Customer Reviews

Convair 880 & 990 (Great Airliners Series, Vol. 1)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is much like other recent ones in style by other authors and publishers about great jet airliners of past and present. What did I like? Well, the book is easy to read. It is not full of too many redundant pictures (the airline attendant outfits from the 60's are scary!). There is much detail about the history of each and every one of the Convair commerical jets built. What I would have like to have seen more of (and this goes for many of these types of books) is more of the technical information about the construction of these planes, including details about aerodynamics, control surface workings, motor development, etc. Maybe I am not looking at the right books. Nevertheless, if you are a serious aviation enthusiast, you must have this book for your library.

I consider this the best 880/990 book written in the past two decades. It is inclusive with the good, bad and the ugly. The author probably overemphasizes the corporate mistakes. The aircraft is also criticised more than a thoroughbred should be. However, the contributions in photography and interesting stories add up to a very positive account of an incredible jet. Some of the technicals are slightly in error. The wing sweep was almost 40 degrees, not thirtyfive. Also the color photo of an 880 flight deck is reversed. I bought two copies for myself.

This book details the manufacture and sale of the Convair 880 and 990 airliners. I was particularly interested in the CV-880 because it was the first airplane I ever flew in. I rode in a TWA 880 from Kansas City to Los Angeles (with a stop in Phoenix) with my mother to see my older brother, who worked for TWA at that time. The book is very interesting and its only shortcoming is that there is not very much technical information. It is, regrettably, also out of print.

I greatly enjoyed this book. It brought back many memories from my days flying the Convair 880.