Thanks to SquareSpace for making this
video possible and for allowing me to launch my new Mustard website so easily.
More on that after this video. Before Concorde defined what it meant to fly
fast, there was another plane that tried to
push the limit of speed. The Convair 990. Outside the box engineering allowed it
to cruise faster than any airliner before it, and still faster than anything
you can fly on today. But while the 990 broke speed records, Convair broke the
bank. Losing nearly half a billion dollars on a flawed idea that speed
would sell airliners. Flying in the late 1950's and early 60's
was defined by speed, luxury, and boozy sky lounges. And so in 1958,
American Airlines, looking to one-up their competition, reached out to
manufacturers to build them a faster jet. One that could cross the country at
least 45 minutes quicker. Boeing flat-out refused. Their engineers said this was
impossible. Because subsonic jets like their own 707 were already pushing the
limit of speed, while still offering reasonable range in efficiency. But one
company beg to differ. Convair agreed to build American Airlines their fast jet.
An airliner that would cruise at 635 miles per hour. And they even backed it
up with a speed guarantee. They'd pay millions in penalties if their new jet
couldn't fly as fast as promised. To understand why Convair had taken on such an enormous challenge, you really have to understand what the company was up
against. The Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 were the first American jet liners. And
almost overnight, they transformed jet travel from a small niche into something
mainstream. Compared to jet powered airliners before them, these two planes
with their larger size, efficiency, range, and speed were nothing short of
revolutionary. The two rivals sold hundreds of jetliners in just a few
short years. But Boeing and Douglas weren't alone. Convair had also
introduced the jetliner, the 880, just a year after its rivals. The company had a
history of building successful propeller driven airliners and military aircraft.
But while Convair's jetliner looked similar to its rivals, the company tried
to capture a different segment of the market. There's been a lot of talk about
speed, but there can only be one fastest jetliner, only one speed champion. On its delivery flight, Delta's first
Convair 880 became that champion, setting an ocean-to-ocean transcontinental
record with an average speed of 665 miles per hour. To avoid competing
directly against Boeing and Douglas, Convair bet there was a market for a
medium-ranged smaller, faster and more luxurious jet. And sure there was a
market. It was just extraordinarily small. Even before the first 880 rolled off the
assembly line, it was clear that Convair's new jet wasn't going to be a
sales hit. Orders for the 707 and DC-8 piled up while, Convair could barely sell
more than a few dozen 880s. So the company was in a tough position.
They had already sunk millions into development and Boeing and Douglas had
already captured the market for long-range jets. So when American
Airlines came looking for a faster jet, Convair jumped on the opportunity. They
could take their 880 and modify it into something larger and even faster. But
there's a reason why Boeing was skeptical. The 707 was already a very
fast jet, flying near the limit of subsonic speeds. Beyond subsonic but
before supersonic, is a speed regime called transonic. In this middle ground,
drag on an aircraft it dramatically increases. So flying here is inefficient.
Convair was really going to have to innovate because their new jet would not
only need to be fast, but be efficient enough to fly further than the 880. And
the 880 would need more than just a few tweaks to cruise at 635 miles per hour.
Convair worked on a new design called the 990. It would need more powerful
engines. So the turbojets on the 880 were modified to add a separate fan
system into the exhaust of the engine, creating the world's first
turbofan-powered airliner with 40% more power. To counter transonic drag, the
aircraft was given a new wing with a 39 degree wing sweep. Engineers added large anti-shock bodies to the trailing edges of the wings,
another first for an airliner. These would reduce transonic drag and increase
the aircraft's critical Mach. They would also serve as additional fuel storage to
increase range. With its state-of-the-art wind tunnel tested aerodynamics and new
turbofan engines, it looked like Convair had just built the world's fastest
airliner. At least on paper. Because when the first 990 took to the skies on
January of 1961, problems started to appear.
This aircraft couldn't cruise at 635 miles per hour. Turbulence around the
inboard engines interfered with the effectiveness of the aircraft's
elevators, the surfaces used to control pitch. The anti-shock bodies on the wings
when filled with fuel, caused the outboard engines to oscillate from side
to side. Excessive drag areas were discovered all around the aircraft on
the after body near the thrust reversers on the underside of the wings leading
edges, and where the wing joined the fuselage. Convair engineers had to bring
in industry experts for help. But as the months and painstaking modifications
dragged on, the 990 still couldn't cruise at 635 miles per hour nor would it meet
its range requirements. And by the fall of 1961, American Airlines in desperate need of new jets, called Convair back to the
negotiating table. They reduced their order. At this point all American wanted
was for the first 15 to simply be... jets. But the remaining 5 would still need to
be faster versions and Convair was given more time to work out the issues. The new
speed guarantee was now lowered to 620 miles per hour, but convair engineers
persisted and eventually worked out all the issues. The faster 990 a was able to
meet the new speed guarantee and you could say Convair ultimately proved
Boeing wrong. The company had built a faster jet. The fastest subsonic airliner
ever. Not that it mattered. Because by the time it finally took to the skies, Boeing
and Douglas were firmly established as leaders in the new jet age. Convair's
airliners with their little bit of extra speed and luxury, at the
cost the practicality, range, and efficiency, wasn't what the market wanted.
Reportedly, the company lost half a billion dollars building their jetliners, and they'd never build another one again. But the 880, and especially the
990, earned a legendary status. Partly because they were a rare sight and they
weren't around for very long. After the fuel crisis of the early 1970s,
most airlines couldn't wait to get rid of their fuel thirsty Convairs. These
planes really were the final throes of another era, before flying meant packing
in as many people as possible, and when burning an extra 10,000 pounds of jet
fuel just to shave 45 minutes off of flight, sounded pretty swell. On the
morning of May 14th, Mustard's didn't have a website. On the
afternoon of May 14th, Mustard had a killer website. It took
me less than a day to build it with SquareSpace, and it was actually a ton of
fun to do. I even recorded myself building it. With so many beautiful
award-winning templates to choose from and a completely intuitive user
interface, anyone can build an amazing website with SquareSpace. Whether you're a photographer, blogger, YouTuber or run a small business. And if for some reason
you ever get stuck, SquareSpace has
award-winning 24/7 customer support. Start building your website for free at SquareSpace.com/mustard and when you're ready to launch your website, use the code 'mustard' for 10% off your first purchase.
Mustard is easily one of my favorite YouTube channels.
Thanks, OP!
Nice video, lots of info, and the model looks... real.
zooooOOOOoom!