The Brooklyn Dodgers made history Jan. 4, 1957 when they became the first professional sports team to purchase an airplane after they bought a Convair 440 Metropolitan airliner for $775,000.
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The Dodgers flew the plane until 1961, when they sold it for $700,000 and had it exported to Spain and replaced it with a Lockheed L-188A Electra, which they bought from Western Airlines. Harry R. “Bump” Holman piloted the craft, and had been flying a 20-seat DC-3 for the team since 1950. Holman had gifted the DC-3 to Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley after winning the plane in a game of craps.
A Convair 440 spanned 81 feet and six inches with a wingspan of 105 feet, four inches. It held 52 passengers and only required a flight crew of two to three people.
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“The 440 Metropolitan was powered by two 2,804.4-cubic-inch-displacement (45.956 liter), air-cooled, supercharged, Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp CB16 two-row, 18-cylinder radial engines with a compression ration of 6.75:1,” a report on the aircraft from This Day in Aviation reads.
“Burning 100/130 aviation gasoline, the CB16 had a Normal Power rating of 1,800 horsepower at 2,600 r.p.m. to 8,500 feet (2,591 meters) and 1,600 horsepower at 2,500 r.p.m. to 16,000 feet (4,877 meters). It was rated at 2,500 horsepower at 2,800 r.p.m. for Takeoff. The engines drove three-bladed Hamilton Standard constant-speed propellers through a 0.450:1 gear reduction. The CB16 was 6 feet, 9.40 inches (2.068 meters) long, 4 feet, 4.80 inches (1.341 meters) in diameter, and weighed 2,390 pounds (1,084 kilograms).”
The Dodgers’ aircraft continued to fly until 1978, when an engine problem caused the aircraft to return to San Ramon Airport in Bolivia, from which it had departed. Upon arrival, the airplane ran off the runway and into a ditch, damaging it beyond repair.
Now, the Dodgers no longer own their own airplane, and follow most of the rest of the league in the trend of contracting with airlines to handle their transport. The only MLB exception to this trend is the Detroit Tigers, who own their own Boeing 737, which they’ve owned since the 2024 season.
Photo Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
