Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Friendliest aviation Ccmmunity on the web
  • Modern site for PC's, Phones, Tablets - no 3rd party apps required
  • Ask questions, help others, promote aviation
  • Share the passion for aviation
  • Invite everyone to Flightinfo.com and let's have fun

DC9 stats

Welcome to Flightinfo.com

  • Register now and join the discussion
  • Modern secure site, no 3rd party apps required
  • Invite your friends
  • Share the passion of aviation
  • Friendliest aviation community on the web

jetflier

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 22, 2003
Posts
718
As we are entering the fall and plan on parking 30 DC9's here is a Boeing page on the DC9 info:
DC-9 Family
The DC-9 was designed specifically to operate from short runways and on short- to medium-range routes so that the speed, comfort and reliability of jet transportation could be extended to hundreds of communities previously served only by propeller-driven airliners.
Smaller than the DC-8, the trim DC-9 has a distinctive high-level horizontal stabilizer atop the rudder, commonly called a "T" tail. Two engines mounted on the aft fuselage power the aircraft at cruising speeds exceeding 500 mph (800 km/h) and altitudes over 30,000 feet (9,144 m).
Design, development and production of the DC-9 was centered in Long Beach, Calif., at what is now the Long Beach Division of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, where 976 of the twin jets were built during an 18-year production run. The first flight was Feb. 25, 1965; the final DC-9 was delivered in October 1982.
There are five basic DC-9 versions, designated Series 10, Series 20, Series 30, Series 40 and Series 50. Several models in each series provide operators maximum efficiency for diverse combinations of traffic density, cargo volume and route distances to more than 2,000 miles (3,218 km). All models use variants of the reliable workhorse Pratt & Whitney JT8D engine.
Series 10: The first in the twinjet family, the fuselage length of the Series 10 DC-9 is 104.4 feet (31.8 m), accommodating up to 90 passengers with 600 cubic feet (16.9 m3) of cargo space below the floor. Wingspan is 89.4 feet (27.2 m). Engines can be JT8D-5s or JT8D-7s, with takeoff thrust ratings up to 14,000 pounds.
Series 20: The DC-9 Series 20, although numbered second in the sequence of models, actually is the fourth member of the family. This high-performance version was announced in December 1966, and the first delivery was made in December 1968. The Series 20 is designed for operation from very short runways. It combines the fuselage of the DC-9 Series 10 with a high-lift wing developed for the Series 30. Power is provided by two JT8D-9s with 14,500 pounds thrust each, or 15,000-pound JT8D-11s.
Series 30: Fuselage of the Series 30 DC-9, actually second developed, is nearly 15 feet longer than the Series 10, at 119.3 feet (36.3 m), providing seats for up to 115 passengers and cargo space to 895 cubic feet (25.3 m3). Series 30 wingspan was increased to 93.3 feet (28.4 m), and a high-lift wing system of leading edge slats gives the Series 30 excellent short-field performance. The first of the type began airline service in February 1967.
Most of the Series 30s are powered by either JT8D-7 or JT8D-9 engines. Others are equipped with JT8D-11 or the JT8D-15, with 15,500 pounds of thrust. The Series 30 is the most widely used member of the DC-9 family, accounting for approximately 60 percent of the entire fleet.
Series 40: To again meet airline demands for a DC-9 with more capacity, the Series 40 was developed with a fuselage length of 125.6 feet (38.3 m). Seating is available for up to 125 passengers, 10 more than the popular Series 30s. Below-floor cargo space totals 1,019 cubic feet (28.8 m3). The Series 40 uses the same wing as the Series 30. Series 40 engines are JT8D-9s, JT8D-11s or JT8D-15s. The model entered service in March 1968.
Series 50: The fifth and largest DC-9 version is extended to 133.6 feet (40.7 m) long, permitting installation of five more rows of seats than the Series 30. Maximum passenger capacity is up to 139, with cargo capacity increased similarly. Wingspan is the same as for the Series 30. Engines are either JT8D-15s or JT8D-17s, which are rated at 16,000 pounds. Airline operations with the Series 50 began in August 1975.
All Models: Common to all versions of the DC-9 are the features that make them ideal for short- and medium-range flights providing direct service between small or large airports. All have built-in boarding stairs for use where jetways are not available. The low ground clearance puts the lower deck cargo bays at waist height, to allow loading and unloading without a conveyor or loading platform. The cockpit is designed for a two-member crew.
Passenger cabins of the DC-9s are designed for optimum passenger comfort and convenience. Economy class seating is five across -- an arrangement consistently preferred in passenger surveys to the six-across seating in other single-aisle jetliners. A "wide look" interior introduced in 1973 provides a greater feeling of spaciousness than in earlier models and offers enclosed overhead racks for carry-on bags.
Thirty years after beginning operations and more than a decade after the final aircraft rolled off the assembly line, DC-9s remain a mainstay in many airlines, still building a worldwide reputation for reliability and durability unmatched by any other aircraft. The fleet makes more than 3,500 flights per day, with each aircraft averaging more than five hours of revenue service daily.
 
Forgot the 15F, this was a 10 series with a factory cargo door so airlines could convert them and fly pax during the day and cargo at night. DAL did this for a while in the late 60's turned out to be a flop. A 15F has two over wing exits, the 10 only has one over wign exit. A bid of trivia from the cargo world.
 
?

I would like to know about the history of Banana Farming. Got any great scoop on that?

Or might I be able to find it in any Library...or wait, maybe that Internet thing?

YKMKR



The domestication of bananas took place in southeastern Asia. Many species of wild bananas still occur in New Guinea, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. Recent archaeological and palaeoenvironmental evidence at Kuk Swamp in the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea suggests that banana cultivation there goes back to at least 5000 BCE, and possibly to 8000 BC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana#cite_note-7 This would make the New Guinean highlands the place where bananas were first domesticated. It is likely that other species of wild bananas were later also domesticated elsewhere in southeastern Asia.



Actual and probable diffusion of bananas during Islamic times (700-1500 AD).


The banana may have been present in isolated locations of the Middle East on the eve of the rise of Islam. There is some textual evidence that the prophet Muhammad was familiar with it. The spread of Islam was followed by the far reaching diffusion of bananas. There are numerous references to it in Islamic texts (such as poems and hadiths) beginning in the ninth century. By the tenth century the banana appears in texts from Palestine and Egypt, from it diffused into north Africa and Muslim Spain. In fact, during the medieval ages, bananas from Granada were considered amongst the best in the Arab world.[9]
Some recent discoveries of banana phytoliths in Cameroon dating to the first millennium BCE [10] have triggered an as yet unresolved debate about the antiquity of banana cultivation in Africa. There is linguistic evidence that bananas were already known in Madagascar around that time. The earliest evidence of banana cultivation in Africa before these recent discoveries dates to no earlier than late 6th century AD. Muslim Arabs likely brought bananas from the east coast of Africa west to the Atlantic coast and further south to Madagascar.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banana#cite_note-Watson-8
The banana is mentioned for the first time in written history in Buddhist texts in 600 BCE. Alexander the Great discovered the taste of the banana in the valleys of India in 327 BCE. The existence of an organized banana plantation could be found in China in 200 CE. In 650, Islamic conquerors brought the banana to Palestine. The word banana is of West African origin, and passed into English via Spanish or Portuguese.[13]

Plantation cultivation

In 15th and 16th century, Portuguese colonists started banana plantations in the Atlantic Islands, Brazil, and western Africa. As late as the Victorian Era, bananas were not widely known in Europe, although they were available via merchant trade. Jules Verne references bananas with detailed descriptions so as not to confuse readers in his book Around the World in Eighty Days (1872).
In the early 20th cenntury, bananas began forming the basis of large commercial empires, exemplarized by the United Fruit Company, which created immense banana plantation especially in Central and South America. These were usually extremely commercially exploitative, and the term "Banana republic" was coined for states like Honduras and Guatemala, representing the fact that "servile dictatorships" were created and abetted by these companies and their political backers, for example in the USA
 
Forgot the 15F, this was a 10 series with a factory cargo door so airlines could convert them and fly pax during the day and cargo at night. DAL did this for a while in the late 60's turned out to be a flop. A 15F has two over wing exits, the 10 only has one over wign exit. A bid of trivia from the cargo world.

TWA operated a DC-9-33F. Don't know who they bought it from but only two were ever made if I remember correctly. It's sister ship ditched down in the Caribbean somewhere after they ran out of gas shooting an NDB approach to a missed approach several times to some small island. Don't remember the who the operator was.
 
Here's some more weird DC-9 trivia. An Ozark Airlines DC-9 hit a snow plow in a blizard. The plane crashed but the fuslage was still usable. That fuslage was connected to the wings of an Canadian Airlines DC-9 that had diverted into CVG and burned. Several fatalities. This airplane was flying at NWA.
 
TWA operated a DC-9-33F. Don't know who they bought it from but only two were ever made if I remember correctly. It's sister ship ditched down in the Caribbean somewhere after they ran out of gas shooting an NDB approach to a missed approach several times to some small island. Don't remember the who the operator was.


I think it was some Brit's. Took off out of JFK.
 
TWA operated a DC-9-33F. Don't know who they bought it from but only two were ever made if I remember correctly. It's sister ship ditched down in the Caribbean somewhere after they ran out of gas shooting an NDB approach to a missed approach several times to some small island. Don't remember the who the operator was.

That was Overseas National in the early 70's. Tried to land Saint Maartin like you said, and then diverted to St Croix but couldn't make it. 20 or so pax drowned.
 
That was Overseas National in the early 70's. Tried to land Saint Maartin like you said, and then diverted to St Croix but couldn't make it. 20 or so pax drowned.

Colonel,

You beat me to it; I was about ready to say that, it was ONA in the 70s.

PD
 

Latest resources

Back
Top