Convairliner
Already during World War II aircraft manufacturers were looking for a replacement for the Douglas DC-3 as mainline passenger aircraft. Convair was one of them, designing the Model 240. It was soon followed by the Models 340, 440 and more, and soon a family evolved, often referred to as "Convairliner".
In its time it was far more modern than the DC-3, with a pressurised cabin and nose gear configuration. All gears have two wheels, with the main gear retracting forward in the engine nacelles. The cabin windows are rectangular, nearly square. Typical for the Convairliner are the upward opening main cabin door and the vertical stabiliser that is almost completely curved from the dorsal fin over the top ending at the straight trailing edge.
Different versions
The different versions of the Convairliners can be distinguished by looking at
- the length of the fuselage
- the wingspan
- the shape of the engine nacelles
More details will be added later.
Confusion possible with
Martin 2-0-2 & 4-0-4
A contemporary and competitor to the Convairliner, the Martin 2-0-2 and 4-0-4 also look similar. The Martins have a sideways opening cabin door, more dihedral on the outer wings, no main gear doors visible when the gear is extended a slightly less rounded top of vertical fin. Finally, they have an airstair door underneath the rear fuselage.
CASA C-207 Azor
The CASA Azor can be distinguished from the Convairs by the single wheel nose gear, non-curved vertical stabiliser, lack of front cabin door and many smaller features.
Ilyushin Il-12/Il-14
The Soviet counterpart of the Convair also has a single wheel nose gear and hardly any curves in the tail (that of the Il-12 is a rounded triangle). Additionally, the Ilyushin has more cockpit windows
Hawker-Siddeley/British Aerospace 748
Given the same basic configuration the 748 could be mixed up with the Convairliners, but this is less likely given the oval cabin windows, less curved leading edge of the vertical stabiliser and dorsal fin, different nacelles and sideways opening cabin door of the HS748.