The Caravelle was the first jet powered airliner to be commercially operated for the short and medium range air travel market. Development was started in the early 1950’s by French aircraft company SNCASE that was looking to produce a new jet powered passenger aircraft. SNCASE decided to form partnerships with the British companies De Havilland and Rolls-Royce. De Havilland contributed its design expertise and cockpit layout from its Comet jetliner. Rolls-Royce would provide its Avon turbojet engine to power the new Caravelle. SNCASE would be merged into Sud Aviation prior to the Caravelle entering revenue service in April of 1959.
The first Caravelle prototype took to the skies in May of 1955, followed by the second in May of 1956. The airliner received its first order from Air France in 1956, followed by an order from SAS in 1957. The Caravelle received certification in May of 1959, and embarked on its first flight with Scandinavian operator SAS in April of 1959. Service with Air France began soon afterwards, and the Caravelle was on its way. Five years later, a total of 172 Caravelles around the globe, including operations by U.S. air carrier United Airlines. United Airlines operated the the Caravelle VI.R model, which had been upgraded with Rolls-Royce Avon 352 engines with thrust reversers, an improved windshield design, added soundproofing, a new luggage compartment door, and wing spoilers.
While the first six variants of the Caravelle could carry up to 80 passengers, later models starting with the model 10B were stretched to improve the seating capacity to as many as 140 passengers. Based on the Series 10A, The model 10B increased the passenger capacity to 105, and introduced the leading edge extension. The wing mount split flaps and fuselage were extended by a length of 1.40 m (4 ft 7 in), and was equipped with the new Pratt & Whitney JT8D turbofan engines. The first 10B flew in August of 1964, with 22 of the aircraft produced. The final version of the aircraft was the model 12, which was referred to as the “Super Caravelle”, and first flew in March of 1971. The Series 12 was an updated version of the 10B, with the fuselage stretched by 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in), and a newer version of the Pratt & Whitney JT8D engine. This increased the seating capacity to as many as 140 passengers.
