Convair CV-580

Updated: October 2026 – A bulky low-wing with two turboprops and four-blade propellers drones over the runway, the fuselage recalls the 1950s, the vertical stabilizer is strikingly tall: you may well have a Convair CV-580 in front of you. It is one of the longest-lived conversion projects in aviation history – a piston-engine airliner became a turboprop that has carried passengers, cargo, fire retardant and measuring instruments. Here you will learn how to recognize it, how it differs from its siblings and where you can still catch one today.

What is the Convair CV-580?

The CV-580 is not an independently built aircraft but a turboprop conversion. The starting point was the twin-engine piston airliners Convair CV-340 and CV-440, which in the 1950s served short and medium routes worldwide. These so-called Convairliners had radial engines with three-blade propellers. With the arrival of the turboprop engine, the idea was obvious: keep the solid, pressurized airframe and modernize only the powerplant.

That is exactly what happened: the piston engines gave way to two Allison 501 turboprops in the D13D or D13H versions with four-blade propellers. Because the new engines delivered considerably more power – about 3,750 shaft horsepower per side – the aircraft received an enlarged vertical stabilizer and a changed horizontal stabilizer to ensure controllability in case of engine failure. The conversions were carried out by Pacific Airmotive on behalf of the Allison Engine Company, at the time a division of General Motors.

As a turboprop the CV-580 first flew on January 19, 1960. It entered scheduled service on June 1, 1964, with the original Frontier Airlines of Denver. The type certificate and the supplemental type certificate package now rest with KF Aerospace (formerly Kelowna Flightcraft) in Canada, which describes itself as the manufacturer and type certificate holder for all Convair airliners and still carries out conversions.

How to recognize the CV-580

At first glance the CV-580 is a classic postwar airliner: low wing, straight wing, tricycle landing gear. The difference lies in the details – and three features are enough.

Smaller clues are added: the main landing gear has dual wheels, and on many aircraft a built-in stair folds out at the front of the fuselage. It was worth its weight in gold in regional service at small airfields and is still practical today for cargo and special missions at remote runways. In the end, though, the registration confirms the type – how to research it reliably is explained in the guide Finding and tracking an aircraft by registration.

The Convair turboprop family at a glance

The CV-580 was not the only attempt to convert the Convairliners to turbines. For spotters it helps to know the variants, because in photo databases they often appear under similar names.

Variant	Base	Engine	Special feature
CV-340 / CV-440	New build	Piston radial engines	Original type, three-blade propellers
CV-580	Conversion of CV-340/440	Allison 501-D13	Larger tail, four-blade propellers
CV-600	Conversion of CV-240	Rolls-Royce Dart	First service in late 1965 with Central Airlines
CV-640	Conversion of CV-340/440	Rolls-Royce Dart	Dart alternative to the CV-580
CV-5800	Conversion of C-131F	Allison 501-D22G	Stretched by about 5 m, 6 conversions

The CV-600 and CV-640 rely on the Dart from Rolls-Royce – the same engine that also powers the Vickers Viscount and the Fokker F27 Friendship. The CV-5800 is the most recent stage of development: from the early 1990s, Kelowna Flightcraft stretched former military C-131F airframes by about 5 meters and fitted them with the more powerful Allison 501-D22G. The prototype flew on February 11, 1992, and six examples were built in total. Visually you recognize it by the much longer fuselage.

The military also used turboprop Convairs: the US armed forces flew converted C-131 variants, and Canada likewise had its CC-109 Cosmopolitans converted to Allison 501-D13 in 1966.

From regional airliner to workhorse

The scheduled years in the US

In 1964, Frontier Airlines was the first airline with the type and in 1979 still flew 25 Convair 580s alongside its Boeing 737-200s. On May 31, 1982, Frontier parked its last aircraft and became a pure jet airline the following day. Other well-known US operators were Allegheny Airlines (later USAir), which in the mid-1970s used up to 20 CV-580s at the same time, as well as North Central and Lake Central. The CV-580 was thus a backbone of American regional service until jets and newer turboprops displaced it. You will find more on this generation of aircraft and its identifying features in the guide Identifying vintage aircraft in the sky.

A second life as a freighter

After the end of passenger service, a new career as a freighter began for many CV-580s. KF Aerospace describes the CV580F freighter version like this: main deck for pallets or containers, up to about 7.3 tonnes of payload, together about 73 cubic meters of cargo space and a range of up to about 2,300 kilometers, with full payload about 1,300 kilometers. That fits exactly into the niche of nightly express and feeder flights.

In Europe, CV-580s flew in the express network for years: among others Swiftair of Spain and the Belgian European Air Transport, from which today’s European Air Transport Leipzig emerged, used the type for DHL. Scandinavian operators were added. How the express business behind it works is explained in the article Express integrators DHL, FedEx and UPS. In North America, the Canadian Nolinor Aviation was a well-known Convair operator, and in the US the cargo airline IFL Group (formerly Contract Air Cargo) used CV-580s and CV-5800s. How freighters differ from passenger aircraft in general is shown in the article Identifying freighter aircraft.

Firefighter and flying laboratory

The robust airframe with powerful engines was also suited to special tasks. For wildfire fighting, airtanker conversions with retardant tanks and drop systems were created; KF Aerospace, by its own account, still adapts CV-580s for this purpose today. In Canada, the firefighting company Conair was a well-known CV-580 operator.

Particularly exciting is the role as a research aircraft. The National Research Council of Canada uses a CV-580 (registration C-FNRC) as a flying laboratory, mainly for atmospheric and cloud research. Other examples flew for research and industrial institutions in Canada and the US. The remote-sensing Convair C-GRSC of the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing retired in 2015 and is now part of the Canada Aviation and Space Museum in Ottawa. Plenty of space in the cabin and the pressurized airframe make the Convair attractive for survey flights.

Safety: what spotters should know

Anyone who looks into the CV-580 inevitably comes across its accident history. Between 1960 and mid-2023, according to compilations in reference works, 39 aircraft were lost, with 211 people killed in 18 accidents in total. Two cases are of particular significance in aviation history:

• Lake Central Airlines, 1967: During the descent, propeller blades broke away from an engine, and the aircraft crashed in Ohio, killing all 38 occupants. The cause was a manufacturing defect in the propeller.
• Partnair Flight 394, 1989: The Norwegian charter CV-580 broke apart at high altitude and crashed into the North Sea off the Danish coast, killing all 55 people on board. Investigators found counterfeit, unapproved spare parts – the case is still regarded as a warning against so-called bogus parts.

In New Zealand, too, Air Freight NZ lost two freighters, in 1989 near Auckland and in 2003 after a stall in heavy icing. For perspective: many of these accidents involve decades-old airframes in demanding cargo and night operations.

Where you can still see the CV-580 today

Honestly: in 2026 the CV-580 is a rarity. Fleets and operations of small cargo operators change quickly, and there are hardly any reliable overall numbers for active aircraft. Roughly:

Region	Chance of a hit	Why
Canada	medium	Home of KF Aerospace, research and special missions
USA	low to medium	A few cargo operators, mainly night service
New Zealand / Pacific	low	Well-known operators were Air Chathams and Air Freight NZ – check the current status beforehand
Germany, Austria, Switzerland	very low	No regular service anymore, at most ferry or special flights

How to follow such one-off aircraft live is explained in the guide to Flight tracking with ADS-B. If you are new to the hobby, it is best to start with Plane spotting for beginners.

Photo tips for the CV-580

A Convair with turboprops is a character subject. A few tricks help show that in the picture, too.

The right exposure for propeller aircraft is explained in the article Photographing propellers: the right shutter speed.

Common mix-ups and how to rule them out

Turboprops from the pioneer era look similar at a distance. You get a general overview in the guide Telling turboprops apart; for the CV-580, these points help:

Besides the propeller aircraft, Convair itself also built jets – the CV-880 and the CV-990 Coronado. Apart from the manufacturer’s name, they have little in common with the CV-580.

Conclusion

The Convair CV-580 is proof that a good airframe can have several lives. First a piston airliner, then from 1964 a turboprop in US regional service, later night freighter, firefighting aircraft and flying laboratory: hardly any type has played so many roles. For spotters it is today a rare but all the more rewarding catch – above all in Canada and the US.