in february 1956, hughes tool co. placed an order with pratt & whitney for 300 jet engines, jt-3s and jt-4s. on march 2, 1956, hughes tool co. placed an order for 8 domestic boeing 707s, later increased to 15 planes on january 10, 1957, and an order for 18 international 707s on 19 march 1956, bringing the total order with boeing to 33 jet planes. then on june 7, 1956, hughes placed an order for 30 convair skylarks. twa suffered from its late entry to the jet age, and hughes' 1956 order cost $497 million. the transaction ultimately resulted in hughes losing control of the airline.