McDonnell Aircraft was riding high on fighter production for the U.S. Navy and Air Force in the last half of the 1950s. Into the mix, for the first time, McDonnell proposed a small four-engine transport jet after preliminary design exploration in 1957.
The effort was a multi-million-dollar private enterprise undertaken by the company at its St. Louis plant. It had a military angle in the early stages. The U.S. Air Force sought a modern small transport under the designation UCX, or Experimental Utility Transport, and that gave rise to the McDonnell Model 119.
In addition to the transport role, McDonnell touted the Model 119 as a trainer for navigators, bombardiers, electronic countermeasures technicians, and radar operators, as well as quick conversions for medical evacuation missions.
The aircraft looked very much like a scaled down commercial jetliner, with four individually podded engines suspended from pylons in a fashion reminiscent of the Boeing 707.
Lockheed, meanwhile, proposed the JetStar, with four jet engines in two pods mounted higher on the aft fuselage. The proximity of the underslung McDonnell Model 119’s jet engines to the ground, with the potential for FOD, has been cited as one reason why the Air Force ultimately favored the JetStar for procurement as the C-140.
Undaunted, McDonnell rebranded its design as the Model 220, with improved engine options and seating for up to 29 people. As the 220, McDonnell sought the business flying market segment for the jet transport.
Along the way, the concern about getting FOD in the low-mounted engines was addressed by McDonnell in a promotional film that said production 220s would feature a directed jet of air from the underside of the inlet of each engine to break the force of the inlet vortex that threatened to suck debris in to the engines.
McDonnell also touted the aircraft’s use of four single-pod jet engine installations as providing margins of safety in the event of a catastrophic engine failure.
Engines for the Model 119/220 suffered delays and twists in the years the aircraft was being developed and promoted.
The original aircraft intended for Air Force consideration was based on the developing Fairchild J83 turbojet engine. When that engine program was canceled in 1958, McDonnell substituted four Westinghouse J34 engines to get the one-and-only Model 119 flying by 1959.
Pratt and Whitney JT12 engines or more powerful General Electric CF700s were chosen for future production aircraft, an eventuality that did not take place.
McDonnell produced a promotional film for the Model 220 that lauded its “airline safety and comfort and private plane convenience.” With a galley, food service was possible. Cruising speed is listed as 520 miles per hour, although engine variant is not specified. Long range economy cruise was said to be 510 mph.
Transpacific trips were touted, using existing routes by way of Alaska or Hawaii. Normal range was listed as 2,340 miles. The available data makes some of these trips look like a stretch, unless additional fuel capacity was envisioned.
One of the 220’s features was a robust landing gear that allowed heavyweight landings. This enabled the jet to leave home base with enough fuel for a long trip, and still make intermediate stops without requiring refueling.
The McDonnell 220 is regarded as a handsome airplane, favoring the aesthetics of much larger first generation American jetliners. For awhile, Pan American World Airways’ business sales division held options for 170 Model 220s, but the lack of any Air Force contracts hurt the economy of scale, and McDonnell could not build 220s at a competitive price. When Pan Am pulled out in 1963, no other purchasers were landed.
McDonnell used the one-off Model 220 as a company transport for another two years, selling the aircraft in 1965 to the Flight Safety Foundation in Phoenix, Arizona. By the early 1970s, the jet could be seen parked at Albuquerque International Sunport Airport (KABQ) in New Mexico. The airframe has since been reported repainted and moved to the airport at El Paso, Texas.
The McDonnell jet has a wingspan of just over 57 feet, 7 inches and a length of 66 feet, 6 inches. It stands 23 feet, 7-3/4 inches high. By comparison, a Gulfstream V dwarfs the McDonnell with a wingspan of 93 feet, 5.4 inches and a length of 96 feet, 4.8 inches. The McDonnell’s contemporary, the Lockheed JetStar, spans 54 feet, 5 inches and has a length of 60 feet, 5 inches, coming in just slightly smaller than the McDonnell 220.
Great story, but I would like to know where they were going to put 29 people?
How about ‘reminiscent of it’s own Douglas Dc-8.’.
Engineered on that for my employer back in the 80s and what a machine it was.
I believe that the Douglass/McDonnell merger did not happen until the late 60s,although the DC-8 would have been flying when this was developed as you stated.