A New Airplane (to Me Anyway)

Jschmus · May 03, 2007, 05:58:15 PM

I stopped by the Carolinas Aviation Museum yesterday, and a friend of mine stopped in to show off a book he found in a thrift store last weekend. It was Aircraft of the World, copyright 1965. It's one of those comprehensive military/civil books, with photos and/or line drawings of all the types known to be extant at the time of publication. Everything was listed alphabetically by country, starting with Argentina. There were several aircraft I had never seen in another publication before. One of these was the McDonnell Model 119. This was originally designed for the USAF UTX specification, which was won by Lockheed's Jetstar (which I've always thought was a sexy airplane).

McDonell Model 119/220

After the loss, McDonnell changed the designation to 220, signifying their second 20 years of operation, and tried to shop the plane as a bizjet, and pushed it to Pan Am as a sort of regional jet. There were no sales.

I like the look of the plane, and can't help but think there's some use for it. The original specs were for four de-rated J34 engines, but there was a proposal to re-engine with JT12s.

The book had all kinds of other projects listed. They showed the Beriev Be-10 "Mallow" and the Mikoyan Ye-152 "Flipper" as in-service types. There were listings for every helo Kaman ever built, including the AH-2 Tomahawk and the Huskie III.

royabulgaf · May 03, 2007, 06:21:20 PM

IIRC, the aircraft was used as a corporate bizjet and hack until it wore out. I don't think there was any RJ interest in the 50s. You are looking at what, about 10-12 seats tops? With 4 1950s vintage jet engines to feed and fix? On such short routes the speed difference would be inconsequential, and the cost difference enormous.

Kim M

The Rat · May 03, 2007, 07:36:50 PM

Oh man, you've set me off again. I have been trying to keep that little beauty out of my mind for years, now I'm going to be up all night with a tent pole and no circus. First saw it in a mag back in the seventies when it was languishing at Deer Valley airport in Phoenix. Gorgeous, is all.

Daryl J. · May 03, 2007, 07:53:44 PM

I haven't seen that picture in decades. I always thought it was wonderful.

Daryl J.

Sentinel Chicken · May 03, 2007, 08:07:04 PM

I used to have that bird in FS98 aliased to a DC-8 panel/sounds and it was my preferred ride for farting around in FS98.

For a while I believe it was stored at El Paso International Airport, but I was never able to find it when I was in ELP.

Supertom · May 03, 2007, 09:22:48 PM

It looks like a conventional-winged B-58!

elmayerle · May 03, 2007, 11:48:07 PM

A beautiful aircraft 'cept it's a flying vacumn-cleaner. The engines sit so low on the ground that they really suck up everything loose. That was one of the reasons it lost the competition and, I suspect, one reason there wasn't that much interest in it.

Maverick · May 04, 2007, 12:55:29 AM

When i first looked at it, my first thought was a bizjet got busy with a 707, but on the intake issue, why not stalk out the landing gear like the B-58?

Mav

Hobbes · May 04, 2007, 01:08:17 AM

Cool!

About the engines: having four of 'em didn't stop the HS-125, did it?

Howard of Effingham · May 04, 2007, 01:16:20 AM

QuoteAbout the engines: having four of 'em didn't stop the HS-125, did it?

hobbes!

don't you mean the lockheed jetstar here? the HS-125 was only ever 2 engines.

t.

ysi_maniac · May 04, 2007, 05:08:53 AM

A beauty indeed. It it were an injection model ...

Hobbes · May 04, 2007, 06:03:21 AM

Quote
don't you mean the lockheed jetstar here? the HS-125 was only ever 2 engines.

Um, probably. I meant 'that 4-engined bizjet with VC-10 layout (handwaves); the Jetstar qualifies, but is that the only aircraft with this configuration? ISTR a British 4-engined bizjet.

Jennings · May 04, 2007, 06:07:37 AM

Pretty much a B-58 biz jet

They used that as the company transport for years. It was a great design that just never made it.

J

Glenn Gilbertson · May 04, 2007, 10:30:57 AM

Pity it wasn't successful - a really good looking aircraft.

Mossie · May 04, 2007, 11:32:31 AM

Quote
Quote
don't you mean the lockheed jetstar here? the HS-125 was only ever 2 engines.

Um, probably. I meant 'that 4-engined bizjet with VC-10 layout (handwaves); the Jetstar qualifies, but is that the only aircraft with this configuration? ISTR a British 4-engined bizjet.

Not quite a bizjet, the BAe 146/Avro RJ is more of a regional jet:

That McDonnell 119/220 is very nice looking design, a shame it was probably a bit before it's time.