January 18, 2004 at 10:48 am
Found – film of the 707 roll
Lots of people have heard about it. Here is the film.
By: Bmused55 - 20th January 2004 at 22:52
while we talking about the 707, heres a seldom seen photo of the production line
By: atc pal - 20th January 2004 at 21:44
There is also an interview with Tex Johnston telling about the roll. When he explained to the management that it was perfectly safe, he was told: “You know that. We know that. Just don’t do it again!”
Did he do a Chandelle between the two rolls?
(- to quickly reverse direction?)
By: Shorty01 - 19th January 2004 at 16:52
Kabir,
Here is the site I found it on. see if you have better luck going here.
By: PhantomII - 19th January 2004 at 16:26
Just a small correction….707 prototype was actually the Model 367-80, not the 360-80.
By: KabirT - 19th January 2004 at 16:23
i cant see the clip for some odd reason.
By: Bmused55 - 19th January 2004 at 15:22
Originally posted by Shorty01
Best get a bit of height first then !Done properly the airframe shouldn’t get stressed. Though the “done properly” bit is where it has gone wrong on numerous occasions before.
What are airliners officially stressed to, i.e. the limits it says not to exceed ? Is it about +3.5/-2 or that order of magnitude ?
I couldn’t say for sure, around +3g sounds about right.
By: Shorty01 - 19th January 2004 at 15:16
Best get a bit of height first then !
Done properly the airframe shouldn’t get stressed. Though the “done properly” bit is where it has gone wrong on numerous occasions before.
What are airliners officially stressed to, i.e. the limits it says not to exceed ? Is it about +3.5/-2 or that order of magnitude ?
By: Bmused55 - 19th January 2004 at 15:07
Originally posted by Shorty01
Thanks Bmused55. Do you think we should draw airbuses attention to this ? It would be interesting to see just how good that A380 really is.
He he, due to the general mass involved I doubt very much thew A380 could be barrel rolled.
1, the computer wouldn’t allow it
2, the sheer mass wouldn’t allow it, you’d stall and fall head first towards the big green.
Howoever, I would love to see the a380 barrell-role and prove me wrong
By: Shorty01 - 19th January 2004 at 14:46
There is a film of a CH53 Super Jolly doing a roll. I’ll see if I can hunt it down.
By: atc pal - 19th January 2004 at 14:12
There is a film of Bob Hoover rolling a Shrike Commander seen from the cockpit. Just to make it more interesting – and “show” the + 1 G – he is pouring icetea into a glass on the dashbord while flying. He says, he did it with some USAF generals in the back of the plane. (Not the icetea bit!)
Best regards
By: Bmused55 - 19th January 2004 at 07:53
Originally posted by Shorty01
Go on then Whiskey delta. A pic of the same view from your cockpit. Keep it at 1 g all the way around & the Geese will never know !! Best do it at night when the blinds are down.
A LAPA 737-200 did that once, with fatal consequences.
The Artificial horizon was stuck and the captain kept turning the yoke more and more to the right, eventually they were upside down. The dove and broke up in midair.
It was dark and they were flying over remote territory, so the lights below resembled the stars above.
Poor gits.
By: Shorty01 - 19th January 2004 at 02:09
Go on then Whiskey delta. A pic of the same view from your cockpit. Keep it at 1 g all the way around & the Geese will never know !! Best do it at night when the blinds are down.
By: Whiskey Delta - 19th January 2004 at 02:06
Here’s a brief explaination of the background of Tex Johnston’s roll in the Dash 80 in 1955 in Seattle.
http://www.super70s.com/Super70s/Tech/Aviation/Aircraft/Dash80.asp
By: Whiskey Delta - 19th January 2004 at 02:04
Awesome video, I’ve been looking for that for quite a while but have never been able to locate it. Thanks for sharing.
Originally posted by steve rowell
I have that 707 roll on video, and they interview Tex Johnson who calls it a Shondell
Shondell? Most likely he said Chandelle which is a 180 degree maximum performance turn.

A reference to a chandelle wouldn’t have been regarding his rolling of the Dash 80. If it was, it would have been in error but I doubt an aviator such as Tex Johnston would have done so.
The pilot was Boeing’s chief test pilot Tex Johnson and that type of inverted roll is called a Shondell
Inverted roll? Nope, nothing more than your standard barrel roll/aileron roll.
By: Shorty01 - 19th January 2004 at 01:25
Ok, i’ll go to bed now.
By: steve rowell - 19th January 2004 at 01:21
I have that 707 roll on video, and they interview Tex Johnson who calls it a Shondell
By: Shorty01 - 19th January 2004 at 01:18
Shondell ? are you sure.? we used to do those in the glider. It involved diving at the airfield as fast as a K13 would, pulling up up (double UP is more extreme)whilst screaming like mad b*ggers, letting the airspeed decay, then giving it bootfulls of rudder at the top. I was a baby pilot at the time. Any further explaination is welcome.
By: steve rowell - 19th January 2004 at 01:10
The pilot was Boeing’s chief test pilot Tex Johnson and that type of inverted roll is called a Shondell
By: Shorty01 - 18th January 2004 at 20:23
Thanks Bmused55. Do you think we should draw airbuses attention to this ? It would be interesting to see just how good that A380 really is.
By: Bmused55 - 18th January 2004 at 20:18
The story is basically:
Boeing had invested a lot of money in the 707, so its success was vital to the future of the company.
Chief Test pilot “tex” Johnson took the new 707 for a demonstration flight for the “International Air Transport Association. Watching were VIP’s, Managers, Directors and the like from many airlines.
Over Lake Washington Johnson barrel rolled the 707 prototype, known as the Dash-80 (as its model number was 360-80).
By doing this he had proven the 707’s superior handling and power. And to make sure people didn’t call it a fluke, he turned round and rolled it again.
The stunt worked…orders came flooding in, joining the launch orders from Pan Am and American Airlines
There are indeed a few picturs taken from inside the Dash 80 during the roll.