Caption

What was the first supersonic airliner? This one! CF-CPG went supersonic on August 21, 1961, eight years before the Tu-144 or the Concorde. With a Douglas flight crew and temporary test registration N9604Z, the DC-8 reached Mach 1.012 in a shallow dive from 52,000 ft (also a record at the time). Delivery to Canadian Pacific followed on November 15th. Retired March 1980 and despite efforts by CP Air employees to save the historic aircraft, it was sold and broken up for parts in Opa Locka, FL.