Correction. I should have said the United was the only U.S. customer.
Bill Potts, CMS Roseville, CA http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] >-----Original Message----- >From: Bill Potts [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sent: Sunday, December 21, 2003 13:21 >To: U.S. Metric Association >Subject: RE: [USMA:27903] Re: Airbus and metric > > >Han Maenen wrote: >>Indeed, Airbus did not exist yet in 1962 The Caravelle jet was built by a >>French aircraft builder, but I do not know its name. I read the >>1964 edition >>of the Etude Critique, and there the Caravelle and the way it was >developed >>and built was mentioned. > >The manufacturer was Sud Aviation. In the U.S., United Airlines >was, I think, the only customer for the Caravelle. Air France, of >course, had a large number of them. > >The Caravelle's major flaw was not airframe related. For some >reason, the engines had a tendency to cut out in flight. Like the >MD-80 (now called the Boeing 717), it had twin rear jets. There >were quite a few cases of one engine failing. There was one case >of both engines failing. However the pilot managed to restart them. > >Apart from the interesting shape of its stabilizer, it had odd >windows -- triangular (equilateral, slightly rounded, with rounded >corners, apex up). > >That's all from my memory of contemporaneous news reports and >photographs, so I'm really dating myself. > >Bill Potts, CMS >Roseville, CA >http://metric1.org [SI Navigator]
