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McDonnell Douglas
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in Airlines, Blog, CommercialThe DC-10: This Wide Body Jetliner Never Shook Its Bad Reputation
The DC-10 was the first commercial jetliner built by McDonnell Douglas after the merger between McDonnell Aircraft Corporation and Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. The McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10 jetliner flew for the first time on 29 August 1970. The first two airlines to order the new jumbo, American Airlines and United Airlines, ordered 25 and […] More
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in Blog, Commercial, Videos
Hard Landing: The Demonstration MD-80 Slammed Into Runway, Lost Its Tail
Back on May 2, 1980, one of the MD-80 demonstrators was conducting a test sortie to evaluate landing distance. During one of the approaches, the pilot flew a steeper than normal approach, flared late, and touched down hard. But what happens next is incredible. The MD-80 that was being tested had a HUD in the […] More
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in Blog, Commercial
That Time a Boeing 717 Went Inverted During Testing
Yes, this is a real video! During stall testing of the 717 program (formerly the MD-95), the aircraft departed controlled flight. That’s a nice way to say that the jet stalled, rolled, and went inverted. The test pilots on board masterfully recovered the jet and survived to live another day. Here’s the video proof: With […] More
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in Blog, Commercial, General Aviation, Videos
This Crazy Looking Engine was Ultra Efficient But Was Never Adopted. What Happened?
The UnDucted Fan developed by General Electric should have been more than a great trivia question. (Welcome to Avgeekery Jeopardy.) “Alex, I’ll take Dismissed Aircraft Technology for one hundred.” Answer: “This fuel-efficient engine type was developed for the proposed Boeing 7J7.” “What is the UnDucted Fan?” Correct. In 1985 at the Paris Airshow Boeing was […] More
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A-12 Avenger II – Son Of The Flying Wing
Week Of Unusual Planes, Continued: The A-12 Avenger II never got off the drawing board but its ancestor was definitely the Flying Wing. Avgeekery.com continues this week’s theme of “Unusual Planes” with a look at the A-12 Avenger II. There are obvious similarities with Monday’s Flying Wing as the A-12 was a modern-day replica. The […] More
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in Blog, Commercial
What could have been: We review all the Boeing 717s that were never built
The 717 could have been more than just a single model. There were plans for a regional sized jet and a stretch model the length of an MD-80. Even prior to the introduction of the Boeing 717 into commercial service, there were ideas to develop stretched and shortened versions to complement the basic 106-seat Boeing […] More
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in Blog, Commercial
Failure To Launch: The Legacy of the McDonnell Douglas MD-12 Program
Was the proposed MD-12 Jumbo way ahead of its time or just a ‘Hail Mary’ attempt to keep airlines interested in an ailing company? Avgeekery explores the ‘why’ behind the failed MD-12 program. McDonnell Douglas surprised the world in 1992 by unveiling a full double decker airliner program. Although certainly not as majestic as the […] More
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in Blog, Commercial, Videos
You Will Probably Never Fly on a MD-11 Ever Again
“You’re never, ever, ever going to fly on a MD-11 again.” Avgeeks can cue the Taylor Swift song because there’s a good chance that you’ll “never, ever, ever” going to fly on a beloved three-engined airliner again. The last commercial operator of the MD-11 aircraft retired their passenger fleet on Oct 25th. This retirement […] More
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