Cockpit of DC-7 on Display at Air and Space Museum
American Airlines requested an aircraft that could fly the USA coast-to-coast nonstop in about eight hours. (Civil Air Regulations then limited domestic flight crews to 8 hours flight time in any 24-hour period. Douglas was reluctant to build the aircraft until American Airlines president C. R. Smith ordered 25 at a price of $40 million, thus covering Douglas' development costs. The DC-7 wing was based on the DC-4 wing with the same span; the fuselage was 3 feet longer than the DC-6.
The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. It was the last major piston-engine powered transport made by Douglas, coming just a few years before the advent of jet aircraft such as the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8.
Cockpit of DC-7 on Display at Air and Space Museum
American Airlines requested an aircraft that could fly the USA coast-to-coast nonstop in about eight hours. (Civil Air Regulations then limited domestic flight crews to 8 hours flight time in any 24-hour period. Douglas was reluctant to build the aircraft until American Airlines president C. R. Smith ordered 25 at a price of $40 million, thus covering Douglas' development costs. The DC-7 wing was based on the DC-4 wing with the same span; the fuselage was 3 feet longer than the DC-6.
The Douglas DC-7 is an American transport aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. It was the last major piston-engine powered transport made by Douglas, coming just a few years before the advent of jet aircraft such as the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8.