1956-1962




 

The DC-7 was the last of the Douglas propeller-powered transports. Douglas Aircraft introduced the DC-7 on May 18, 1953. The DC-7 was a derivative of the DC-6. It had a longer fueselage with new and stronger engines. There were three versions of the DC-7 built- A, B, C variants. The C version was the first that could fly non-stop across the Atlantic without difficulty.
Swissair owned five DC-7C's, but only flew them from 1956-1962 when the jet age started changing the airline fleets worldwide.

 

Manufacturer
Douglas Aircraft Inc., Santa Monica, CA (USA)
Span
38.86 m
Length 
34.58 m
Height 
9.37 m
Power (HP)  
4 x 3450
Cruising Speed
550 km/h
Passengers
75
Range
 6450 km
Area of Operation
Europe, North & South America

 

HB-IBK

Douglas DC-7C

# 45061

08.11.1956

28.02.1962

 Zürich
Delivered new to Swissair in 1956, with Reg HB-IBK. Initial Sale Price was CHF 9'969'000. Sold to SAS in 1962 where it flew as LN-MOG. Later it was re-registered F-ZBCA for the French military and is now stored in the Musee de l'air in Paris-Le-Bourget

HB-IBL

Douglas DC-7C

# 45062

06.12.1956

20.07.1960

 Genève
Delivered new to Swissair in 1956 as HB-IBL. Sold to 'Riddle Airlines' in 1960, where it was registered N301G and converted to freighter. Later it flew with Airlift International (after merge with Riddle) under the same Registration.

HB-IBM

Douglas DC-7C

# 45190

01.06.1957

02.04.1962

Basel Stadt
Delivered new to Swissair as HB-IBM. Later sold to Riddle Airlines as N302G and converted to freighter. It had a irish Registration EI-ANM with Shannon from 1964-66, and later became N302G again, under a private Operator. And - unusual for an ex-Swissair plane- it is believed to have crashed during a smuggling flight in Colombia in 1979!

HB-IBN

Douglas DC-7C

# 45191

07.08.1957

30.11.1960

 Bern
Delivered new to Swissair as HB-IBN. Later sold to Riddle Airlines as N8218H and converted to freighter. Later it flew with Airlift International (after merge with Riddle) under the same Registration.

HB-IBP

Douglas DC-7C

# 45553

04.11.1958

05.11.1961

 Schwyz
Delivered new to Swissair as HB-IBP for CHF 9'935'000. It was the last DC-7C built! Sold to SAS on January 6th, 1962 as SE-CCH. Afterwards it flew with JAL-Japan Air Lines as JA6306 and then Spantax as EC-BBT. It is now stored next to the Aeroclub San Augustin in El Berriel, Spain

 
 

 

 

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last updated January 2009