Goodbye to DC-10s

ApacheBob

ApacheBob

Cleared for Takeoff
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ApacheBob
I understand that Northwest is going to discontinue using DC-10s for pax on January 8. This will be the last domestic carrier to leave the DC-10s behind. What a great flying machine!
One foggy day in Grand Rapids, I had a chance to see one pop out of a low overcast over the numbers for Runway 8 Right. It was a very impressive sight.:blueplane:
ApacheBob
 
This brings back a lot of memories.

I was a 20-year-old CFI at Bel-Air Aviation at KLGB, right at the foot of the then-new control tower, watching the first DC-10s undergo flight test. Several of my primary students were McD-D engineers who had been working on the DC-10.

One memorable sight was the unpainted prototype making a max-effort landing on runway 30. There was noise, fuss and feathers, but that behemoth came to a stop before the intersection of 25L, just 3250 feet down the runway.

In August 1971, the first two DC-10s were delivered to customers, one to American and one to United. Douglas employees had the day off, and the airport perimeter was jammed with spectators. VIPs were shuttled out to the middle of the airport, close to runway 12/30, to watch the airplanes take off (we'd been watching DC-10s take off for months, so this was no big deal for us). Runway 12 was in use. The AA airplane taxied out from the Douglas ramp and took off, to the oohs and aahs of the assembled multitude. Then the UA airplane taxied out. It rolled majestically down the runway, rotated and ... then the nose came back down, spoilers and reversers deployed, and the airplane coasted ignominiously down to the southeast end of the runway. VIPs cleared their throats and looked around nervously.

We heard later that the captain aborted the takeoff because his window was not properly latched. Thus began the DC-10's star-crossed career.

Farewell, old girl.

-- Pilawt
 
A good friend of my is flying these at NW. I'll have to ask him what he's going to move to. About a year ago, he thought he was moving to an Airbus. For some reason, it didn't happen. Maybe now.

Best,

Dave
 
The three-engine fleet is coming to a close in passenger service. There are a bunch of NW Frequent Flyers that have booked themselves on that last flight.

Retirement of an aircraft type is almost as big of a deal as the inaugural flights. Delta recently retired their L-1011 fleet (they were the last major airline operating them), the story is depicted here: http://www.l1011.homestead.com/
 
I'm going to miss those old birds.

Three years ago a friend and I took a flight to Europe for a few days half to see London and Paris and half to fly on the DC-10.

We'd both been to both cities but never been on DC-10's before. Flight out was DC-9 and DC-10 and the flight back was the same. A tour of the cockpit was in order for all four legs, and what a sight, it was like stepping in a museum!

It was one fun trip.
 
A couple of DC-10 memories from me:

Back in the day (summer '75) while I was attending Electricians Mate "A" school at Naval Training Center in San Diego (just off Rosecrans Ave.), I would stroll down to Cushing or Chauncey Road and just sit and watch the DC-10s land at KSAN's rwy 27; then I would watch their noses get bigger and bigger and bigger, until it looked like they were hanging the radome over the canal. Those things used up every inch of real estate at SAN.

Separating out of the USN in '81, I rode a -10 back from Honolulu to San Diego. Yeah, it seemed we were flying in between the skyscrapers, again landing on 27. I smiled a lot on that flight.;)

Later,

Jim
 
Man! It makes you feel old when you can remember when F-14s and DC-10s were the new cutting edge stuff.
 
mikea said:
Man! It makes you feel old when you can remember when F-14s and DC-10s were the new cutting edge stuff.
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SIGH..........:( Getting old stinks! :drink:
 
I think the bird that most affected me was the F-4 Phantom. Very distinctive sound; I could tell if it was an F-4 without looking up. Got a lot of air support from them. Called in a lot of airstrikes. Awesome machine. While the A-7 was more accurate, the Phantom is what came to dig me out of trouble the most.

Over the hill now. Besides the Cobra and Huey (which I flew), watching this bird retire linked me to a past time and era more than any other plane!

Best.

Dave
 
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My favorite DC-10s were the Continental "Pub Flights," on which there was a "Pub" in the boarding area 'twixt first class and steerage (where I was always relegated). You could tell the passengers who were used to Pub Flights, because as soon as the seat belt sign went off, we were up like a rocket to go grab a cocktail and chat.
 
SCCutler said:
My favorite DC-10s were the Continental "Pub Flights," on which there was a "Pub" in the boarding area 'twixt first class and steerage (where I was always relegated). You could tell the passengers who were used to Pub Flights, because as soon as the seat belt sign went off, we were up like a rocket to go grab a cocktail and chat.
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What ever happened to the lounge upstairs on 747s?

You see Airbus showing the same thing on the A380, even a locker room with showers They never tell you that every airline will decide to use that space for more seats or cargo.
 
More seats without them. A380 ads can say anything they want but it all comes down to paying customers. Frills on a commercial are going the way of the doodoo. Soon, you'll be lucky to get any service at all.
 
silver-eagle said:
Frills on a commercial are going the way of the doodoo.
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Typo, or literally down the toilet?

I found this hilarious for some reason.
 
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