and used as spare Stoners for Pratt and Whitney's Boeing 720 now registered charlie foxtrot Echo Tango Bravo which flew as the very last airworthy example until September 30th 2010 after which it was retired and undertook its final flight on June 5th 2012 from San Hubert airport in Montreal to CFB Trenton in Ontario so as to join the collection of the National Air Force Museum of Canada one of only five Boeing 720s to survive into preservation today the Boeing 720 is considered within the aviation Community to be one of Boeing's biggest commercial failures with only 154 units being sold when compared to the 580 examples of the Boeing 707 320 family it was offered alongside during the 1960s as well as the thousands of subsequent Boeing 727 and 737 short to medium Hall jets that would follow the 720 after the end of its production although the reality is when considering the comparatively low development costs of the Boeing 720 when downsizing it from the larger 707 the financial hit taken by Boeing together with its modest popularity among Mainline carriers such as United American Airlines and Continental meant the model was able to successfully break even on the investment Boeing had made even if it didn't sell in the numbers the company had forecast while at the same time going Beyond its simple role as an interim measure before the arrival of more dedicated short-to-medium Hall jet airliners and instead seeing a service career that lasted over 50 years through all manner of conditions fundamentally the outcomes of the Boeing 720 were to provide the company with information as to the enthusiasm of carriers to the mid-range jet airliner market and with several significant carriers eager to take on the 720 for use on vital multi-stop runs across the continental United States and Europe the results of this model demonstrated that the demand was there for a specific design that would settle into this Market segment and was subsequently filled by way of the Boeing 727 tri-jet and the Boeing 737 twin jet both of which sold in their thousands while the latter remains on sale to this day in derivative variants the enduring success of both the 727 and 737 being owed to Boeing's initial foray into medium-range commercial jet travel with the often forgotten but highly important Boeing 720

Channel: Ruairidh MacVeigh

Views: 255,332

Keywords: Airbus, Boeing, Air, Aircraft, Airplane, Aeroplane, Airliner, Commercial Airliner, Airline, Airlines, Airways, International Airline, International, International Airport, Departure, Arrival, Take-off, Landing, Flight, Flying, Plane, Runway, Approach, Terminal, Boeing 720, 720, Boeing 707, United Airlines, Boeing 727, Boeing 737, Boeing 367-80, Boeing KC-135, MEA, Middle East Airlines, Lebanese Civil War, Starship, Caesars Chariot, Led Zeppelin, Tour Bus, Rockstar, Rock Band, American Airlines, NASA

Id: 7n0Y18as2_E

Length: 27min 30sec (1650 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 26 2022