Thank you fellow Douglas guys!
I have this lovely advertisment from the 50's, with a Douglas DC7C circling the globe and the caption that more airline flights were flown on douglas than any other make.
Things happened and Douglas and Mc became one. competition for the jumbo jets had boeing in the lead and Douglas hurried up the DC10 with some less than positive results.
I think the entire aviation industry would be better off if the US govt. hadn't authorized the merger of McD and Boeing. Douglas needed a breather and a refresh, but damn the 8 and 9 were great jets.
I too think the 9 is as close to a fighter as you can get in a transport.
Douglas was first around the world...and both the 8 and 9 were taken supersonic in testing.