Do you know why the baby 707 is called the 720...?
Goes back to 1960 or thereabouts.
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Early days of 707 and DC8 sales war.
PanAm had ordered both - initially.
American had decided to order the 707, no DC8... So did TWA.
And United opted for DC8... So did Eastern, and Northwest.
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Then 1 or 2 years passed -
The DC8 was found to cruise at slower speed. Nickname "DC-Late"...
Boeing offered the shorter range
707-020 to airlines.
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United got attracted to order 29 of these 707-020. But problem...
How will the stockholders react... Did UAL make a mistake with DC8s...?
United signed the order, but asked Boeing to "change designation to 720"....
And Eastern ordered a few 720 as well.
Initially, before delivery - American called theirs "707-023"...
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Happy contrails