gentlemen, thanks for a great thread
If I may, here are a couple of stories from north of the equator!
One guy would get out of the captain's seat, move it and allow access to the E&E compartment, which as some would remember, allow access to the ground.
So, he would get out of the plane before the jetbridge came up, clamber down ( a skinny pilot ) and run up the stairs outside the jetway...well, the flight attendants would open up the cockpit door and see that the captain was gone
and when they opened up the main cabin door he would pretend to be out of breath and say: I had to run to catch up with you from Pittsburgh!
Also, sadly, I was present when one of our planes crashed in Charlotte , North Carolina, USA. We were parked at the gate the ill fated plane was scheduled to come into. I watched the storm approach the field...I've never said this before or since...while doing the walk around on my plane I said...THAT STORM HAS EVIL IN IT...very green clouds. Ran into my plane to monitor ATC...storm approached, shook our plane at the gate...NO WARNING FROM ATC to planes on the approach. Lightning...heard the plane announce a go around and then ATC scrambling to try to raise them on the radio...I ran out and saw the smoke coming up from the crash. Sadly, during the go aroundthe pilots did not go to full goaround power and were late going to firewall power. Would it have mattered? who would know?
I met the captain as he jumpseated a year later...shook his hand...filled with sweat...I had made a PIREP of windshear and he said, why bother? No one cares.
sort of sad. and our planes had windshear alerting system...but we found out afterward that if you were in a 15 degree bank or more, it didn't work.
We use to use flaps 40 all the time, but flaps 50 when we wanted a really short landing. We got noise reduction kits and couldn't use flaps 50 anymore except in emergency.
our shortest segment was elmira new york, usa to binghamtom new york...less than 40 statue miles...4000 feet.
our climb profile was 250, till 10,000', then 290 to cruise...but we always went much faster...on our last leg home, we did clacker climb, clacker cruise, clacker descent, and then 250 to the marker. We used GHP for the engines....GET HOME POWER. Easily cruised above .8mach. Sometimes got aileron buzz.
I saw one guy put the reversers out in flight (20,000feet)...no problem.
some guys pulled the reverse just as the wheels hit the ground.
I remember the trim knobs and hiding pornography there
IF YOU EVER SEE a movie called, the PILOT, with actor Cliff Robertson, flying a DC8, the crew all look at the trim knob cover and laugh...you knew what was going on there!!!!!
great plane...many more stories, but that's it for now.
I do want to remind you all that the construction of the DC9 was much stronger than the 737...it had finger laps and you would never popped the top like the 737 in hawaii.