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Old 26th Mar 2010, 18:49
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Graybeard
 
Join Date: Nov 2006
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The early slick wing DC-9 (-10 series) is more susceptible to leading edge contamination affecting the stall. Roughness approximating fine sandpaper will add ten knots to the stall, so I was told.

For the few who have never seen a DC-10 up close and personal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=7_ITIlPvcm0&feature=related

EMERGENCY LANDING

It's called "405, the movie," and under 3 minutes.



To me, the DC-10 is a most beautiful airplane. 1979 was just a bad year for it. First there was the AA crash at Chicago (maintenance), then the Western Airlines crash at Mexico City (pilot/controller error), then the AeroMebbe described above, which could easily have ended up at the bottom of the Atlantic, and finally Air New Zealand TE-901 that hit Mt Erebus in Antarctica.


BTW, you can see the end of the horizontal from some of the windows near the back of the cabin of a 10, for a terrific view of its action in the stall.

A video of that would be a hit.


GB
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