Originally Posted by
bbrown1664
From an engineering perspective, the DC10 was cleaner (less leaks etc) and tended to have less faults. No idea about from a flight deck perspective though.
Having got several thousand hours on both, the Tristar was by far the more ergonomic and satisfying flight deck. For operators, I suspect the DC10 was more attractive as it was simpler - and oft quoted phrase was it was designed for ***** men to operate. (PM for the decode).
As a tanker, the DC10-30 would have been the better bet as it had the 'extra' centre gear which vastly improved its LCG, the Tristar was too heavy in terms of wheel loading for many airports and taxiways (esp in the AAR role).