Sud Aviation Caravelle III
Sud Aviation · France · first flew 1959 · airliner
The Sud Aviation Caravelle was the first short/medium-haul jet airliner, pioneering the now-common layout of rear-mounted engines and a clean, low wing.
Recognition (WEFT)
| W — Wings | Low-mounted, swept |
|---|---|
| E — Engines | 2 × turbojet, fuselage-mounted |
| F — Fuselage | twin turbojets mounted on the rear fuselage ahead of a T-tail |
| T — Tail | T-tail |
WEFT is AircraftIQ's four-point recognition method — how it works.
Spot it by:
- twin turbojets mounted on the rear fuselage ahead of a T-tail
- low, swept wings with an uncluttered underside
- distinctively rounded nose and cheek-mounted cockpit windows
The rear-fuselage-mounted twin engines, T-tail, and rounded nose distinguish it from wing-mounted-engine jetliners of its era.
Specifications
- The Sud Aviation Caravelle III has a length of 32.01 m (105 ft).
- It has a wingspan of 34.3 m (113 ft).
- Typical crew: 3 (two pilots, flight engineer).
Figures are for the representative variant described above; marks differ. See how AircraftIQ sources figures.
History
Developed by Sud Aviation and first flown in prototype form in 1955, the Caravelle set the template many later jetliners followed; the Caravelle III, flying in 1959, was an early production version with uprated Avon engines.
Variants
The family grew through the Caravelle VI, the stretched Super Caravelle 10B/11R, and the definitive Caravelle 12.
Where you'll see it
Caravelles flew for Air France, SAS, Swissair and many other airlines from the late 1950s into the 1990s before being retired.
Related aircraft
AircraftIQ — the aircraft field guide: 5,024 recognition guides, live overhead identification, works offline.