Spectators Balcony (Spotters Corner)If you're not a professional pilot but want to discuss issues about the job, this is the best place to loiter. You won't be moved on by 'security' and there'll be plenty of experts to answer any questions.
Ln-kgl/fdcg27. ive just looked on planespotters.net at nwa fleet history and was suprised to see they still have a few 40year old dc9s in their fleet,my god talk about built to last. some of them are ex austrian airlines and sas.i remember them flying into manchester when i was a kid. it makes the jet2 fleet look a whole lot younger now.i wonder how many of the newer generation of aircraft will still be flying at 40+ yrs..
purplehelmet, I remember flying with SAS DC-9-41s and DC-9-21s (aka DC-9 Sport). My last flight with DC-9-21 was in April 1990 with the following routing GLA-SVG-FBU and my last flight with the DC-9-41 came almost nine years later.
purplehelmet, at least nine individual DC-9s have been at MAN the last ten days. The correct name for the MD-82 is DC-9-82 - you will find it in the type certificate and you will even see it stamped on the MDC serial number placard attached in the left forward door frame. The first real MD came with the MD-88.
In other words you still can fly DC-9s from MAN - and the flights SK539/540 (CPH) , SK2547/48 (ARN) and SK2549/2550 (ARN) can be the best choice if you want to fly with one.
Just a small point for the answer glhcarl gave, what you are refering to is not the life limit that l was refering to.
What you are refering to are the ALI inspections, which on Boeing a/c kick in at around 20000 to 50000 cycles, but on Airbus a/c kick in earlier and are a more in line with routine inspections. All these ALI inspections are mandatory and can not be extended, so no variations unlike normal inspections.
On Airbus all these inspections are carried out until the LOV (Limit of Validity)(ESG) and then your airworthiness certificate ends. I guess that some a/c depending on operations may then get special permits to operate as the Vulcan in the UK.
Boeing a/c just have the figure to start the inspections from as they have not published the DSG, ESG or LOV yet, but l have seen the list which covers all Boeing including Douglas a/c, which will published in due course.
My first flight ever was on a DC9! Brisbane to Sydney Ansett ANA 1969..
My second Flight on the DC9 was last month Detroit to Dallas 2009 Delta!
A really nice flight. 40 years later flying on the same type of aircraft!!!
Ln-kgl. sorry what i should have said was there isnt as many operators using the dc9s/md80s these days, the main one seems to be sas. nooluv was your last flight on the old dc9 or one of the newer mds?
nooluv, yes i agree it looks like it was ex nwa dc9, first flew 1977, seems a bit odd to me that an airline the size of delta still fly a single dc9 thats nearly 33 years old, especially when they have a fleet of 129 md80s. LN KGC, great pics thanks.
Quite simply it is a matter of how much revenue an operator can get in, versus how much it costs them to operate (fuel, maintenance, depreciation, training, etc). This applies all across the aviation spectrum.
So if, after a few years, you can find a more efficient way of doing things, do so. But if the most efficient way turns out to be keeping on the old fleet, that is equally possible. Delta (ex-Northwest) DC-9s have become the classic in recent times, with a 30-40 year old fleet which, when I rode in one last year, Albany to Detroit, was clean and tidy, and gave no sign of its age at all. But I have been in a 4-year old 747-400 whose interior had not been touched since it was built, and was tatty all round.
Those DC-9s keep on going but there are MD-90s, a recently built descendent, a fraction of the age, which have now been scrapped as nobody wants them any more.
hi nooluv. i take your word for that,im a bit of a novice at this and only looked on planespotters .net. like i said i thought it was odd they only had the one. cheers, ph.
. some of them are ex austrian airlines and sas.i remember them flying into manchester when i was a kid.
The correct name for the MD-82 is DC-9-82 - you will find it in the type certificate and you will even see it stamped on the MDC serial number placard attached in the left forward door frame. The first real MD came with the MD-88.
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