Douglas DC-7

what is it?

The Douglas DC-7 is a retired American airliner built by the Douglas Aircraft Company from 1953 to 1958. A derivative of the DC-6, it was the last major piston engine-powered passenger aircraft made by Douglas, being developed shortly after the earliest jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet, entered service and only a few years before the jet-powered Douglas DC-8 first flew in 1958. A large number of both DC-7B and DC-7C variants were also built, with a handful of aircraft converted for the purpose of cargo hauling or fire-fighting after their commercial transport days had passed.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 piston engines with propellers · low wing · retractable tricycle gear · 38.9 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 653 km/htop speed
• seats 105passengers
• size 64.9 tmax take-off weight
• built 338made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 73 years ago, in 1953.
• 🏎️Top speed is 5.0× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 38.9 m: about 9 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 11 African elephants (~6 t each).

piston: A car-like piston engine turning a propeller: simple and cheap, the classic small plane.

spec sheet

first flight

1953-05-18

introduced

1953

retired

2020

status

retired

number built

338

role

airliner and transport aircraft

origin

🇺🇸 United States

makers

Douglas

engines

4× Wright R-3350-988TC18EA1 or R-3350-988TC18EA4

crew

5

passengers

105

length

34.2 m

wingspan

38.9 m

height

9.7 m

max take-off weight

64.9 t

top speed

653 km/h

cruise speed

557 km/h

range

—

ceiling

6,614 m

wings

low wing

landing gear

retractable tricycle gear

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.