The Convair 880 was a retired American narrow-body jet airliner produced by the Convair division of General Dynamics. It was designed to compete with the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 by being smaller but faster, a niche that failed to create demand. When it was first introduced, some in aviation circles claimed that at 615 mph (990 km/h), it was the fastest jet transport in the world. Only 65 Convair 880s were produced over the lifetime of the production run from 1959 to 1962, and General Dynamics eventually withdrew from the airliner market after considering the 880 project a failure. The Convair 990 Coronado was a stretched and faster variant of the 880.
Convair 880
A Convair 880 prototype. The model made its maiden flight on 27 January 1959.
Convair 880 cockpit
The 880 entered service with Delta Air Lines in May 1960.
A narrow-body aircraft or single-aisle aircraft is an airliner arranged along a single aisle, permitting up to 6-abreast seating in a cabin less than 4 metres (13 ft) in width.
In contrast, a wide-body aircraft is a larger airliner usually configured with multiple aisles and a fuselage diameter of more than 5 metres (16 ft), allowing at least seven-abreast seating and often more travel classes.
Four-abreast cross-section
Narrow-body Boeing 737-300 in front of a Boeing 777-300ER wide-body
Airbus A320 (foreground) and Boeing 737-900 (background), both narrow-bodies
Two-abreast Beech 1900