U.S. Four Engine Jet Airliner Concepts

[bucky74]

Did any other American companies work up concepts that were intended to compete directly with the 707, DC-8 and 880/990? I know the British had things on the drawing boards, but have never seen anything from other U.S. firms

 

[Stargazer]

Did any other American companies work up concepts that were intended to compete directly with the 707, DC-8 and 880/990? I know the British had things on the drawing boards, but have never seen anything from other U.S. firms

An interesting question. And to answer it, it is useful to first ask the question: "What U.S. manufacturers had the capability and interest to embark on such a large project?"

In my opinion, only Fairchild, Lockheed, Martin and North American could reasonably compete on that market.
Northrop, Grumman and Vought surely had the capacity to draft an airliner, but it seems a bit far off from their typical preoccupations at the time.

I have found no Fairchild four-jet airliner project, but it is possible that they thought something up. Thiéblot did quite a few jet designs at the time for them, though mostly unconventional types, often twin-engined, mostly military. There is a mention of a big jet airliner designated M-286 but it's circa 1960, so a little later. Still it's not impossible that a four-jet airliner might have been considered earlier than that. Has any forum member ever heard of any?

Lockheed did consider four-jet airliners early on as part of the L-193 "Constellation II" series of design, but they were a little smaller than the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8. Considering Lockheed's habit of exploring every possible aircraft type, I'm sure there must have been something... but there are still so many unknown Lockheed projects...

I am not aware of any four-jet transport project by Martin. All four-jet projects that I know from that company are bombers or patrols, all airliners projects I know are prop-powered. Of course, there remain a few missing designations which may have covered such projects, but my feeling is that by the 1950s, Martin was concentrating their efforts on mostly military contracts. Of course I am more than willing to be proven wrong!

Finally, North American. Even more so than Martin, that company focused mostly on military contracts, but they did have an airliner project called the NAC-100 Centuryliner,. It was a twin-jet, but an alternate four-jet configuration existed. Still it was an aircraft of smaller size than the 707 and DC-8 types, for a maximum of 60 passengers.

So that's my two cents! Looking forward to reading other members' thoughts on this interesting subject.

 

[bucky74]

Yes, I figured that many of the other firms were focused on military projects at the time. I had forgotten that the Constellation II was four-engined - thought it just had two. Thanks for the info on the Centuryliner and M-286!

 

[Stargazer]

My pleasure. Also, the Centuryliner was an early 1960s project I think, so definitely no early 1950s airliner project that I know for North American.

 

[kitnut617]

There was this one by McDonnell, but it's not in the 707 class

 

[Moose]

There was this one by McDonnell, but it's not in the 707 class

I love the 119, such a handsome airplane compared to the Jetstar's oddities.

 

[Stargazer]

There was this one by McDonnell, but it's not in the 707 class

True, but it didn't quite qualify because of its size, which is why I left it out.

I love the 119, such a handsome airplane compared to the Jetstar's oddities.

And the Sabreliner's unimpressive lines... Yes! The 119/220 was a beauty! Shame it didn't make it commercially.