Flew 340 440 for North Central Airlines for 1 1/2 years. We had a take off from Detroit Metro Airport on a warm summer day, Runway 3 L Take off weight was just under 48000 lbs. Captain feathered engine at 300 ft AGL, took us six to eight miles to climb to sufficient altitude to turn back to airport. North Central aircraft 305. It was a great plane quiet in cockpit. Big improvement over DC 3. I then flew Turbo Prop Convair 580 for 11 years both seats. This was a fabulous plane great power however noisy. They were built like tanks check out their accident survivability. Flying with Cessna 150 stuck in side etc. Convair new how to build them. Is always neat to see a 580 now and then.
Was privileged to have flown as both a Dropmaster then Avionicman on the C-131 Samaritan for the Coast Guard. They were all 240 A models and weren’t pressurized. Known as the “Thunderpig” I have only good memories flying SAR, pollution patrols and many other events, especially during the Marilito Boat Lift.
As a grade school student in the early ‘50’s, I recall making several trips in Delta CV440’s. This was about the time that Delta was making the transition from DC-3’s for short haul runs. I still recall the difference in the deck angle between the two airplanes on takeoff. The Convair was most impressive. I still have some old tickets that show one way child’s fare between KSHV and KJAN as a princely $14.00!
I flew on a 240 with American Aitlines (as shown in this video) from Louisville to Albany, NY when I was 10. Still the best flight i.ever had and it further increased my goal to be a pilot. Totally awesome.
My first airplane flight was in December of 1971 aboard a corporate CV-340 configured with sofas, chairs, tables, lamps, etc., from Atlanta/Hartsfield to Jacksonville FL and return. Solid as a rock, even as we flew through a thunderstorm.
The "Convair-Liner" was a versatile aircraft, as this film explains. Years after this film was made, Convair offered a version of the Rolls-Royce Dart RDa.10-powered conversion, the 600/640, as a business airplane.
Convair made great planes and put a lot of thought into innovations that improved comfort and reliability. The regulated airline industry up to 1978 made many buisiness case models reach their potential for most aircraft. Deregulation drew an ugly line in the sand that killed incentives as capital investment dollars dried up. This same economic trend creeped over to other industries as deregulation took many competitors out of their industries while acheiving a short-lived benefit for consumers.
440 was not a turboprop. I remember when my dad, Capt. Willis L. Petrie, Chief Pilot at Allegheny Airlines, was involved with the problems Allegheny was having with the Napier turboprop conversions which Allegheny called a 540. The Napier conversion was never successful. Allegheny then successfully introduced the Convair 580 using Allison turboprop engines.
Stumbled uppon this video...which very interesting had the H-19 helicopter at the end. I had an opportunity to fly this for Naviator training at James Connoly AFB, Waco, Texas, then after 1000+ hours in the HH43B, a chance to fly it for two more years in "MissionSupport" at McGuire AFB.. configured in airliner mode. Great bird, great assignment.. !
' helped maintain several EC-131's at Pacific Missile Test Center, NAS Point Mugu, they were Chaff Queens. Good rugged analog avionics. Flew as passenger in North Central Airlines 240's several times Chicago O'Hare to GRR, and turboprop model 440. Roomier than Viscounts.
Agreed, just a few days ago a gorgeous example much loved here suffered an engine fire and being loaded with 2 plus 15pax she struggled to stay airborne and couldn't complete a return circuit and finally went in with lots of footage external and internal ua-cam.com/video/yVewcZzOyTk/v-deo.html
When I was in A&P school, one of my aircraft maintenance instructors, who had spent 20 years in the Air Force working on T-29's, the militaries version of the Convair 240, always told us that single engine operations with any type of a load, were pretty sketchy with the aircraft.
I maintained and flew on three different C-131's out of Nas Pensacola, from 1976-80. All three had max gross take off weights of 54,370. A cold Oct day with a full load of passengers and 3/4 max fuel weight we lost number 2 engine just after we got the wheels up, ran shutdown procedure and our pilot brought it back around safely.......our weight was 51,250.
Flew 340 440 for North Central Airlines for 1 1/2 years. We had a take off from Detroit Metro Airport on a warm summer day, Runway 3 L Take off weight was just under 48000 lbs. Captain feathered engine at 300 ft AGL, took us six to eight miles to climb to sufficient altitude to turn back to airport. North Central aircraft 305. It was a great plane quiet in cockpit. Big improvement over DC 3. I then flew Turbo Prop Convair 580 for 11 years both seats. This was a fabulous plane great power however noisy. They were built like tanks check out their accident survivability. Flying with Cessna 150 stuck in side etc.
Convair new how to build them. Is always neat to see a 580 now and then.
My dad was a Crew Chief on T29s and C131s for his last 10 years in the USAF before he retired in 1973.
Was privileged to have flown as both a Dropmaster then Avionicman on the C-131 Samaritan for the Coast Guard. They were all 240 A models and weren’t pressurized. Known as the “Thunderpig” I have only good memories flying SAR, pollution patrols and many other events, especially during the Marilito Boat Lift.
As a grade school student in the early ‘50’s, I recall making several trips in Delta CV440’s. This was about the time that Delta was making the transition from DC-3’s for short haul runs. I still recall the difference in the deck angle between the two airplanes on takeoff. The Convair was most impressive. I still have some old tickets that show one way child’s fare between KSHV and KJAN as a princely $14.00!
I flew on a 240 with American Aitlines (as shown in this video) from Louisville to Albany, NY when I was 10. Still the best flight i.ever had and it further increased my goal to be a pilot. Totally awesome.
Wow! That single engine takeoff was very impressive.
My first airplane flight was in December of 1971 aboard a corporate CV-340 configured with sofas, chairs, tables, lamps, etc., from Atlanta/Hartsfield to Jacksonville FL and return. Solid as a rock, even as we flew through a thunderstorm.
The "Convair-Liner" was a versatile aircraft, as this film explains. Years after this film was made, Convair offered a version of the Rolls-Royce Dart RDa.10-powered conversion, the 600/640, as a business airplane.
Straightforward & detailed I am still used to this kind of diction. My brain is still wired for this era...
Convair made great planes and put a lot of thought into innovations that improved comfort and reliability. The regulated airline industry up to 1978 made many buisiness case models reach their potential for most aircraft. Deregulation drew an ugly line in the sand that killed incentives as capital investment dollars dried up. This same economic trend creeped over to other industries as deregulation took many competitors out of their industries while acheiving a short-lived benefit for consumers.
440 was not a turboprop. I remember when my dad, Capt. Willis L. Petrie, Chief Pilot at Allegheny Airlines, was involved with the problems Allegheny was having with the Napier turboprop conversions which Allegheny called a 540. The Napier conversion was never successful. Allegheny then successfully introduced the Convair 580 using Allison turboprop engines.
I flew Allegheny 580's between Newark, Philadelphia, and Mid-State Airport.
Stumbled uppon this video...which very interesting had the H-19 helicopter at the end. I had an opportunity to fly this for Naviator training at James Connoly AFB, Waco, Texas, then after 1000+ hours in the HH43B, a chance to fly it for two more years in "MissionSupport" at McGuire AFB.. configured in airliner mode. Great bird, great assignment.. !
I used to fly on Allegheny Airlines Metropolitans from Penn State to Newark Airport. With stops at Scranton and Williamsport.
bin vor ca.50 Jahren mit der Swissair cv.440 von Basel nach Amsterdam geflogen,war ein sehr angenehmer Flug
That was great!
Makes me want to build the old HAWK kit
seen many of these at Tinker afb about to be scrapped so sorry, when I saw this ,way later.
' helped maintain several EC-131's at Pacific Missile Test Center, NAS Point Mugu, they were Chaff Queens. Good rugged analog avionics. Flew as passenger in North Central Airlines 240's several times Chicago O'Hare to GRR, and turboprop model 440. Roomier than Viscounts.
North Central never had 240's...They had 340's and 440's and all were converted to 580's with the Allison engines.
I took 2 flights out of Langley to Andrews for a ride (hop ).
This is the plane that Lynyrd Skynyrd crashed in in the 70s, right?
Right.
It was a cv 300.. It means a cv240 with cv340's engines (p&w R2800 CB16). 2400 HP each.
Un avio muy utilizado en mi país, que aun se niega a morir
Miami Airlines Curtis Commando, American Airlines Convair, National Airlines DC-6.
Vic Vic :'(by.
Fine As A Porcupine!!!!!!!
I've flown in both civil and military versions.
Old dependable workhorse.
It was one of the THREE Elizabeth NJ plane crashes!!!!
Im pretty sure that single engine takeoff wasn't anywhere near gross weight.
Agreed, just a few days ago a gorgeous example much loved here suffered an engine fire and being loaded with 2 plus 15pax she struggled to stay airborne and couldn't complete a return circuit and finally went in with lots of footage external and internal ua-cam.com/video/yVewcZzOyTk/v-deo.html
When I was in A&P school, one of my aircraft maintenance instructors, who had spent 20 years in the Air Force working on T-29's, the militaries version of the Convair 240, always told us that single engine operations with any type of a load, were pretty sketchy with the aircraft.
Looks like someone was standing on the right rudder pedal ... did they have a rudder boost feature ?
I maintained and flew on three different C-131's out of Nas Pensacola, from 1976-80. All three had max gross take off weights of 54,370. A cold Oct day with a full load of passengers and 3/4 max fuel weight we lost number 2 engine just after we got the wheels up, ran shutdown procedure and our pilot brought it back around safely.......our weight was 51,250.
@@petequitta1066 Theres a huge difference in loosing an engine after takeoff and actually making a single engine takeoff.