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Boeing 367-80

The Boeing 367-80 is an American prototype jet plane. The people who worked at Boeing called the plane the "Dash 80". It was made to show airlines how good jet aircraft were.

Boeing 367-80
The Dash 80 overflying the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, with Mt. Rainier in the background
Role Prototype transport/airliner
Manufacturer Boeing
First flight July 15, 1954
Introduction 1955
Retired 1970
Status Retired
Produced 1954
Number built 1
Unit cost US$16 million (equivalent to $127 million today)
Developed into Boeing C-135 Stratolifter
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker
Boeing 707
Other name(s) Dash 80
Registration N70700
Owners and operators Boeing
In service 1954–1969
Preserved at National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

The Dash 80 was the prototype for the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker and the Boeing 707. It was made in less than two years.

Only one was made. It is now in the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia.

Design and development

Two things made Boeing think about making a jet airliner. The first reason was because of the Boeing B-47 Stratojet. The second reason was because of the world's first jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet.

 
A Boeing 307 Stratoliner faces the Boeing 367-80 at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

In 1950 Boeing made some details on a jet airliner which they called the Model 473-60C.[1] Airlines were not sure about jet planes[2] because they successful with propeller planes like the Douglas DC-4, DC-6, Boeing Stratocruiser and Lockheed Constellation.

Boeing had sold a lot of planes to the military but they were not very successful with airlines. Douglas was the most successful airliner maker at the time. Boeing thought that the only way to get airlines to buy a jet plane was to show them one.[3]

 
The Boeing 367-80 being tested at Boeing Field in Washington

Boeing wanted its jets to have different model numbers from its propeller planes. The names of the propeller planes all started with 300. The numbers 400, 500 and 600 were used by missiles and other things, so Boeing made the model number of the jets 700. The first jet would be the 707.[4]

The Dash 80 was 132 inches (3.35 m) wide. Boeing wanted to make the 707's fuselage 144 inches (3.66 m) wide. By the time the 707 was made, its fuselage was 148 inches (3.76 m) in diameter. The decision to change it did not make many delays, because the Dash 80 was mostly made by hand.[5]

History

By early 1952 the Dash 80 was designed and Boeing's managers allowed it to be made. The Dash 80 was made at Boeing's Renton factory.[6]

 
Boeing 367-80 (N70700) prototype

The Dash 80 was finished on May 15, 1954, which was 18 months after the making started.[7]

Some problems were found with the engines and brakes. The brakes once completely failed when the plane landed, so it went over the runway.[8]

The barrel roll

People from Aircraft Industries Association (AIA) and International Air Transport Association (IATA) came to the 1955 Seafair and Gold Cup Hydroplane Races on August 6, 1955. The Dash 80 was supposed to make a simple flight above them, but the Boeing test pilot did two barrel rolls instead.[9]

The next day, the pilot was told never to do it again. However, the pilot said it was completely safe.[10][N 1]

A Boeing test pilot who made the first Boeing 777 flight on June 12, 1994 was told "No rolls."[11]

Use as a test aircraft

After the first 707 was made in 1957, the Dash 80 was changed into a test planes for other things. It tested things for the new Boeing 727. To do this, another engine was put in at the back.[2]

 
Boeing 367-80 at the Air and Space Museum

Last flight

The Dash 80 was put in storage in 1969.[12] On May 26, 1972 Boeing gave the Dash 8- to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.[12] For 18 years the plane was in a "desert boneyard" in Arizona. Boeing took it back and restored it. The Dash 80's last flight was to Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. on August 27, 2003. It was painted in its first ever colours and it was sent to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, which is near Dulles Airport in Chantilly, Virginia.[13]

Details (367-80)

Data from Boeing Aircraft since 1916[14]

General characteristics

Performance

Boeing 367-80 Media

  • The Boeing 367-80 during its roll-out in May 1954

Related pages

Aircraft related to this one
Similar aircraft

References

Notes
  1. ↑ The contention that the maneuver was dangerous was refuted by Johnston himself. "It's a one-g maneuver. It's absolutely nonhazardous, but it's very impressive," explained Johnston to Allen. Other big four-engine jet aircraft have since done barrel rolls.[9]
Citations
  1. ↑ Irving 1994, p. 166.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Boeing 367-80." Archived 2012-03-12 at the Wayback Machine National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, 2004. Retrieved: February 22, 2007.
  3. ↑ Irving 1994, pp. 167–169.
  4. ↑ Irving 1994, p. 171.
  5. ↑ "707 Family." Boeing. Retrieved: April 3, 2010.
  6. ↑ Thompson, R.G. "Dash 80 The story of the prototype 707." Air & Space Magazine, May 1, 1987. Retrieved: April 3, 2010.
  7. ↑ Irving 1994, p. 173.
  8. ↑ Irving 1994, p. 179.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Video interview with Tex Johnston about barrel roll." aviationexplorer.com. Retrieved: April 3, 2010.
  10. ↑ "It's Possible to Roll This Airplane." Flying Magazine, Vol. 135, No. 5, May 2008, p. 48.
  11. ↑ Wallace, James. "After 40 years at Boeing, chief test pilot John Cashman is retiring." seattlepi.nwsource.com, January 12, 2007. Retrieved: April 4, 2009.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Pither 1998, p. 13.
  13. ↑ Hanser, Kathleen and Claire Brown. "Historic Boeing Dash 80 Aircraft Makes Final Flight to Dulles for Display at National Air and Space Museum's Companion Facility, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center." Archived 2009-04-07 at the Wayback Machine Smithsonian Institute. Retrieved: April 3, 2010.
  14. ↑ Bowers 1989, p. 432.
Bibliography
  • Bowers, Peter M. Boeing aircraft since 1916. London: Putnam Aeronautical Books, 1989. ISBN 0-85177-804-6.
  • Irving, Clive. Wide Body: The Making of the Boeing 747. Philadelphia: Coronet, 1994. ISBN 0-340-59983-9.
  • Tony Pither. The Boeing 707 720 and C-135. Tonbridge, Kent, UK: Air-Britain (Historians) Ltd, 1998. ISBN 0-85130-236-X
  • Wilson, Stewart. Airliners of the World. Fyshwick, Australia: Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd., 1999. ISBN 1-875671-44-7.

Other websites

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