Originally Posted by
Turbine D
Should Boeing decide to lengthen the current 757, I hope they do a better structural design than Douglas did in lengthening the DC-8 to the DC-8-61. If you sat in one of the rearmost row of seats and the aircraft was experiencing moderate turbulence, it gave one the feeling the rear section was going to torque off from the sections more forward, it was so visibly noticeable. It scared the heck out of unknowing passengers...
The same in the "75" in certain crosswind conditions. I once nabbed the final seat on a Manchester Shuttle when on a staff ticket, the aisle on the last row, and watched the window pillar in the cockpit move from side to side as we bumped and crabbed onto 06 at Manchester. Interesting views with that cockpit door wide open. It was a while ago...
My former boss at SAS, Willie Mason, used to work on traffic at Prestwick, and mentioned that crews were asked not to park with the nose wheel at an angle on a DC8-63 as occasionally certain doors wouldn't open.