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Two colorized photos of an American Airlines Convair 990 have been released by Frenchman Benoit Vienne. The images highlight the speed of what was once the world's fastest subsonic jet, built by San Diego-based Convair, a division of General Dynamics.
Original color photographs of the Convair 990 series are rare, particularly those featuring American Airlines' version. Some years ago, Airline Ratings discovered and scanned a small collection of color factory shots of CV880s and CV990s, but few included the American Airlines 990s. The black-and-white photos recently colorized by Mr. Vienne are classic shots that capture the essence of this aircraft.
Convair pursued American Airlines’ business by guaranteeing that an enhanced version of their 880 model would beat competitors on coast-to-coast flights by 45 minutes. American’s chief C.R. Smith was impressed by its speed and sought a faster jet to outpace Texas-based Braniff Airlines, which had ordered domestic 707s with larger intercontinental engines marketed as “The Jet with The Big Engines.”
