In the race to furnish a successor to the Douglas DC-3, workhorse of the airlines. Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp. last week got off to a flying start. It pocketed an order from American Airlines for 100 of its new Model 2405, largest number of planes a single airline has ever ordered at one time. Price for the lot: $18,000,000.
The 240, first commercial transport which Convair has sold, is still in the design stage, will not be ready for delivery until 1947. It will be a short-haul, 40-passenger plane in the 300-mile-an-hour class. Unusual features: specially designed engine exhaust stacks...