One thing that I noticed about the Convair 880 that strikes me as interesting is the shape of it's tailcone -- well it's actually blade-shaped, like something you'd see on a more modern airplane like the MD-80 series, the MD-11, and the B-777.
I wonder if the blade-shaped tailcone design gave the CV-880 any drag reduction benefits over the B-707 and DC-8 design?
Andrea Kent
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- Starglider
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RE: Convair 880 Blade-Tailcone
| Quoting Blackbird (Thread starter): I wonder if the blade-shaped tailcone design gave the CV-880 any drag reduction benefits over the B-707 and DC-8 design? |
Hard to say without access to the aerodynamic data of the three aircraft types. In a way the B707 and DC-8 also have blade-shaped tailcone designs but are rounded off at top and bottom. Another factor that may be of influence is the position of the horizontal and vertical stabilizer relative to the tailcone trailing edge. Of the three types, the CV-880/990 has the most aft positioned horizontal stabilizer with the elevator trailing-edge very close to the tailcone trailing edge. The B707 and DC-8 have their horizontal stabilizers/elevators a bit further forward relative to the tailcone trailing edge and closer to the vertical fin. Generally the 880/990 fuselage skin was smoother than the other two aircraft types.
B777, MD11 and MD-80 all have a much more aft extended and higher blade-shaped tailcone than the 880/990, not to mention the T-tail MD-80 design.
Starglider
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- F27Friendship
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RE: Convair 880 Blade-Tailcone
the convair flew significantly faster, which gave them a lot additional drag, which eventually made it a failure..
I would not be surprised if the tail-cone is designed to overcome this already higher amount of wave-drag. (or in this case probably boat-tail-drag)
I would not be surprised if the tail-cone is designed to overcome this already higher amount of wave-drag. (or in this case probably boat-tail-drag)
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- Starglider
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RE: Convair 880 Blade-Tailcone
| Quoting F27Friendship (Reply 2): the convair flew significantly faster, which gave them a lot additional drag, which eventually made it a failure.. |
The Convairs were designed and built for higher speeds, those drag problems were eventually solved. Their failure was due to the fact that they arrived too late, Boeing and Douglas had already consolidated their market share and the Convairs were too small to compete. They were faster and could operate from smaller airports with shorter runways but did not have the range or capacity of the B707 and DC-8. Eventually they lost the race completely when Boeing put the B727 and Douglas put the DC-9 on the market.
Starglider
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- F27Friendship
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RE: Convair 880 Blade-Tailcone
| Quoting Starglider (Reply 3): The Convairs were designed and built for higher speeds, those drag problems were eventually solved. Their failure was due to the fact that they arrived too late, Boeing and Douglas had already consolidated their market share and the Convairs were too small to compete. They were faster and could operate from smaller airports with shorter runways but did not have the range or capacity of the B707 and DC-8. Eventually they lost the race completely when Boeing put the B727 and Douglas put the DC-9 on the market. |
thanks for the more elaborate explanation
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- Starglider
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RE: Convair 880 Blade-Tailcone
| Quoting F27Friendship (Reply 4): thanks for the more elaborate explanation |
Glad to be informative and help clarifying the issue
Starglider
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- Starlionblue
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RE: Convair 880 Blade-Tailcone
| Quoting Starglider (Reply 5): Quoting F27Friendship (Reply 4): thanks for the more elaborate explanation Glad to be informative and help clarifying the issue |
Geez. Get a room!
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- Starglider
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