Another Plane Spotting One

Now that I've finished up the Boeings and Airbus's, the plane spotting game becomes more difficult as there are a lot of different models and makes out there. This is especially true in the regional market, where there are a large number of players all competing in the more generous short haul market.

But before getting into the regionals, there is still one formerly big player in the medium-to-long haul market: McDonnell-Douglas (MD). McDonnell-Douglas was at one time just as important as Boeing and was Boeing's chief competitor in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. But in 1997, Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas merged, creating just The Boeing Company. Large MDs are rarer now in the passenger aviation market since they are outdated both technologically as well as by design (for example, the widebody MD is a trijet, which as I explained in the previous post, has fallen out of use). But there is one MD that is still operating in large numbers and its reputation as loud, antiquated, and as fuel guzzlers makes it my least favorite currently operating large commercial aircraft... can you guess which one? The suspense must be palpable. We'll find out in a little bit. Besides that one plane, most MDs have been relegated to the cargo industry. By the way, DC means Douglas, which implies that the type received its designation before McDonnell and Douglas merged in 1967.

DC-10/MD-11

The DC-10 is one of the classic widebody trijets that I wrote about in the previous post. It was first flown in 1970 so it is quite old. The MD11 is simply an updated version of the DC-10, first flying in 1990. Both are medium-to-long haul airliners. The DC-10/MD11 are easy to differentiate from other planes because of the third engine mounted on the vertical stabilizer. It is important to note that the engine cowling/body is not fused to the main fuselage of the aircraft, but is instead raised, a key feature in distinguishing it from its former chief rival, the L-1011 Tristar. In terms of the telling a MD11 from a DC-10, there are a few little tells. A MD11 is longer and has a bigger wing span. But what can more easily viewed from a distance is that MD11s have winglets unlike DC-10s, as can be seen here in this photo of an MD11 (the above photo is of a DC-10):

Both aircraft have been largely removed from passenger service. But they are huge players in the cargo market. Fedex is actually the largest airline in the world in terms of freight tons with its fleet of 74 DC-10s and 59 MD11s (along with a wide variety of other types).

MD-80s/MD-90s

Well if you haven't guess it, then here you go: this is my least favorite aircraft. I hate flying medium demand, medium-haul routes on American Airlines or Delta because invariably you get one of these. MD-80s (with the MD-88 being the most common is U.S. legacy carriers) and MD-90s (for this post's sake, just an upgraded version of an MD-88) are narrowbody, medium-haul aircraft. They are easy to spot, as I believe they are the largest twin aft engined, T-tail airliners in service (the Fokkers might be similar in size but they are far rarer aircraft in the U.S.). They also have the little eyebrow windows above the cockpit like the B737. T-tails (the elevators or horizontal stabilizers being at the top of the tail or vertical stabilizer) are unusual in large airliners, due to the increased weight resulting from the reenforced tail structure and the ability of the aircraft to enter a deep stall and in turn a flat spin, from which it is aerodynamically impossible to recover (in other words, you are 100% screwed). If you would like to learn about deep stalls (buM, bUM, BUM!), just let me know. Well, in my opinion, enough said about this airplane that I don't like at all.

DC-8

This is the oldest plane I have ever talked about in my various plane-spotting posts. It is from the first generation of American jetliners, with the first flight being in 1958. The only reason its on here is that the DC-8 is still used for cargo operations in large enough numbers that I have seen them at airports multiple times. This one is easy to spot, as 99% of the time, they have no passenger windows since they are cargo aircraft, they have four engines despite their small (compared to the A340, A380, and B747) size, and they are the only four engined aircraft with the eyebrow windows above the cockpit. These aircraft are true relics and it is a testament to their sound design that they are still operating in force. Only the B707 trumps it in awesomeness from that era (I suppose that's subjective...). But I figured I would cover the B707 in either an old airliner post or a military post (since the largest current role for the B707 is as an aerial tanker for the USAF) as I have never seen one with my own eyes.

That about wraps up the MDs/DCs, but before finishing this post and moving onto the regionals, there was one now extinct* player in the large airliner market: Lockheed.

Lockheed L-1011 Tristar

The L-1011 was Lockheed's only foray into the widebody jetliner market. It is essentially a double of the DC-10, being a widebody, medium-to-long haul trijet. It also first flew in 1970 like the DC-10. Despite similar specs, the DC-10 outcompeted the L-1011 for reasons I don't feel like getting into here (its a long story). Today, L-1011s are extremely rare in the U.S., but are still used by a few young carriers in developing markets such as Africa and the Middle East. But in the event you run into one (I would be quite jealous), there is a simple way to tell it apart from its only look alike, the DC-10. The L-1011's aft engine cowling is molded into the fuselage, not separated, and the engine's exhaust is directly behind the fuselage. This is because the L-1011's engine is actually inside the fuselage (although separated by an intense bulkhead, in case there is an engine fire or it sheds a blade), unlike the DC-10, which has its third engine entirely in the tail, separated from the fuselage. So if you look at a L-1011's aft engine intake, it forms a stretched "S", which is in turn called a S-duct. Why the different engine positions? Its all about what the designers were looking for. Wiki says it best:

"The main visible difference between the TriStar and the DC-10 that emerged at Douglas is in the middle/tail engine; the DC-10's engine is mounted above the fuselage for more power and easier maintenance, while the TriStar's engine is integrated into the tail through an S-duct (similar to that of the Boeing 727) for improved quietness and stability."

So there you go: the final Western large airliners I believe are worth mentioning in a plane spotting discussion. Next time, I'll go into the nitty-gritty world of regional airplanes, which include the Embraers, Bombardiers, ATRs, Fokkers, Saabs, and de Havillands.

*To clarify, Lockheed (now Lockheed-Martin) itself is not extinct, it just has no offerings in the commercial airliner market, instead focusing solely on defense.