"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
07/26/2017 at 12:35 • Filed to: Planelopnik, planes you've (probably) never heard of, wingspan
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"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn)
07/26/2017 at 12:35 • Filed to: Planelopnik, planes you've (probably) never heard of, wingspan | 12
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From the Planes You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of Department of Wingspan , we bring you the McDonnell 119/220 .
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Smithsonian
In the 1950s, the US Air Force was in the market for an airplane that didn’t yet exist. They identified a need for a relatively small, jet-powered aircraft that could perform the dual utility role of training and logistics, and the UTX-UCX program (utility-training, utility-cargo, experimental) was born. Though it was eventually canceled for budgetary reasons, the program produced three aircraft, and also unwittingly created the modern business jet along the way. The competition was ultimately won by the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and a second contract was later awarded for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . But perhaps the most intriguing entrant into the competition was the aircraft that didn’t win: the McDonnell 119.
The !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! had made a name for itself during WWII as an aviation parts supplier, and didn’t field its first aircraft until early 1944 with the innovative yet unsuccessful !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Following the failure of the propeller-powered Bat, McDonnell moved on to jets, eventually producing the famed !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . But with the UTX-UCX competition, McDonnell took the opportunity to move away from fighters and interceptors to develop a more utilitarian aircraft. The 119 was similar in size to its competitors, but, unlike the JetStar, which grouped its four engines in sets of two at the rear, McDonnell placed the 119's engines in separate pods under the wings, giving the aircraft the appearance of a scaled-down airliner (the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , with a similar arrangement, had first flown 5 years earlier). It’s four !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! turbojets gave the 119 a cruising speed of 520 mph and a range of 2,340 miles while carrying up to 26 passengers along with two pilots and a flight attendant.
Photographer unknown
But with the loss of the lucrative Air Force contract to Lockheed, McDonnell was stuck with an airplane that had no buyers. So they decided to rebrand the 119 as the 220 (in honor of the company’s second 20 years in business) and to market it instead as a business jet in hopes of taking advantage of the nascent bizjet market. At first, they tried to draw up a deal with Pan Am to lease 170 aircraft, but at the time, the idea of producing so many aircraft solely for lease made no business sense. McDonnell then contacted over 700 businesses to see if there was any interest in the 220. There was not a single taker, not even for the single prototype that had been built.
Stripped of its livery, the 220 sites on the tarmac at Albuquerque in 1975 (photo by Uli Elch via Wikimedia Commons)
Following the failure of the 119/220, McDonnell left the civilian aircraft business for good, and didn’t re-enter it until after their 1967 merger with the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Rather than scrap the unsuccessful jet, McDonnell operated it themselves as an executive transport, and eventually donated the 220 to the Flight Safety Foundation for use as a research aircraft. The sole prototype was transferred to private ownership and it has remained in storage ever since. Today, its future remains unknown, though it may yet return to the skies, or find a home in a museum.
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If you enjoy these posts, please join in the conversation and let me know. If you missed an episode, you can find them all at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Other aircraft also-rans can be found at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .
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RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> ttyymmnn
07/26/2017 at 12:58 |
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The (presumably drag-reducing) profile change below the cockpit in the transition to the wing gives it a weird “overhanging cockpit” look from some angles kind of like the B-58 Hustler.
Although in the Hustler’s case it’s mostly an optical illusion from the way the cockpit is faired in on top.
Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
> ttyymmnn
07/26/2017 at 13:18 |
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You’re right: I’d never heard of it. Do we know where it’s owned/stored?
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ttyymmnn
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/26/2017 at 15:05 |
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Somewhere in Arizona.
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ttyymmnn
> RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
07/26/2017 at 15:07 |
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I’m not entirely sure what you are referring to, but it’s impossible to look at the 119 and not see the Hustler, at least to me.
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ttyymmnn
> Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/26/2017 at 15:10 |
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I’ve seen it before in my perusing of aircraft over the years, but had forgotten about it until we went to the Prologue Room at Boeing in St. Louis. They had a small model of it, and it caught my eye.
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RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> ttyymmnn
07/26/2017 at 15:26 |
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They both have the visual effect of a larger fuselage toward the nose tapering up before it hits the wing. Something like this (crude Paint drawing, all elements exaggerated):
In the case of the 119, it’s mostly due to an odd set of corners at the wing root. Narrowing (not actually dipping up) at the same time as forming a “shelf” of sorts:
In the case of the Hustler, a very similar effect comes from the inconsistent/oval profile behind the cockpit, and a bit of an angle on the wing:
Combine that with a very similar nose cone and forward cockpit, and the resemblance is striking, even if part of it comes from an optical illusion of sorts.
Roundbadge
> ttyymmnn
07/26/2017 at 15:59 |
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All I saw in those pictures was the fact that a B-58 and a JetStar had a baby.
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ttyymmnn
> RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
07/26/2017 at 16:27 |
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Got it. Thanks for the clarification, and those awesome MS Paint skillz.
AJ in StL
> ttyymmnn
10/25/2019 at 17:10 |
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Unfortunately my Dad passed in Jan 2018 at 90, but as a Mac engineer was out at Edwards for this testing back in 1959, I think. He had been contacted over the years
by someone about making the 119/220 airworthy again and although I do not remember the detail I know he was adamant that there was something with some control linkages (the metals used?) that would make it suicidal to do so. I’m sorry I don’t remember the details. He was also responsible for the taking Gemini 1 to the Cape, was there for the Mercury/Gemini missions, an amazing life experience. And I have a book signed by all 7 Mercury astro
nauts from those days. It’s good to see the pictures of the 119 in its prime, it looked amazing.
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ttyymmnn
> AJ in StL
10/25/2019 at 17:20 |
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I can’t even imagine being a part of so much history. I had never heard of this a/c until I saw a model of it at the Prologue Room in St. Louis when we visited the city a couple of years ago. Being the aviation history nerd that I am, I visited the Boeing gift shop and bought a North American hat .
I’m intrigued how you came across this article. It’s more than two years old! Thanks for reading.