The Boeing 720 is a short to medium range aircraft designed for domestic routes and shorter runways. It was originally called the Boeing 707-020, but the name was changed to the Boeing 720. This was because United Airlines had already ordered the Douglas DC-8 over the 707, and its President William A. Patterson didn’t want to be seen to be going back on that.
Designed to carry as many as 130 passengers up to 2,735 kilometres (1,700 miles), the aircraft was 9 feet shorter than the Boeing 707 and incorporated weight reducing features such as a thinner skin and smaller undercarriage wheels. An advertisement by the manufacturer claimed the 720 was the fastest in its class with a 615mph (990km/h) cruising speed.
Boeing 720 Video
Following on from the last video about the Vickers Vanguard turboprop, we cross back to the USA for a look at the Boeing 720. Running for just under nine minutes, the below film was made by American Airlines to introduce the aircraft, which they called the Astrojet.
While the sound is not great, it does point out the differences between the Boeing 720 versus the 707. It is also great to see the jet engine explained, with the difference between turbojet and turbofan outlined. Notable is how much smoke the jet engines produce, which is something they had to fix pretty smartly.
The aircraft first took to the sky on 23 November 1959 and entered service with United on 5 July 1960, flying from Los Angeles to Chicago via Denver. American Airlines put the jet into service from 31 July 1960.
Other airline operators included Aer Lingus, Braniff, Eastern Air Lines, Western, Northwest, Avianca, El Al, Ethiopian Airlines, Pakistan Airlines and Saudia. One was even used in a spectacular crash test in 1984, which you may have seen.
Overall Thoughts
Eventually 154 Boeing 720’s rolled off the production line through to 1967. The last one was flown to a museum on 9 May 2012. The short to medium haul role it was designed for was eventually taken over by the very successful Boeing 727 and Boeing 737.
Did you ever experience a flight on a Boeing 720? Who with and what was it like? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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With thanks to an article in Airways Magazine by Charles Kennedy.
Also thanks to an article on Aerotime Hub by Rytis Beresnevicius.
Featured image by Ken Fielding via Wikimedia Commons.
My first flight ever, in 1973, was a Western Airlines 720B flight, LGB-SFO. I remember getting to enter the cockpit and sit in the left seat upon arrival in San Francisco. I won’t lie…that helped make me the confirmed AV geek I am today.
That doesn’t surprise me at all, I think a lot of people were influenced by visiting the cockpit and things like that. That’ great that you got a Western Boeing 720 as your first flight! Thanks for sharing that.
Flew Hou /Jfk on EA. Often and later Iah/Aca. On Bn
Two well respected airlines from the past! Great you got to fly with them! Thanks for the comment.
I’ve flown on United’s 720B and American’s 707 many a time between ORD/LAX/SFO. And, as I remember correctly United operated three classes of service on them First Class, a precursor to today’s business class, and economy. They had what they called Red, White, Blue fares back then. Aaah the glory days
Now that’s something I’ve never heard of before. I’ll have to look into those Red, White and Blue fares and see what I an find out. Thanks for the tip… sounds like it would have been some fun flying back then!
I flew one once from ORD to ? on TWA. I remember because it did not have the antenna on the tail.
Quite possible, some of them did not have the tail antenna. The United ones appear not to have it, judging from pictures.
I flew on one back in the early 70s, American flew it to BDA – Bermuda. Can’t remember which NYC airport or weather it was from BDA to NYC or NYC to BDA. One of my first airplane flights. I know I still have the safety card and pix packed away somewhere.
That safety card is probably worth a pretty penny on its own as it would be extremely rare to have! Pictures as well… that sounds like a recipe for a flight review on a blog to me! 🙂 That’s great that you remember that flight and have mementos from it too. Thanks for that!
Soon after graduating college in the late 60s, I accompanied a friend in the service on a drive from northern NJ to Houston, Texas in his mother’s former car which she had given him. I flew back to NJ on an Eastern 720, a flight that left at the tail end of a hurricane. The plane seemed no different than any other Boeing jet of the time, but the severe turbulence for the first hour was memorable. Soon after, I served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam as a helicopter gun ship pilot. There were exciting moments for sure, but… Read more »
I’d say turbulence like that would be very memorable to say the least! People must have found that somewhat sporty, to say the least. I would have loved to have flown Eastern in that era, they were apparently extremely good indeed. No doubt you also have some great stories as a helicopter gun ship pilot in Vietnam as well. I can only imagine what that must have been like. Thanks for sharing, I always enjoy hearing people’s experiences!