McDonnell Model 119

Transport / Passenger Jet [ 1959 ]

The last commercial venture for McDonnell, the Model 119, failed to find buyers in any service market - resulting in a single flyable prototype being completed.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 03/28/2019 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

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McDonnell Aircraft's final venture into the world of commercial aviation (before it merged with Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967 to become "McDonnell Douglas") was the "Model 119". This rather forgettable jet-powered entry failed to net any sort of market interest regardless of the market targeted, leaving just a single, flyable prototype to show for the years of engineering work, investment money, and time in the air. The Model 119 was originally drawn up to satisfy the hybrid-minded "Utility-Trainer Experimental/Utility-Cargo Experimental" (UTX/UCX) requirement of the United States Air Force (USAF) during the late-1950s which was eventually secured by a rival design offered from defense powerhouse Lockheed - the L-1329 "JetStar".

McDonnell engineers elected for a design which sat four "podded" turbojet engines, two under each wing mainplanes. The mainplanes were swept back along their leading and trailing edges for aerodynamic efficiency and were placed low and near midships for balance. The cockpit was positioned overlooking a short nosecone in the usual way (side-by-side seating for the two pilots) while the tail unit was made up of a single vertical fin with low-mounted horizontal planes. All of the tailplanes sported considerable sweepback as well as clipped tips to complete the design form of the aircraft. For ground-running, a retractable tricycle undercarriage was used.

Propulsion power came from 4 x Westinghouse J34-WE-22 series turbojet engines, each outputting 2,980lbf of thrust each. This same engine line was used in such types as the research-minded Douglas X-3 "Stiletto", the McDonnell F2H "Banshee" fighter, and the McDonnell XF-88 "Voodoo" x-plane - all detailed elsewhere on this site.

After the loss of the USAF contract, McDonnell Aircraft attempted to rebrand the Model 119 for the commercial transport market to which the aircraft secured interest of Pan American (PANAM) which eyed as many as 170 of the jets. However, when this did not materialize, the aircraft was - yet again - rebranded, this time for the VIP / corporate industry business jet market as the "Model 220". Despite the attempt to resurrect the project once more, the aircraft simply failed to generate any sort of meaningful interest and ultimately fell to aviation history. It ended its days in service (at the corporate level) with McDonnell before being passed on to the Flight Safety Foundation as a research platform.

As completed, the aircraft had a running length of 66.5 feet, a wingspan of 57.7 feet, and a height of 23.7 feet. Empty weight reached 23,215lb while Maximum Take-Off Weight (MTOW) was 45,330lb. As tested, the aircraft reached a maximum speed of 560 miles-per-hour and cruised around 520 mph. Range was out to 2,340 miles with a service ceiling of 45,000 feet.©MilitaryFactory.com

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Specifications

Service Year

1959

Origin

United States

Status

RETIRED
Not in Service.

Crew

2

Production

1
UNITS

McDonnell Aircraft - USA

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

Untied States (cancelled)

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Transport
General transport functionality to move supplies/cargo or personnel (including wounded and VIP) over range.

✓ Commercial Aviation
Used in roles serving the commercial aviation market, ferrying both passengers and goods over range.

✓ BizJet
Used in roles serving the business aviation market, primarily VIP and regional travel.

✓ X-Plane (Developmental, Prototype, Technology Demonstrator)
Aircraft developed for the role of prototyping, technology demonstration, or research / data collection.

Length

66.5 ft
(20.27 m)

Width/Span

57.6 ft
(17.55 m)

Height

23.6 ft
(7.20 m)

Empty Wgt

23,215 lb
(10,530 kg)

MTOW

45,327 lb
(20,560 kg)

Wgt Diff

+22,112 lb
(+10,030 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the McDonnell Model 220 production variant)

Installed: 4 x Westinghouse J34-WE-22 turbojet engines developing 2,980lb of thrust each.

Max Speed

559 mph
(900 kph | 486 kts)

Ceiling

44,948 ft
(13,700 m | 9 mi)

Range

2,339 mi
(3,765 km | 6,973 nm)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the McDonnell Model 220 production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

None.

Supported Types

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Model 119 - Original series designation; single, flyable prototype completed.

Model 220 - Rebranding of Model 119 for the business jet market.

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