Posted on 06/25/2019 1:42:02 PM PDT by DFG
In 71 days, American Airlines will retire its remaining MD-80 aircraft.
At one point, the MD-80s, also known as the Super 80 and nicknamed the "Mad Dog," made up more than half of AA's fleet. American Airlines called the aircraft the "workhorse of the airline's fleet throughout the 1980s and beyond."
But decades since they first took flight, the planes tend to burn more fuel and require more maintenance than the Airbus aircraft and Boeing 737s that have replaced them.
Monday, American Airlines released the schedule for their last passenger flights, which will take place on Sept. 3 and Sept. 4.
The very last of those flights, Flight 80, will depart at 9 a.m. on Sept. 4 from the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and land at 11:35 a.m. at Chicago O'Hare International Airport.
After that, American will send its 26 remaining MD-80s to a boneyard in Roswell, New Mexico.
Cool!
I flew an L-1011 out of Calgary when an engine strut came loose and was sucked into the turbine, breaking turbine blades as it went. It felt and sounded like a machine gun firing. We went back to Calgary and landed on a runway lined with emergency vehicles.
But, shiite happens, and my reaction to the thought of dying right away was, “Well, it’s been nice.”
I worked on the original DC-9’s final assembly at Hangar #84 Long Beach, Calif. in 1966. When I came back from the Army in ‘68 the company had merged the year before with McDonnell. It sucked. Left that job, and went to work for Knott’s Berry Farm. Knott’s was a great place to work.
Don’t worry - those other two engines woulda got ya back alright.
One guy had low oil pressure in number 2. Shut it down. Did a 180 back to the airport.
Then 1 and 3 reported low oil pressure. Kept flying until both engines seized.
Pilot restarted #2 and flew her in. Engine smoking, but they landed A-O.K.
Maintenance error - no bushings on drain plugs after maintenance. High-pressure bled the oil out.
Wife and I flew from Huatulco to Oaxaca, Mexico in a spotless DC-3 about 20 years ago when it was still safe to visit Mexico.
Flown by two young men in blue Nomex (no pun intended) coveralls, we flew along between the mountain peaks at about 90 miles per hour.
Landing in Oaxaca, the pilot cut the engines and we floated for a landing, rolling right up to the airport lounge. The building was built of massive stone blocks with a thatched roof.
AA is freaking awful...i am a frequent flyer but i’m using up my miles and switching to JetBlue...
Flying out of Mexico City on an Areo Mexico DC-10 on New Years Day, we were confronted with stewardesses slightly inebriated and full of laughter. When the airplane took off, out came the bottles of champagne, corks flying down the isles. We landed in Chicago, as I recall...
I started flying regularly in the mid-80s, when the MD-80s were replacing 727s and DC-9s (MD-11s were then replacing DC-10s).
The MD-80 seemed light years more powerful than the prior aircraft, although I learned never to sit in the back by the engines. 727s had a long, low rise, and the MD-80s rose much more quickly. (I mostly flew AA, which didn’t have 737s back then so can’t speak for that aircraft.)
Then the next generation came along, 757s, 767s and, wow, seemed as if we took off straight into the sky.
Interesting evolution in all this, as the planes were designed around so many externalities, such as ground noise, fuel consumption/range, 2 v. 3+ engines for overseas flight (that was a huge concern back in the day), and, of course, passenger volumes. It was also before hyper-security measures, which actually appeared prior to Sept 11, but, of course, was crazy thereafter. In the mid-80s-90s, I could literally show up for a flight 10 minutes before departure. I once even knocked on a closed door to let me in.
Oh well... bloody muzzies.
There was a time when flying via a commercial airline was fun.
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