four jet engines mounted in pods underneath a low wing. It could accommodate about 10 passengers in a luxury executive configuration or carry nearly three times that many in a highdensity cabin configuration. McDonnell Aircraft invested more than $12 million in the development of the Model 119. The jet was rolled out of the St. Louis factory on Jan. 30, 1959, and less than a month later test pilots George Mills and F.H. “Buck” Rogers made the first flight. James McDonnell described the Model 119 as “a fine little airplane.” McDonnell Aircraft had established a transport division in December 1958 and hired Robert Hage, former project engineer of systems on the Boeing 707, to lead the sales and marketing efforts of the Model 119B, a commercial variant. But on Oct. 7, 1959, the Air Force announced that Lockheed has beaten out McDonnell for the UCX contract. Meanwhile, North American’s T-39 Sabreliner had been picked for the UTC part of the Air Force contract. It was called the Sabreliner as a continuation of the successful Sabre brand. The commercial versions of the Sabreliner and Lockheed’s Jetstar, known as the T-39 and C-140, respectively, in the Air Force, would go on to have great success. They ushered in a new way to travel—not by commercial airplanes but by business jet. McDonnell Aircraft continued to market the Model 119 commercially. Pan American World Airways negotiated with McDonnell about leasing 170 of the jets, which was redesignated the Model 220 to reflect that McDonnell Aircraft had entered its second 20 years in the aviation business. But after extensive market research, McDonnell Aircraft decided not to develop the commercial variant. The sole prototype was used by the company as a VIP transport for a while before being donated to Flight Safety Foundation’s research facility in Phoenix. n boeingfrontiers@boeing.com Frontiers April 2014 13 For those who can afford it, who put a premium on private, on-demand and luxurious air travel and want an office, kitchen— even bedroom—in the sky, business jets are the way to fly. Today, a number of business jets provide that type of flying experience, from smaller models that carry only a few passengers to customized variants of large commercial jetliners. Boeing Business Jets, for example, not only offers modified versions of the company’s bestselling commercial 737 jetliner but also the 787 Dreamliner, the 777 and even the 747-8. Boeing Business Jets currently has orders for more than a dozen Dreamliners, with the first delivered to a completion center in 2013. The first 747-8 BBJ was also delivered for luxury completion last year and will enter service later in 2014. But nearly six decades ago, a fast jet transport that could crisscross the skies almost at will for business travel was only a concept. Until the U.S. Air Force announced a competition that would lead to the development of two of the first business jets—Lockheed’s Jetstar and North American Aviation’s Sabreliner. Less well known was another jet developed for that Air Force competition— McDonnell Aircraft Corp.’s Model 119/220. Although only one was built, it would be the first business jet to receive a type certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration for air transport operations. McDonnell Aircraft and North American Aviation are Boeing heritage companies. The Air Force essentially was looking for a small jet transport when it announced in August 1956 a competition for UTX/ UCX, short for Utility Trainer Experimental and Utility Cargo Experimental. Airplanemakers who entered the competition had to pick up the development costs. Said James S. McDonnell, founder of McDonnell Aircraft: “This is a very interesting and sporting competition in that each competitor had to run the risk, with its own money, of designing and building an airplane and submitting it for evaluation by the government, and the government is in no way obligated to buy; they can take it or leave it.” His company’s entry for the UCX contract was the Model 119, with PHOTOS: (From top) The Model 119 in flight, 1959; the airplane was redesignated the Model 220 to reflect McDonnell Aircraft’s second 20 years; the Model 119 takes off adjacent to the company’s flight ramp in St. Louis, 1959. BOEING ARCHIVES
Frontiers April 2014 Issue
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