The Convair 990 Coronado was a jet airliner produced by the Convair division of General Dynamics, a "stretched" version of their earlier Convair 880 produced in response to a request from American Airlines. The 990 was lengthened by 10 feet, which increased the number of passengers from between 88 and 110 in the 880, to between 96 and 121 (depending on the interior). This was still considerably fewer than the contemporary Boeing 707 (110 to 189) ...
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The Convair 990 Coronado was a jet airliner produced by the Convair division of General Dynamics, a "stretched" version of their earlier Convair 880 produced in response to a request from American Airlines. The 990 was lengthened by 10 feet, which increased the number of passengers from between 88 and 110 in the 880, to between 96 and 121 (depending on the interior). This was still considerably fewer than the contemporary Boeing 707 (110 to 189) or Douglas DC-8 (105 to 173), although the 990 remained some 25 to 35 mph faster than either in cruise.
American Airlines requested that Convair design an aircraft suitable for coast-to-coast shuttle flights. The aircraft needed non-stop capability westbound from JFK to LAX, the direction in which it would encounter greatest headwinds. They also wanted somewhat larger passenger capacity than the 880, which was the smallest of the first-generation US jet-powered airliners. The 990 entered production in 1961.
One interesting change from 880 was...
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