The DC-9 Story - Part 1: The Douglas DC-9
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- Опубліковано 24 лют 2023
- Greetings! :D
In this two part series, we'll be looking at an airliner so successful that it nearly bankrupted its parent firm, the Douglas DC-9, having crawled its way from a proposed model with no commercial interest at the beginning of the 1960s, becoming one of the most popular short to medium range airliner models by the end of the same decade, having fought off the BAC 1-11 and even given Boeing a run for their money, and from its phenomenal rise would spawn its own successive generations of twinjets that would see work into the 1980s and 90s.
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References:
- Key Aero (and their respective references)
- Wikipedia (and its respective references) - Авто та транспорт
Used to see many Northwest Airlines DC9 at Memphis. That red and gray color scheme was still one of the best and most iconic
Wish you had Patreon or UA-cam memberships. I feel guilty consuming your high-quality content at zero cost. I'm 100% sure I'm not alone in that respect. Also, the sound quality was so much better. Great work, as always.
@@newdefsys That's an embarrassing mistake to make. In my defense, Saturdays are my wake-and-bake day. 🤫
The DC9 and the MD80 are probably the type of plane I've had the most air time with as a passenger, seeing my parents lived in different parts of the country and it was more or less the default jet for regional domestic flights in Sweden during the eighties and nineties. An incredibly lovely and beautiful plane.
Same situation and timeframe for me in the western US it was initially 727's then 737's.
Up to level & then down again
@@9HighFlyer9 Every other weekend!
@@Milkmans_Son that would've been nice. Plane tickets were still pretty expensive in the mid 80s. Mostly just summer break and sometimes Christmas break.
Awesome aircraft in which to ride. The acceleration and takeoff angle was great. It's why the MD-80 was nicknamed the "Mad Dog".
My mom worked on the DC-9 interior finish crew for several years.
I flew on one of these just last week, well kinda; it was a B717 (Qantas, Sydney to Hobart return). Flying the B717 on one of the few carriers in the US & Australia who still have them in their fleet is probably the nearest you'll probably get to experience a commercial passenger flight on a DC-9 in 2023.
I flew on a genuine DC9 on an internal flight in Venezuela in 1999. Looking at the 'boiler plate' on the door post as I boarded, I saw that it was already 31 years old. As they started up, the engines sounded as if they hadn't ever been serviced. But it got me there, and back.
Delta also uses the 717, and some airlines use the MD-90 and -80, which are the Brothers to the DC9
I love working on the Qantas 717s. They have some quirks, but they're nice to load and push
Flew on a 717 with hawaiian, between honolulu and maui. And return.
Regardless of what the government did to force sales of it to airlines, the DC9 turned out to be a well built product as well. So well designed that it still flies today, as the Boeing 717 jetliner.
Best documentary of the DC-9 that I've seen. Thank you 😊!
I first flew one with my hometown's Midwest Express Airlines. Most of their fleet was DC-9, until mid-2000's when their 717-2BL order started being delivered.
Milwaukee 🍻
The MD80 is one of the smoothest commercial jets I’ve ever flown on while in turbulent air. Also, one of the quietest and that was in the 90’s!
My favorite seat, just forward the jet engine’s intake, which also offers a good view of the wing surfaces.
Certainly a better place to sit than abreast of the engine itself, in case a rotating part disintegrates in flight!
Nice of you to release this video on the anniversary of the plane’s maiden flight!
DC-9-20 was called "The Race Car" by SAS pilots as it had the short fuselage of the -10 variant and the wings and engines of the -40 variant. It was specified by SAS specifically for short take-off and landing performance on mountainous runways in Norway. It surely accelerated very quickly.
Per Sjöfors That acceleration carried over to the 717. Loved the feeling on takeoff.
@@terryboyer1342 Absolutely.
" It was specified by SAS specifically ..." is redundant, Per Sjofors !!! I sincerely hope you do not have a license to operate a motor vehicle !!
@@JM-dv1zq Geez, who pooped on your corn flakes this morning? No kids to yell "get off my grass!" today?
@@JM-dv1zq I never argue with idiots.
Great company and sad to see it gone.
Gosh brilliant - I flew a lot on DC9 and MD80 as we travelled from London to Zurich a fair bit when I was a child - I always remember the take offs being seemingly more ‘assertive’ than on other aircraft though no idea of this was just perception and r a feature of the type. Many happy memories and I thank you for your brilliant efforts to bring these videos to us and I’m sure a lot of very hard work.
Nothing like their swift kick in the ass... when the pilot his the "gas"
@22:00 If that ain’t God telling you, your going to Live I don’t know what is… Bless this woman for surviving at your will Lord and I hope she became one with you afterwards! Great Doc.
Always liked to fly the DC9, especially the later MD80 versions with its engines so far back (I always sit up front) no or very little engine noise entered the cabin. Once I was on the very first model (without the leading edge slats). A plane that, at the time, was around 40 years old.
I had the good fortune to ride on a series of rear-engined airliners and I agree about the quiet cabin. My first flight was aboard an Air France Caravelle, and I then went on to multiple flights on BAC 1-!!, VC-10, DC-9 and MD-80 (most of the latter being flown by Swissair or SAS).
@@bishwatntl I've done my fair share of BAC-1-11 and Boeing 717, but never Caravel and maybe one flight on a VC-10
I asked for a window seat... &... got "wonderful" view of engine, twice the sound & ALL the restroom smells. Will revise requests in the future
I sat right next to the turbine several times. Window vibrated my jaw loose. A deep low humming sound accompanied by vibrations of varying intensity. I was drunk so it was fun.
Ooh, a two parter, how exciting! Just the audio is quite muffled.
I like it. Makes it sound like an old promo film.
You found part two? Lol
Audios alright, the speed at which he speaks reminds me of the ole Fed Ex commercials
Another detailed piece; looking forward to Part 2. I watch your BAC 3-11 episode every couple of months; a magnificent post-empire history of early civilian jet aviation.
Thank you for sharing the DC-9.. They are really nice. Hawaiian Airlines still fly their DC-9 in the island hopping. Delta still fly their DC-9s as well.
Delta doesn't have the basic DC-9, anymore, and they used to fly the Mad Dog, untill a few years, ago.
I believe that Hawaiian doesn't fly the DC-9 anymore...
@@DC9Douglas Thank you. They, Hawaiian Airlines, fly those 717s still. Theu look so close to the old DC-9s. Thank you again for sharing that memory in me. The last time I was in Hawaii was back in 2008.
Every time this guy uploads a video I get so excited
I see, I click like, I watch.
I worked for Northwest Airlines in Atlanta, I used to check maintenance on them, also worked the JT8 engine shop that powered both of our 727 and DC-9 .
I worked on the flightline also.
I've made so many flights on MD80's and DC9's. It's a shame that COVID accelerated their retirement. I mostly rode on AA MD80's. Many of these were taken over from TWA. I distinctly remember flying on a Spirit Air DC9 that was configured single class. It reminded me of a bus or a train!
I hear the pilots considered it a fairly hot plane. It has high wing loading compared to the 737, so I guess it feels more like a fighter jet when you turn and climb.
These were fun planes to ride on too.
Coincidentally, my very last TWA flight was on the very last MD-83 made, N984TW dubbed the Spirit of Long Beach. What a great plane.
@@psa722 I once was a passenger on The Spirit of Tulsa. The flight crew had no idea that their plane had a name and didn't notice the logo right by the door. What a let
down!
@@kurtpena5462 It is quite horrible when the crew don’t even know what plane they are on. An FA on one of my flights recently said that the plane was a Boeing A320!
1:30 B707 2:15 DeHaviland Comet 2:36 DC-8 3:03 Sud Aviation Caravelle 3:27 B727 11:28 B737 19:15 Florence Nightingale Crimean War 21:43 Vesna Voluvic
I loved flying on Itavia DC 9 as a child from London Gatwick to Rome
I flew on DC-9s quite often from Denver to Memphis and back. I liked the DC-9, but the 727 is still my favorite. The only time I ever got worried was on a DC-9 taking off from Stapleton at Denver. It was a hot day and the plane was loaded,,,I thought we were never going to get off the ground...even the Air Force pilot next to me in the passenger cabin told me he was getting concerned.
Not even watched it yet as I’m out but I know this is going to be great! Thanks Ruairidh! 👍
The loss of McDonnell-Douglas continues to make me sad.
Its profit driven ideology has affected Boeing's safety standard, too. it's a loss for both ends, indeed.
Back in the 80s, Continental Airlines had a DC-9 -10 with a pair of JT8D-15 engines strapped to it. A CO pilot was telling me about it while it was parked at the gate and I was performing maintenance on it. He said every DC-9 pilot wanted to fly it as it flew like a rocket .
As a kid, I lived near an airport that served Ozark Airlines. I really liked their DC-9's and F-27's and would take as many pictures as I could of them when I had the chance. My parents would get the rolls of film developed for me as part of my allowance payment, which was a fair trade. I would log 'N' numbers and little differences in each plane, and file the pics with an information card. Lord knows where those files are today. It's a treasure trove to an airplane historian, maybe?
You NEED to find those!
@@tomasjakovac7950 Yeah, that was 1974-76 until the family moved to another state, my parents got divorced shortly thereafter, we moved around a lot, then I moved out on my own at 17 and lost a lot of stuff, including models my father built, to my first and only eviction which I still kick myself over to this day. I lost a huge record collection and MOST LIKELY, those pictures. They're hopefully in someone else's hands.
I like the audio adds a certain touch.
By the way, KLM also has Boeing 747s in their fleet, as well as the various models of the DC-9, and DC-10, so their fleet wasn't entirely built around Douglas/McDonnell-Douglas types.
Very informative and enlightening - thank you!
Great video.Well informed and narrated.
Great as always Rory!
You missed the 1996 crash of a ValueJet DC-9
On May 11, 1996, ValuJet suffered its highest-profile accident when Flight 592, a DC-9 flying from Miami to Atlanta, crashed into the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 people on board. The crash was caused by an onboard fire triggered by full chemical oxygen generators that were illegally stowed in the cargo hold without their safety caps, by maintenance subcontractor SabreTech. The resulting investigation revealed numerous systemic flaws, and ultimately faulted both SabreTech for storing the generators on the plane along with ValuJet for not supervising them.
ValuJet, and later AirTran, really ran their DC-9 fleet ragged, and each had a few accidents without any fatalities. ValuJet was to be the launch customer for the Boeing 717 (or the MD-95 or even DC-9-95 if you're so inclined). A lot of people assume ValuJet shut down after the Everglades crash, but they actually bought and merged with AirTran in order to obtain a new identity, if you will. I will say that, by the time Southwest bought AirTran in 2011, they had a very modern fleet of 717s and 737s. Delta bought and refurbished their 717 fleet from Southwest and plans to fly them until 2025.
@@jonathankleinow2073 The 717-200 fleet will be replaced by the A220-100, of which Delta already has a small fleet.
The 737 did not modify its fuselage design from the 707 or 727…..it’s the exact same fuselage design….
What was not included and should have , was the first privately ordered and owned DC9, by Hugh Hefner(Playboy)N950PB. A gorgeous bird. Overall, a nice vid!
The DC-9 15 was fun to fly.
Can’t wait for you to finish the series with the Boeing 717, such a beautiful aircraft, I’ve been to Hawaii 4 times in my life and they look beautiful on the tarmac and even better taking off, sadly I’ve never been to any island apart from Oahu so I’ve never done a inter-island flight and sadly never travelled on them.
Delta still flies the 717 all over the USA.
@@seannielsen6587 I’m in the uk.
Thank you Rory!
Highly informative... wow😊
Outstanding.
Can't wait for Part 2!
Great video. My favorite aircraft.
More excellent work, sir.
DC9 one of the loudest engine ,.. grew up flying in it and Fokker F28. Fun times
Nice documentary. It looks from the accidents that most were caused by human error rather than problems with the planes themselves.
Well done! 👍👍
The DC-9, MD-80, MD-90 and Boeing 717 are my favourite commercial planes. Despite only being 16, I know my aviation stuff 😆😆😆
Well I like all commercial aircraft
In 1977 I flew on a DC-9 from DFW to Austin, TX. It was a Texas Iinternational (?) plane. We had 2 stops, one in Amarillo, the other in Lubbock. On approach to Amarillo the pilot went into a dust storm about 1k feet from the ground. The wind was wicked and I thought he was going into a flat spin and we would pancake into the ground, but we didn't. At the gate the plane rocked back and forth like I have never experienced before. I have another story when were in a DC-9 taking off in a dust storm in Chihuahua. It was screaming passengers holding onto their rosaries all the way to Juarez it was so rough. The pilot made an almost 90 degree turn as we lifted off the runway in Chihuahua. I was on the port side looking out the window. I thought the wing was going to scrape the ground. Oh, well; it was better than driving. :) We kissed the ground in Juarez. We all lived to fly another day in a DC-9, hooray!
Oh nice, a multipart one. I'm a big fan of the DC-9, flew a bunch in it when i was young as it was that or a 727 for most of south american short haul.
I remember being on the Northwest Airlines DC9-10s on short haul flights from Detroit in the 90s. Those planes were tiny, relatively speaking.
loved the DC9! First planes i flew on were DC8 and DC9.
Wow that flight attendant, one lucky girl, never heard about that.
Such a shame that the Comet had so many problems as it was an absolutely beautiful looking aircraft unlike the other planes of that era.
It was horribly designed from the get-go. Internal engines way to close to the main body. The weird big main landing gear. And put in production way to fast just to beat the Americans to show them Britain still mattered (it didn’t). And look how fast that came back to them
3 planes crashed this early in civilian jet history no airline would risk buying this and the world moved on ... There was no empire left to buy these kinds of massive f*))*)&*-ups.
The Comet was a trail blazer, and unfortunately, the manufacturer and the aircraft ended up paying the higher cost for being a leader, not a follower.
All proposed jet engined windows were designed square before De Havilland worked out - after hugely expensive scientific investigation - that a square window design in a pressurised aircraft can lead to structural failure. An oval windowed design is the safer solution.
The Comet makers re-engineered the Comet and shared all their lessons-learned with the entire airliner manufacturing industry for the benefit of everybody. It cost them dearly.
Other manufacturers could learn from the experience of the world's first jetliner, saving a fortune in R+D, and reap the benefits in the order books, free from the stigma of negative publicity associated with the pioneering aircraft design.
Nontheless, the redesigned classic Comets that flew proved in the end to be fantastically rugged and reliable aircraft that served operators well into the late 20th century.
Considering it was the world's first jet airliner, it was a success.
Whenever we make a routine flight aboard a comfortable, modern pressurised 320, 737, or 321, we fly in technology with roots in the pioneering Comet design.
History can be however we like to tell it - but it's always best if history represents the truth.
And the Comet was also, as you say, a beautiful aircraft.
My previous comment underestimated the longevity of the Comet somewhat. 😄
I forgot that the Nimrod - for a long time an integral part of NATO air defence, as well as an undisputedly valuable search and rescue tool - even surviving intact after a sea ditching in the late 90s.
The Nimrod served daily missions every day into the 2010s.
It's easy to forget - as I just did - the Nimrod was none other than a military versioned Comet.
@@MrJimheeren and now, the UK is an integral - & vital - part of the Airbus Industrie program, which as you’ll be aware, is currently the worlds foremost commercial aviation provider…
The DC 9 will always be special to me because that was the first jet aircraft that I flew on back in 1969 always liked Douglas airplanes.
I liked the Boeing 727 because of the higher performance. The DC9 should have been the basis of Douglas financial recovery. The problem was mismanagement. I was very upset when McDonnell (in which I had as my 1st stock shares). This was because I knew Douglas engineers and knew designing and economical, reliable jet was not enough.
Great vid and imagery. I flew on many DC-9s. They were not a quiet ride.
I might be going hard of hearing from it, but the louder the better. Absolutely loved the back of the DC-9's and 727's.
Great vlog as always! Boeing started the 737-200 program in mid 1965. UA, WA, BY, BU and a few others wanting a lager version. Buy the book 737 written by a WN pilot. A must for nerds. SK got the -21 series tailor maid for Norway with 1600m rwys and lots of terrain all over. Two of those aircraft was ment for LF but the Swedish CAA did not approve the noise level at BMA, so SAS bought them and LF bought F-28. Why? No T/R on the Fokker. Keep up the good work!
As far as I know, the 737 is not widened compared to the 707 and 727. The cross-section is the same and all of them had 6-abreast economy class seating. Even the 757 re-used the same cross-section as far as I know. (which basically means that all Boeing passenger narrowbody jets have the same cross-section, apart from the 717, which is just another step in the DC-9 evolution and thus not an original Boeing design). The only widening that I am aware of is between the -80 prototype (and the KC-135, which shares the fuselage cross-section) and the 707.
hello thanks for the memories. saludos
Slight correction: The B-29 was the "Super-fortess", the B-52 was the "Strato-fortress"
I remember AUSTRIAN AIRLINES having an all DC-9 fleet for decades and once the best service in Europe. I didn't see any mention of this.
Back in the 80s I rode mostly on 727s between DCA, ATL and Birmingham AL. But I did ride on a few DC9s.
I flew weekly from 86-94. Primarily out of Houston (IAH) lots of rides on the DC-9 and MD-80, but to be honest, right or wrong, I was always happy to see a 737 at my Gate. Just more comfortable IMO but the last 10 years I prefer an A-321 to the newer 737. Seat are better for my Ol body.
And yes early on many fights on the Ol 727, gas guzzler
I liked that there was no sardine seat one one side of the cabin.
I am pretty sure it is a 9-10 that visits RWI here in North Carolina. My first commercial ride was back row of a -30, not happy looking at the fan blades that looked like 10% of the blade area was worn away. It was an old dog by late 80's. And loud on the inside. And Mohawk!!! Memories of Grammy walking down the stairs into the tail of something rear engined, 1970??? and the Convair turboprops firing up. To us she looked like a movie star with her hats....Mohawk was the only airline flying from Toronto to PVD
Really interested and informativ video👍! One thing SAS is Scandinavia Airlines System 😉
Vulovic's name is also in The Guinness World Records 2000 Year's Publication. That said a Charity by the name of Samaritans Purse i think still has a DC-9 still in operation.
I remember when I joined CAA at Stockholm-Arlanda airport in 1988 that the SAS fleet was dominated by DC-9 and DC-10. The domestic airline at that time (Linjeflyg) however operated Fokker F-28. I always thought that the DC-9 and Fokker F-28 looked similar.
Talked to an old air stewardess that had worked at SAS and Linjeflyg.
She mentioned that the Caravelle used at the old Stockholm Airport at bromma regularly needed to use the braking parashute and in some weather conditions could not land at all and had to land at Arlanda.
Linjeflyg that operated from the airport with it's shorter runways up untill the 1980's used the Fokker F28 as it's mainstay aircraft.
I remember SAS making a very sudden switchover to almost all MD80's in the early-mid 80's. Annecdotally.
SAS didn’t stop using the 9’s until quite a bit in to the 00’s. 2003/04ish, maybe? The -20 was wild!
@@hepphepps8356 Maybe they never flew from Stockholm then.
Transwede a competitor that arrived in the late 80's when the market deregulated had Caravelles which was pretty cool.
There was also the sud avaition Caravelle, very popular in Europe
One of the most beautiful paint jobs I ever saw on a air line name bwia.
Not sure if they still in existence.
I used to fly those in the 1960s and 1970s after the initial N.Y. to Miami or San Juan flight, then on to BWIA's DC-9s to Saint Lucia, Antigua and Barbados. Loved the air-stairs in the back. Beautiful livery on those.
The DC-9 in Italy is associated to the Ustica massacre of 1980, which involved the Itava Flight 870. The aircraft was recovered from the sea floor, reassembled and it is now on display in Bologna in the Museum for the Memory of Ustica. We don't know yet what actually happened but we are sure it wasn't an accident and that other countries' air forces (we still don't know which ones) were involved in the disaster.
Audio is totally fine and adequate! Great work!
(Senior audio recording engineer)
Flew them DC 9 - 15/32 some with aft airstairs at tail cone ….. in Mexico for 20 years a fleet of 21 a/c with AEROCALIFORNIA scheduled air carrier!
All over Mexico
LAX, SAN, PHX, TUS!
Smooth flying!
24/7/365
80-100 hrs per month
Day/night
Rain or
Shine
IMC
VMC
Down to minimums!
In 20 years 3 landings on one engine
Nice landings
Nice turbines P&W JT8-D
Gud vid 😍
Oh my yes! Yes!!! ......YES!!!!
Memories as 12-year-old of watching Mohawk BAC-111s at the Albany airport.
Information: DC 9 is Turkish Airlines' first jet plane.
Looking forward to part 2! Just FYI, despite what "Meet Me in St. Louis" would have you think, Americans pronounce it like "Lewis".
He has pronounced it "Lewey" in many videos. It is not a mispronunciation. Some words are just pronounced differently on the other side of the pond.
Other examples include Paris, aluminum, and vitamin.
The 727 is also pronounced "seven twenty seven" and not "seven two seven."
Have a question. on the very first DC9 models, 10 series, if I remember correctly there was not a rear stair exit, is that right? the 15 series had a rear stair exit with two over wing emergency exits where 10 series only had one over wing exit each side of fuselage.
I don’t know about model specifics but the rear airstair was not universal, some had it and some didn’t, I believe it was a customer option. I once worked for a airfreight company that had two series 33 aircraft one of which had the ventral stairs and the other did not.
@@johnyoung1128 Thanks a bunch for the reply. I remember flying Southern and Delta airlines starting in 1970 and both use the DC9. Remember pilots calling them Baby 9's.
The DC-8 was always a great ride, tho $24 first class Braniff SFO-LAX 707 first leg to LatAm was sweet. The DC-9/MD-80 was also generally nice.
I loathe the 737. I avoid it when possible. The seat layout on most carriers best described as 'chunk light tuna'. And it's been stretched way beyond any sanity. Give me Airbus. Better still, Embraer.
Ok some technical errors.. the DC-9 was not in direct competition with the 727. 737-200/300 was a direct competitor to all varieties of the dc/MD line. The DC8 was not a failure , the engines required to meet performance were not developed untill the late 80's. Delta is still operating the MD-90 (DC'9-900) and DC-8 was used by United as late as the early 90's.
Douglas always built great airplanes.
I regret never getting a ride on a C-47/DC-3.
Wow, i've got a lot of respect of Vesna Vulović
Note that the DC-9 was responsible for taking out another manufacturer’s aircraft McDonnel Douglas made a habit of that including taking out Concord with the DC-10 and now they are doing the exact same thing as they are now part of Boeing. They are a considerable health and safety hazard.
“Taking out Concorde” utterly ridiculous. That’s about as big a blame stretch as I’ve ever heard. The part that caused the Concorde tyre failure was from the GE CF6 engine of a DC 10, in other words a part NOT designed or made by McDonnell Douglas.
You should do a video on the DC5 at some point.
Where is part two at?
A concept - very regional 30 seater with two radial engines, modern?
I flew the -10, -30 and -50's and I always liked the -10 due to the the performance. The -10 had the same roll rate as a F-16. You had to be on top of a -10 engine failure on takeoff as you could walk the spoilers which would decrease climb out performance.
I flew the -15 and -32 in the U.K. I’d forgotten about spoiler drag !! Some of our ex RAF pilots said the -15 performance was similar to the Hunter. We called it the Pocket Rocket 😊
This is what book keeping aficionados watch for kicks.
In my opinion, the DC-9 had the real misfortune of arriving at a time of declining sales of the DC-8 and the expensive safety issues the plagued the DC-10. And sales got really hurt with the 737 Classic models with the CFM56 engines arrived in the 1980's.
Actually the DC-9 arrived well ahead of any DC-10 safety issues. Only the series 50 was post DC-10. Also, the DC-9 was outselling the 737 in the late ‘60s, with deliveries exceeding 200 per year. Unheard of in those days. Douglas miscalculated the production logistics, cost, and sales volume. It was a victim of its own success.
That very last scene of the aircraft landing and breaking its tail… tell us more please!
It's a crash test for certification.
@@heidirabenau511 ah! Thank you for that information.
@@heidirabenau511
Not a crash test. A landing distance test.May 2, 1980. MD-80. Excessive sink rate and pilot's inability to correct it resulted in very hard landing. One flight-test engineer injured.
Fun fact, it was actually rebuilt and flown after that!
Sink rate at touchdown was about 16 fps, vs the MLG's design failure rate of 15 fps, so at least the gear went above and beyond (perhaps helped by the tail coming off for load relief : )
The test card called for no trajectory adjustments below 100 ft, but the (FAA?) pilot decided they could finesse things and save a go-around.
In the original 16 mm film you could see the fuselage noticeably bend for a film frame or two, and the tail get dragged along on the runway by control cables for maybe a second or less until those broke as well.
...spot the error at 21.32, Czech Islands???? c'mon man! we don't even have a coastline.
First flight 2/25. I see why you released I today.
What's the story behind the tail breaking off the aircraft at the 24:50 mark?
Not sure about that one, but when I worked at Eastern Airlines, we had one crack in half on landing in Pensacola, FL, sometime in the late 80s. Luckily no one was killed, but 3 people were injured.
Its a MD80 that had an excessively high sink rate landing during flight testing by McDonnell Douglas.
The B-29's official name is Superfortress, not Stratobomber.
Was the Douglas DC-9 aircraft as good and efficient. Or was it a aircraft that had lots of problems.
I was a mechanic doing maintenance on this type for several years and I found it a reliable and well engineered aircraft. The pilots who worked for the same company as myself liked them too, they liked its handling and performance.
I flew one on North Central Airlines.
Somewhat ironic that they would die in the aircraft they designed… the BAC1-11
I'm actually surprised aerodynamicists didn't discover the deep stall problem during the development of the Martin XB-51.
a DC-9 flew over our house the other night