Originally Posted by Rainboe
Fortuna, the very rear rows of a rear engined jet are noisy, but a bit further up the cabin it can be incredibly quiet. I flew on an AA MD-something (stretched modern DC9) and couldn't believe how quiet it was- far quieter than the rear cabin of a 737 with the jet blast. The biggie was sitting in the rear cabin crew seats on a 737-200. The 2 stewardesses were communicating on take-off with hand signals (women never stop gossiping), and I was looking at them in alarm at the sheer volume of racket- and that after piloting them for 6 years- I had no idea they were so noisy in the rear.
I remember the old KLM DC9s that were VERY loud in the back, but the back of most MD80 series are much better, I think because of better engines and mounting technique.
Rainboe, did you notice how much the chuff moves about compared to the sheepskin seats, especially in yaw?