More Muscle Machines: A CV-580 Wishlist

​I have a soft-spot for the mighty Convair 580 ‘muscle machine’ having flown on the type from the cockpit two years ago with Air Chathams. I am sure I am not alone in thanking Gemini Jets for announcing a North Central CV-580 as part of their June 2019 releases in 1:400 scale. Hopefully this model will sell successfully and lead to some more releases of the type. If so there is a decent range of possibilities that can be made.

​The 580 certainly has to be one of the, if not the most, successful upgrade to an existing aircraft putting many years of life onto the rugged original airframe of the CV-340/440. The type is actually a re-engined CV-340/400; or an "Allison Prop-Jet Convair 340/400" as the FAA called it until Frontier finally forced them to accept the new CV-580 designation the mid-60s. 

​The crux of the conversion was the replacement of the 3 bladed Pratt & Whitney R-2800 piston engines with big 4 bladed Allison 501-D13 turboprops (similar to those used on the Lockheed Electra and Hercules). The huge props and powerful engines gave the CV-580 almost twice as much horsepower as the CV-440s had - hence why it's called the muscle machine. It also makes the 580 fast, able to reach around the 300-knot bracket, faster than contemporaries like the Viscount, Martin 404, YS-11 and FH-227 plus modern props like the DHC-8 and ATR as well.

​For more on my own experiences with the CV-580 see:

Flying the 580 Pt1: Air Chathams ZK-CIF

Flying the 580 Pt2: Inflight AKL-WAG

​I have talked about the existing Gemini mould for the CV-580 in my Convair propliner mould review:

Convairliner CV-240-580 Moulds in 1/400 Scale

​There have only been 3 releases in 7 years. It’s a decent mould, although admittedly the landing gear is rather chunky, and oddly inferior to that on the Gemini CV-340 when it should be the same. Nonetheless, with Aeroclassics showing no interest in rejigging its own Convair into a 580 this is the mould we have and it’s good enough for me.

Promisingly Gemini have made all 3 of the 1:400 examples in 1:200 scale already and have made 8 other 1:200 CV-580s. Perhaps we will see some more of these in the smaller scale too.

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​Here are 30 of the most deserving Convair 580s:

USA

There's plenty of scope for 580s from the States covering the period from the mid-60s to the late-80s.

Bill Larkins [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)]

Perry Hoppe [GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html) or GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)]

Jim Newton [GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html) or GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)]

christian hanuise [GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html) or GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)]

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One North Central CV-580 is good but there is a whole lineage of North Central, Republic and Northwest 580s that could be made (a la the NG Models Republic-NW 757 series):

Richard Silagi [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)]

SDASM [Public domain]

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Canada

North of the border was also a fertile ground for 580 operators mainly in the colours of regional partner airlines.

Eduard Marmet [CC BY-SA 3.0 GFDL 1.2]

Alain Rioux [GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html) or GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)]

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Europe

European Air Transport JetPix [GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html) or GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)]

Swiftair . by Konstantin von Wedelstaedt [GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html) or GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)]

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New Zealand

Timo Breidenstein [GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html) or GFDL 1.2 (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/old-licenses/fdl-1.2.html)]

And of course last but far from least we have Air Chathams still using the trusty 580 in service in 2019: