(9 of 9)
The 707 is the most thoroughly flight-tested and debugged air transport ever to go into service, had 50,000 flying hours as a military tanker and commercial prototype before the first plane was delivered to American. The pilots are delighted with it—although their wage demands for the jet age may ground some of the airlines before the fight is over. The pilots insist that the third man in the jet cockpit be a pilot instead of an engineer (TIME, May 5), want more money ($45,000 a year for a Pan American flight captain v. $25,000 now) on grounds that the jets are harder to fly. But the jets are easier, have 100 fewer instruments than the DC-7.
Air Cocoon. The high-pitched whine of the jet engines has brought complaints from householders near airports, led some airports to impose restrictions that cut into the jets' payload. But despite all the uproar, the sound suppressors that every jet uses cut their noise level to that of a DC-7, makes the noise argument seem as dated as the early objections to the noise of the horseless carriage.
Perhaps the most serious problem for American and the other lines is the vanishing U.S. airspace. A jet moving at an average of ten miles a minute will require an air cocoon of 6,000 square miles 2,000 ft. deep for safety. Jets will reach heights formerly monopolized by military planes, will need precise traffic controls to keep them on their separate ways. Last summer Congress belatedly created a new jet-age federal agency, the Federal Aviation Agency, which will supplant the old Civil Aeronautics Administration on Jan. 1, take over safety-regulations functions from the Civil Aeronautics Board. Headed by Elwood ("Pete") Quesada, retired Air Force lieutenant general, the new agency will control both military and commercial jet movements, try to set up round-the-clock, all-weather control of U.S. aircraft. Last week Quesada announced a significant step forward: he made a deal with the U.S. Air Force to station FAA observers in the military air control stations. For the first time, the flights of military and commercial planes will be closely coordinated.
Supersonic Planes. Within a year jets will be in service in almost every part of the U.S. By 1961-62 there will be only a small number of piston-planes flying commercial U.S. flights. But U.S. airlines will hardly have phased out their piston planes—and will still be struggling to pay for their jets—when they will face another major advance in aviation.
The next step will be huge supersonic liners that can carry twice as many passengers as the jet at speeds of 1,500-2,000 m.p.h. and at altitudes of 60,000 ft. or higher. Both Lockheed and Boeing are already drawing plans for supersonic liners, could probably put one in the air in three years. But airframe manufacturers agree that the first supersonic liners will not appear for another ten years.
Says Smith: "Sure, we could build a plane to go through the sound barrier right now. But we couldn't get our money back. We couldn't charge enough for a ticket." He expects the present jets to be around for a long time.
* National Airlines plans to begin New York-Miami jet nights in December, but with only two jets, leased from Pan Am.