McDonnell Model 119

Transport / Passenger Jet

United States | 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; No A.I. was used in the generation of this content.

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.

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Power & Performance
Those special qualities that separate one aircraft design from another. Performance specifications presented assume optimal operating conditions for the McDonnell Model 220 Transport / Passenger Jet.

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

559 mph
900 kph | 486 kts
Max Speed

44,948 ft
13,700 m | 9 miles
Service Ceiling

2,339 miles
3,765 km | 2,033 nm
Operational Range

City-to-City Ranges
Operational range when compared to distances between major cities (in KM).

NYC

LON

PAR

BER

MOS

TOK

SYD

LAX

NYC

Structure
The nose-to-tail, wingtip-to-wingtip physical qualities of the McDonnell Model 220 Transport / Passenger Jet.

2
(MANNED)
Crew

66.5 ft
20.27 m
O/A Length

57.6 ft
(17.55 m)
O/A Width

23.6 ft
(7.20 m)
O/A Height

23,215 lb
(10,530 kg)
Empty Weight

45,327 lb
(20,560 kg)
MTOW

Design Balance
The three qualities reflected below are altitude, speed, and range. The more full the box, the more balanced the design.

RANGE

ALT

SPEED

Variants
Notable series variants as part of the McDonnell Model 119 family line.

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

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

Operators
Global customers who have evaluated and/or operated the McDonnell Model 119. Nations are displayed by flag, each linked to their respective national aircraft listing.

Total Production: 1 Units
Contractor(s): McDonnell Aircraft - USA

[ Untied States (cancelled) ]

Relative Max Speed

Hi: 750mph

Lo: 375mph

Aircraft Max Listed Speed (559mph).

Graph Average of 563 MPH.

Era Crossover

Showcasing Aircraft Era Crossover (if any)

Max Alt Visualization

Production Comparison

1

36183

44000

Entry compared against Ilyushin IL-2 (military) and Cessna 172 (civilian) total production.

MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

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Aviation Timeline

EarlyYrs

WWI

Interwar

WWII

ColdWar

Postwar

Modern

Future

♦

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Image from the Public Domain.

Mission Roles
Some designs are single-minded in their approach while others offer a more versatile solution to airborne requirements.

TRANSPORT

COMMERCIAL AVIATION

BIZJET

X-PLANE

Recognition
Some designs stand the test of time while others are doomed to never advance beyond the drawing board; let history be their judge.

Going Further...
The McDonnell Model 119 Transport / Passenger Jet appears in the following collections:

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