Dateline: March 22, 2006, Atlantic City , New Jersey The Convair 880 population recently declined with the scrapping of Ship 3, 47 years after its first flight from San Diego , California . TWA’s former N803TW had been used by the Federal Aviation Administration Technical Center for pressure testing, and the fuselage had suffered as a result. The tail section of Ship 3 was removed by the FAA for another test that never took place.  Doug Scroggins, of Scroggins Aviation Inc (Airways, November 2005), saved the nose from the scrapper’s blade and also acquired an intact 880, Ship 13 (ex N810TW).

Both these artifacts plus Ship 23 (N817TW), stored at Mojave, California, along with the Type Certificates (TCs) and a very large collection of the complete history of the building of the Convair Model 22 (880) and 30 (990) are being offered for sale or trade to good homes. “There are only seven 880s left in the world,” Doug notes, “and if the museum or private sector does not act the Convair jetliners will fade away like the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser.”