A very smoky takeoff

[Benoit - HJG]

A short clip of Ciskei International Airways CV990-30A-5 taking off and producing massive amounts of smoke.

Benoit

[Tony Madge - HJG]

I recall in the late 70's watching from our house which was on the flightpath at EGBB (Birmingham UK) A Spantax CV990 taking off to Majorca every weekend, that noise brought back memories as well as the black smoke as it streaked skyward, ah happy days and not a tree hugger in sight

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

"NICE" find Benoit

This particular CV-990 is one that was never operated by SPANTAX .... hence a lot of the smoke and despite the fact that heavy engine exhaust "smoke" was generall a classic signiture of the CV-990´s throughourt the 1960´s and 70´s.

During the late 1970´s, or early 80´s, SPANTAX modified the hot ends of the GE CJ805-23B fanjet engines for each of its in-service CV-990 fleet .... and which resulted in substantial smoke reduction (than the classicv original signiture) as well as an unexpected 1% decrease in fuel burn as well.

A bit about the CISKEI INTERNATIONAL AIRWAYS association with the CONVAIR jets ....


CV-990-30A-5 N8357C
C/N # 24

N5612 .... delivered to AMERICAN AIRLINES (named "FlagShip Rita" fleet # 62) April 4th 1962.

Leased to NORTHEAST AIRLINES (via FB AYER & ASOCIATES) January 20th 1967 - April 30th 1968.

OB-R-925 .... leased to APSA - AEROLINEAS PERUNANAS (via FB AYER & ASOCIATES) June 1968 .... and later re-registered OB-R-25.

N6846 .... sold to AMERICAN AIRLINES (fleet # 62) September 8th 1972.

Sold to CALIFORNIA AIRMOTIVE September 25th 1973

N8357C .... sold to DENVER PORTS OF CALL October 23rd 1973 .... stored at Marana, Arzona, USA from Feberuay 1987 supporting "CONTINENTAL INTERNATIONAL AIRWAYS" titles of basic DENVER POC livery.

Sold to WESTERN CONTIMENTAL HOLDINGS October 1987 .... stored at Marana, Arizona, USA from November 1987 supporting basic DENVER POC livery.

Leased to CISKEI INTERNATIOAL AIRWAYS September 1988.

Leased to SEAGREAN AIR TRANSPORT May 9th 1990 .... stored at El Paso, Texas, USA, and scrapped during 2010.


Ciskei was a Bantustan tribal state established in south east South Africa during 1972. Although professing to be the independent nation of the Xhosa tribe .... the state of Ciskei was, in reality, dominated by South Africa, although polictically represented by its tribal military regime. Ciskei was made independent during 1981 but was reabsorbed into South Africa by 1994 .... after apartheid ceased during 1992.

CISKEI INTERNATIONAL AIRWAYS was founded during 1988 and briefly operated between Bisho (the Ciskei capital) and Johannesburg using a leased CV-990A. Ciskei’s unstable political situation .... and high fuel/operating/maintenance costs of the CV-990A .... resulted in the airline ceasing operations during 1989 after less than a year of service.

The aircraft eventually returned to the USA.


The Ciskei governent also acquired a CV-880-22M too ....


CV-880-22M-22 N88CH
C/N # 58

JA8022 .... delivered to JAPAN AIR LINES (named "Matsu") September 1st 1961.

VR-HCF .... Sold to CATHAY PACIFIC AIRWAYS July 1970.

N88CH .... sold to COMPANIA INTER AMERICANA EXPORT IMPORT September 1975.

Sold to JET AVIATION February 1976 .... converted for VIP use and transferred to HIRSCHMANN CORPORATION.

Sold to D-FLAG LEASING DEcember 1977.

Sold to ORCHESTRA INCORPORATED May 1978.

Sold to SENTINEL JETS March 1979.

Sold to CC PETIT October 1981 .... and used by rock´n´roll group "JEFFERSON STARSHIP". From July 1983 this aircraft was then impounded at Islip, New York, USA, for unpaid fuel and parking fees. It had been abandonded by the rock group after they weren´t paid for a performance at Long Island.


Acquired by CISKEI INTERNATIONAL AIRWAYS August 1987 .... as a personal VIP transport for president Lennox SEBE this aircrft was never operated. It was never paid for and remained at Bisho following its delivery. PETIT (the aircraft owner) then sought to have the aircraft flown to South Africa, but, this was unsuccessful as aircraft had never been re-registered. During 1992 arrangements were made to try´n have the aircraft returned to the USA .... but abandoned .... due to the high cost of its ferrying in relation to the aircrafts actual worth. During this period the aircraft was sold (illegally some reports allege) for $US1.00 following a legal battle in East London, South Africa. The aircraft was eventually transported to a private residence where it´s since been used as a restaurant and reception venue .... and where its one of only 2 CV-880´s remaining anywhere in the world. In private possession this aircraft is apparently intact .... save for 1 missing engine nacelle´which is believed to be displayed at a South African museum.

Mark C
BOG/CO

[Tony Madge - HJG]

Well Spantax may have modified their 990's but they still smoked like a chimney

[alex94]

Awesome find benoit! Hopefully might be able to aid in your updated soundpack

[alex94]

Some more nice footage with sound

[darrenvox]

nice vid... I wonder why they view looks like it couldn't fit the aircraft in!! feels as if it might hit the little car.

I actually like these night videos of old planes a lot!

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

Of the major airlines that operated the CV-990 only MODERN AIR, SWISSAIR, .... and SPANTAX (in particular) appeared to do so successfully.

In particular the CV-990 remained both the work horse for SPANTAX .... as well as the airlines icon too .... over some 20 years.

"One of" a number of factors that dogged the CV-990 .... and it´s CV-880 predecessor too .... right from their concepion was the aircrafts narrow fuselage cross-section (narrower that than that of both the B707/720, B727, B737, and DC-8) which could only accommodate a 5-abreast seating configuration .... whereas all other US produced jetliners from the 1960´s featured an almost standard 6-abreast layout.

As well as applying smoke reducing modifications to the engines of each of its CV-990 fleet (they still produced smoke emissions, but, significantly less than was the case prior to modfication), SPANTAX also developed it´s own customised seating during the late 70´s/early 80´s .... and which saw their CV-990´s finally able to accomodate a 6-abreast seating configuration .... more PAX than previously or had been accomodated by any other CV-990 operator. As the cost of jet fuel began to escalate dramatically from the early 1970´s (a factor which hastened retirement of CV-880´s and CV-990´s from the fleets of their principle operators), both MODERN AIR and SPANTAX compensated by reducing the cruising speed of their aircraft .... all the way down to MACH 0.77 .... to conserve fuel .... and as this was done the range of their CV-990´s increased quite dramatically .... to the extent that a MODERN AIR charter was able to fly trans-Atlantic (from Philedelphia to Vienna) non-stop, whereas during the 1960´s AMERICAN AIRLINES struggled to ever get its CV-990´s across the USA. These modifications, and revised operating porocedures, saw SPANTAX able operate its CV-990´s until as late as 1987.

I think Alex´s MODRN AIR video clip is from a feature film .... as I recall .... but .... I can´t recall the titles of the movie .... unless it´s mentioned among post folowing it´s YOU TUBE presentatuio, but, which I´´ve no got/had time to read.

Mark C
BOG/CO

[alex94]

Yep as seen in this video mark

The CV-990 has got to be one of my absolute all time favourite birds

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

The CV-990 has got to be one of my absolute all time favourite birds

People living near, or particulaly beside, airports throughout the 1960´s might have thought otherwise .... due to noise and smoke emitted by the CV jetliners .... although having said that earliest versions of both the B707 and DC-8 were hardly better (if at all) .... and even some of the later 1960´s aircraft (like the BAC ONE-ELEVEN, TRIDENT, and VC-10) were hardly any better again for their "NOISE" as well.


ANYWAY ....


Alex´s video bears "some testimony" to what I mentioned above .... in regard to the engine smoke/sxhaust reducing emmisions modifications SPANTAX applied to all of its in-service CV-990´s. The livery era (early 1980´s) depicted by the subject aircraft is correct/in accordance with the time period of this particulr modification.

Even though technical/operational, as well as well as environmental, considerations of the day (this vdeo was shot) could account for some of what´s seen/not seen .... comparing it with the unmodified CISKEI aicraft subject in Benoit´s video (above) provides a reasonably good impression in regard to what Ive stated in regard to both pre and post engine modification smoke emissions as applies to the CV-990.

The other problem/s with the CV-990 (apart from their smoke and noise) were that in original form these aircraft simply couldn´t fly anywhere near GD´s/CV´s projected performance guarantees .... particularly in regard to speed and range. The CV-880´s "did" (basically) meet their performance guarantees .... MACH 0.88 to MACH 0.89, but, their GE turbojet engihes were nortorious for their unreliability and high maintenance requirements .... along with the aircrafts payload impairment too in comparison with that of the B707/B720 and DC-8. In original form the CV-990 suffered the same payload imnpairment as the CV-880 too (GD never learned a lesson here) .... and could barely exceed CV-880 airspeed performance also .... forcing major aerodynamic modifications, retesting, and delayed deliveries during which the B707/720 and DC-8 well´n´truly took the market lead (not that the CV-880 and CV-990 would have been any more successful had thing been different anyway) in so far as the world markets for first generation civil jetliners is concened. Post modification .... the CV-990A "did" achieve its airspeed performance projections .... up to MACH 0.97 (though most operators never exceeded MACH 0.95) .... but .... only with the imposition of hugely increased fuel burn and which also then severly restricted the aircrafts range .... to the extent that AA could barely, if at all, fly high speed US transcontinental/cost-to-coast services an which was their prime reason for hving bought the CV-990´s .... in order to seek an airspeed/distance/time advantage over its competitors. In his memoirs legendry AA president CR SMITH is reputed to have stated .... "my only mistakes at AA were both the CV-990 and the BAC ONE-ELEVEN".

So far as GD/CV is concerned .... they did build some of the fastest/highest performance military interceptors of the 1950´s (such as the F102 DELTA DAGGER, F106 DELTA DART, and B58 HUSTLER), but, there´s a huge difference between designing and producing successful high performance military fighter jets and designing and priducing equally successful civil jetliners .... the latter of which requires an entirely different analises, stategy, and skills. Howard HUGHES .... who´s TWA was launch customer for the CV-880 .... also mucked GD/CV around a fair bit bit too during pre-delivery and which resulted in delays for everyone associated with the CV-880 .... and other poblems too, but at the end of the day and for what ultimately came to pass, GD/CV might otherwise have saved themselves a lot of time, trouble, and money by "not" trying to break into the world market for civil jetliners .... by "not" building the CV-880 and CV-990 at all. As things came to pass .... GD/CV eventually wrote off a loss well in excess of $US425 million on the entire program by the time CV-880 and CV-990 production ceased during 1962 (many airframs were ultimately sold for less then they cost to develop and build). It was the greatest corporate loss in US, and possibly world, history "as of up until that particular time".

Mark C
BOG/CO

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

A "reasonably good" video analysis of the CV-990 ....

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHw3nRjj5xc

Mark C
BOG/CO

[walterleo]

Hi:
Seems that the Modern Air CV 990's did Smoke mich more than the Spantax's ones at the end of the 60's.
Regarding the BAC 111 a Former Boss of AUA stated: If we Had choose the 111 instead of the DC 9 Austrian Airlines would Not exist anymore.
Kind regards
Walter

[aerofoto - HJG Admin]

Modern Air CV 990's did Smoke mich more than the Spantax's ones at the end of the 60's.

That´s a fair observation and quite correct too .... because SPANTAX´s CV-990´s (they being "the last major" civil opeator of the type .... and well into the lte 1980´s too) were the only aircraft to receive the smoke reducing modification .... as well as the 6-abrest seating re-configuration too .... both of which were developed by SPANTAX´s own engineers .... as I recall.

MODERN AIR may have intruduced the seating revision (I´m not sure at th mont), but they, nor anyone else either, employed the smoke reducing modification .... primarily because the CV-990 was gone from all but the fleets of both MODERN AIR nd SPANTAX by this time. The smoke modification wasn´t developed until the 1980´s and by which time airport/environmental regulations had began to tell against both smoke and noise emissions.

Both operators did reduce MACH cruise quite significantly in the interests of fuel economy throughiut the 1970´s .... and as they did so .... the range of their CV-990´s increased equally dramatically too .... to the extent that MODERN AIR charters were able to fly trans-Atlantic services (from Philedelphia to Vienna "NON-STOP") .... whereas previously AMERICAN AIRLINES had struggled to get its CV-990´s across the USA on their high-speed trans-continental services.

As for the BAC ONE-ELEVEN .... it was a good aicraft "for some" operators and "for some" types of services, but, not everyone or everything .... something that can apply to any aicraft type among any number of carriers and their operations. As can probably be expected .... the BAC ONE-ELEVEN was marketed quite well among world regions of British Political influence and/or among those operators needing/wanting to get into jet type operations, from the 1960´s, but whom also struggled to justify purchasing similar aircraft types produced by the primary established competition .... I think it´s fair tp say.

Mark C
BOG/CO

[walterleo]

Hi:

Sorry for the bad spelling in my last post due to my smartphone!

The BAC 111 of David Malthby is a nice simulation worthwile to try!

Modern Air wrote aviation history with one of their CV 990A s: They flew around the world over the North- and Southpole and landed at MCmurdo the first comercial airliner to do that.

A link to the Ciskei CV 990 A photo of the cockpit:

aviationrainbows.com/669-convair-cv-990-30a-5-coronado-n8357c-ciskei-international-airways-michel-anciaux/

One can note, that the Ciskei CV 990 used a differnt ADI comparing with the Swiss Air Coronado (Spantax CV 990 A)

aviationrainbows.com/2019/03/28/cabinas-de-mando-de-aviones-convair-cockpits-of-convair-aircrafts/#jp-carousel-10936


The comparison shows that the HJG CV 990 panel resembles more the Ciskei CV 990.


Kind regards

Walter