An Aviation Milestone

[blusk]

During the Holidays, a major milestone, both in the world of aviation and in the way we look and embrace the world itself, passed.  December 20 marked the 50th Anniversary of the first Boeing 707 flight.  Click here to read about this important event.  More than any other single airplane, the 707 shrunk the world and caused the world to leap into the jet age.  How would your life be different without jet aircraft?

[chuchoteur]

Hi Brian, Of course, the first commercial jet airliner was the British de Havilland Comet, which first flew on the 27th July 1949. The early production aircraft suffered a string of accidents due to metal fatigue, a then unknown phenomenon that was discovered on the DHC Comet, the first aircraft to really challenge the limits of stressed-skin designs, a new feature at the time. The Boeing 707 was by far the more commercially successful aircraft of course, benefiting from many of those early experiences. The DHC Comet is still in use today as the Nimrod MRA4, a military patrol aircraft used by the UK Royal Air Force, and is seeing active service in Afghanistan. It is also used to patrol the north atlantic, and contributes to many search and rescue operations in that area. There is a fantastic picture of the 707 flying inverted when Boeing test pilot "Tex" Johnston performed a barrel roll on 7th August 1955, during a flypast for the Seafair Gold Cup hydroplane race on Lake Washington - unfortunately I have not been able to find a good quality picture on the internet... It is actually amazing how far aviation has progressed since the early days a little over a century ago... :o) Raphael

[chuchoteur]

... and a quick edit on dates: the 707 first flight actually took place on the 15th July, 1954, when the prototype (the model 367-80) made its first flight from Renton Field. http://www.boeing.com/commercial/707family/index.html I am presuming the 20th Dec 1957 refers to the 1st production aircraft flight... :o) Raphael

[blusk]

Raphael, Yes of course the Comet was first, and what a shame it's structural problems kept it from revolutionizing air travel even if it was the first. The Avro Arrow in Canada was second (but unlike the others never entered airline service), the Soviet TU-104 third, and the Sud Caravelle fourth. Technically, you are right in that the first 707 in the form of the Dash 80 flew in 1954, but technically you are also wrong. The Dash-80 was a one-off aircraft, with the model designation 367-80. It had the same basic design as the true 707, but the fuselage was smaller, and lacked the 707's double bubble fuselage. (Incidentally, on a delivery flight from Boeing Field to Dallas, we got to tour Boeing Field and Dash 80 was in the paint shop prior to being donated to the Smithsonian. ) Keep in mid that the Dash-80 is a closer relative to the KC-135, which contrary to a lot of folk's thinking, is not the military version of the 707. The 1957 first flight date relates to the first true 707 flight.

[Paul-R__Raymond]

"The Avro Arrow in Canada was second (but unlike the others never entered airline service), the Soviet TU-104 third, and the Sud Caravelle fourth." I guess that you are talking about the Avro Canada Jetliner... The Avro Arrow was a supersonic jet intended for the continental defense of Canada. Paul-R.

[blusk]

I am indeed Paul! Thanks for the correction. I think the jetliner's model designation was C.102? Anyway, the two aircraft do share one fate in that they were giants steps forward that never saw a chance. For those of you who have no idea of what we are speaking, here is a web site about the Jetliner and here is one about the Avro Arrow. Brian

[sparky]

The 707 is defintely an aircraft to be honored. It is a plane that shows that Boeings heart is in the right place. A rare known fact about the 707 is that on June 28, 1965, Pan Am Flight 843 bound from San Francisco to Hawaii carring 143 Passengers while climbing out had a problem. The pilots announcement "Folks, we have a little minor problem, (short pause) well maybe it's not so minor." I am not going to go into the entire story. It can be found in a book titled "The Jet Age" ISBN Number 0-8094-3362-1 if you would like the full details. At 700' and climbing out, the starboard (Right) wing burst into flames. "All at once there was a big explosion and fire, and then the engine fell off". The captian considered ditching in the Pacific, but decided to head towards Travis Airforce Base 50 miles away. After a 19 minute flight, the captain brought the plane in for perfect landing. A news conference was held the day after the incident. The captain "Captain Charles Kimes" modestly remarked that he had done "nothing outstanding. Boeing Engineers felt otherwise "We run just about every kind of test imaginable" said one technician, "but you neer imagine a plane in this kind of situation remain flyable. That cockpit was full of real pros." With that said, my hat goes off to not only the 707 fleet that is leading us all (especially Southwest Airlines) into the next generation, but to the entire Boeing fleet that the 707 has spawned. For those who would like to see a couple scanned images, clipboard these links into your web browser, or if southwest desires, to make these permant links... Feel free Southwest. woot.lavaa.net/707/707-2.jpg

[chuchoteur]

Brian, you are of course correct, the -80 being a one-off that had significant differences with the "final" 707 aircraft... those were the days when prototypes were truly that, rather than pre-production aircraft as we see today! the 1950's were a turning point for aviation, from turbocharged piston engines to jet propulsion, and there were some fantastic aircraft flying around... such as the beautiful Lockheed Constellation. http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1277712/L/ my personal favourite remains the Boeing Stratocruiser though. The below website has some interesting extracts of brochures and flyers of the time, what a way to fly! http://www.ovi.ch/b377/articles/boeingUnited/ ... it was one of the very few aircraft not to have a positive fuselage angle in flight - and apparently it was quite tricky to land, as it had a tendancy to "wheelbarrow" down the runway on the nosewheel! :o) Raphael

[blusk]

Raphael, I totally agree and you picked two of my alltime favorites. As a boy who lived in Amarillo for awhile, I would go to work with my Dad in the summer sometimes. He was Continental's Station Manager there, and TWA flew Constellations into AMA. They were a constant source of amazement. Don't forget that the 50s also gave us some amazing turboprop aircraft like the Lockheed Electra, Vickers Viscount, Bristol Britannia, and the Tupolev TU-114. Brian

[chuchoteur]

Hi John, I think that most of those early jet aircraft were incredibly well designed and fit for the task - it is often surprising how much punishment they can take and still bring their crews/pax/cargo back down safely! In the "definitely not something considered when the aircraft was conceived" category, there is the Boeing 747 incident on the 24th June 1982, when a British Airways flight overflew the erupting Mount Galunggung volcano in Indonesia. All 4 engines failed as the ash choked them, and the aircraft underwent a long glide and loss of altitude before recovering power and performing an emergency landing. In more recent years, on 22nd November 2003 an Airbus A300 cargo aircraft was struck by a portable surface to air missile as it took off from Baghdad airport. Having lost the use of flight controls, the crew managed to bring the aircraft back for an emergency landing using engine thrust differential, the only working control left at their disposal. http://www.talkingproud.us/International051504.html whilst this is all slightly off-topic, it all goes to show that aircraft such as the Boeing 737s that Southwest operate are the products of a vast amount of experience, with designs that cater for the most unexpected types of events. coupled with great flight crews (such as Capt'n Ray - and happy new year to you if you are reading!) and fantastic dedicated maintenance, Southwest beats any other form of transport when it comes to getting you from A to B safely, reliably, on time and at low cost! (... and if you get stuck, you'll get better customer service than if you were waiting for a recovery truck on the side of a busy motorway!) :o))) Raphael

[chuchoteur]

Brian, the Vickers Viscount is definitely a firm favourite of mine, I find it has quite elegant lines, particularly in the fuselage design! even though the Lockheed L-188 Electra was a great aircraft, the name always has me thinking for a split second of my all-time favourite small twin-engine piston aircraft - the Lockheed L-12 Electra (which was the more widespread variant, with 114 aircraft sold). The Lockheed Electra that Amelia Earheart disappeared in was the earlier version L10E, which had been customised with long range fuel tanks. http://www.acepilots.com/earhart.html Someday, I would LOVE to fly one of those aircraft... :o))) Raphael

[larry_baca]

My wife and I were traveling back home to Houston from Las Vegas last Sunday on flight 1776. We had our 1 year old grandson with us, thus making the trip much more interesting. He is good kid, but he wasn't having his best travel day that Sunday. I want to commend the Southwest Flight crew that day. They did a wonderful job and showed great patience in trying to keep our grandson happy during the trip. They all had wonderful humor and did their best. Thank you for letting families feel welcome to travel on your fine airline.

[sparky]

For my previous comment on the 707, there should have been 2 images as follows: http://woot.lavaa.net/707/707-1.jpg http://woot.lavaa.net/707/707-2.jpg

[blusk]

John, that's my fault. I saw your second post on the moderation queue, and I thought you were trying to correct the link on your original post, so I changed the original post and deleted the followup. My fault--sorry Blog Boy

[Dave46]

John, I was looking for some information about that 707 that lost an engine and part of its wing in 1965. I remember it well and the pilot was Captain Kimes, who lived a few blocks from a friend of mine in Danville, CA. I found an article in Time Magazine but your photos are the only ones I have been able to find. Do you have any more photos of this 707 (flight 843)? Thanks, Dave