The test was to be conducted about 80 miles to the north, over Askania Tracking Range at Edwards Air Force Base in the California desert. The DC-8 and F-104 fly at high altitude on August 21, 1961, before making the dive. “We took off with flaps up,” admitted Edwards, “which is kind of a no-no because at takeoff thrust, you can’t control the airplane if it loses an engine with flaps up-there’s an interlock on the rudder.” Resplendent in the red and white colors of its new owner, Canadian Pacific Air Lines, and emblazoned with its new name, Empress of Montreal, the DC-8 looked fine with its dinged slats and flaps closed-nobody could tell the bird was slightly crippled. The Series 40 was the first airliner in the world powered by turbofans, for improved efficiency and less noise and smoke. The aircraft chosen for the flight was a new DC-8-43, no. On the designated day, August 21, 1961, Magruder and Edwards were joined at the Douglas plant in Long Beach by copilot Paul Patten and flight engineer Joseph Tomich. Edwards recalled, “They had to determine the pushover load factor, the dive angle, to be sure they got to Mach 1.01 at a rather high altitude, so the airspeed wouldn’t be that high up there.” The Big day Douglas put a whole team of engineers to work on the math. The DC-8 was decidedly subsonic, designed to cruise at 542 mph at 35,000 feet (Mach. Boeing will never try it because they don’t want to be second.” ![]() “Very smart,” agreed Edwards, “get it out there, show the airplane can survive this and not fall apart. His newest idea was to grab headlines for the DC-8 by making it the first commercial airliner to break the sound barrier. “He was well known in the industry and very articulate,” recalled Edwards, “well educated, with a lot of new ideas.” “Tex” Johnston, who had famously flown a Boeing 367-80 (707 prototype) through a double barrel roll, before joining Douglas in 1956. He had flown with Chuck Yeager, the first man to exceed the speed of sound in level flight, and Alvin M. As an Air Force test pilot and engineer he had flown everything from the North American F-86 Sabre and Martin B-57 Canberra to the Douglas C-124 Globemaster II and B-52 Stratofortress. Magruder had been copilot in 1958 on the DC-8’s maiden flight. Douglas had gained a huge head start in the airliner business with its legendary prewar DC-3, but its new four-jet DC-8 had not flown until six months after the 707 took off. Now with Boeing’s new 707 jet airliner (first flown in December 1957), the company was seeking to do the same to the commercial market. ![]() Over the previous decade Boeing had just about locked up the market for military bombers with its B-47 and B-52. Air Force/Getty Images) High Stakesĭouglas had a lot riding on the flight. ![]() Townsend confer near the YB-52, which made its first flight on April 15, 1952. How Quick Thinking Saved the First Airliner to Break the Sound Barrier Closeįrom left: Magruder, Alvin M.
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