In article ,
"The Raven" writes:
"Darrell A. Larose" wrote in message
...
ArtKramr ) writes:
Which ones?

Wright Flyer

Agreed


Douglas DC-3 opened air travel for many

Yes

Boeing 707 First practical Jetliner

The Comet should get that despite it's initial problems.

I'd have to disagreee, here. The COmet I was a pioneer, but it was
hardly practical. You could even make a case that the early Comet
experience, along with experience gained with the USAF's B-47s, set
back the willingness of teh airlines to accept jet transports, rather
than moving it ahead.

The Comet Is, even without the two fatigue-induced crashes, had a
dismal safety record. (As an example, it had incredibly tight
tolerances for handling durig takeoff and landing. At around 120 kts,
you had to rotate it to an AOA of exactly 10 degrees, += 1 degree. If you
underrotated, you'd never get off the ground on any runway known at
that time. If you overrotated, the increased Induced Drag would
prevent you from reaching takeoff speed at all. If you rotated early
(slow), teh increased induced drag would stop you again. On a
percantage basis, more Comet Is were lost than the Notoriously Evil
B-58. The B-47 also had some demanding handling characteristics, most
notable its long takeoff runs, and, due to the slow acceleration of
the J47s that powered them, and the bicycle landing gear, in the
landing pattern. The statistics of the Comet, and the first-hand
reports of ex-USAF Airline Pilots who'd flown the B-47, convinced the
airlines that large jets would be too knife-edged to allow safe
operation in airline conditions. This is on top of the range and
payload performance, which was marginal for the North Atlantic run.

The 707 changed all that. Although it was a big, fast long-ranged
jet, it was designed to fly just like any other transport. Boeing's
selling method was to take the prospective airline's Cheif Pilot, sit
him in the left seat, and have him fly the airplane. The operating
economy was much more favorable, as well. Once they entered service,
it was found that a 707 could make 3-4 transatlantic trips in the time
that it rook a DC-7 or COnstellation to make 1 trip. This was due to
the simplicity and reliability of the jets over the later
recips. (R3350, for the most part. The R4360 was never a player in
the commercial scene). Basically, when a recip airliner landed in
London after hopping over from New York, (Landings at Gander, Shannin
or Prestwick, and, possibly Rekyjvik), you had to go through it with a
fine-tooted comb to tune the engines and props for the next flight.
The 707 (and, a bit later, the DC-8), just needed to be swept out,
refuelled, the meals and passengers loaded, and off it went with a new
crew.

The Comet was important, much as the Fokker F.VIIb Trimotor was
important. It showed a hint of what was to come, but didn't change
things very much. The 707, on the other hand, had an impact about
like that of the DC-3. It changed the way that Air Travel was going
to work forever after.

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster