responded with changes of their own. Now they wanted the aircraft to cruise at , and they increased the fuel requirements to allow for wider diversions. In April, Gordon McGregor took over the presidency of TCA, and told Smye that he did not want it to be the first airline with a jet. Nevertheless, the project pressed on, and was the topic of a major article in Aviation Week in November. The aircraft was scheduled to begin deliveries in May 1952, and enter service in October, which would have given it a full six years headstart on the 707, which did not enter service until October 1958, and more than 11 years on its top short-field competitor, the Boeing 727. Its short-field performance exceeded the Caravelles (with a comparable number of passengers). Proposals exist for 30-, 40-, and 50-seat models, as well as 52- and 64-seat paratroop versions, high-altitude medical lab, photo reconnaissance, cargo, and crew trainer types. Operational history Two years later, the first prototype, CF-EJD (-X), began taxiing tests, and first flew on 10 August 1949, only 25 months after the design had started, and only 13 days after the first flight of the DH Comet. Delays to the first flight were caused by many burst tires as the anti-skid braking system had not yet been fitted for the high-speed taxi trials which included braking tests and steering control checks. These high speed runs had to be done on a shorter runway than had been planned as the Department of Transport had taken the longer runway out of service for rework at the last minute. On its second flight, on 16 August, the landing gear failed to extend, and the Jetliner had to make a belly landing. However, the damage was minor, and the aircraft was in the air again in three weeks. During its first inspection in November the servo rudder was removed as unnecessary but the servo elevators were retained for dealing with extreme centre-of-gravity positions. In April 1950, the Jetliner carried the world's first jet airmail from Toronto to New York City in 58 minutes– half the previous record (c. 340 miles, 352 mph). The flight was highly publicized and the crew was welcomed with a ticker tape parade through the streets of Manhattan. So new was the concept of jet power that the Jetliner was made to park far from the terminal, and pans