McDoug vs Boeing ?

[jsoceanlord]

an ALASKA Air mechanic once told me that their MD-80's were a lot more maintenance intensive than their 737's

 

[FL000]

They should confront McDD and tell them that they will buy all Boeing if they don't shape up. That'll show 'em.

 

[jarhead]

HUH?

 

[LR25]

Punch a hole in a Boeing, and punch a hole in a Douglas, and the Douglas will be flying PAX while there still trying to draw up an engineering order for the Boeing.

Oh, an they also will ferry the Douglas unpressurized to the repair location with a little speed tape..

 

[jarhead]

LR25

I totally disagree with your comparison. I just finished reading a great book of about 400 plus pages. I would recommend it to you. Its title: "The Legend and the Legacy; The complete History of the Boeing Company and the Men who Made it".

You would not make such a claim after you read that book, and especially the chapter about Boeings AOG team (Aircraft on Ground). Those guy's did, and do, the impossible to get their customer's damaged birds into the air in record breaking times, with GO TEAMS dispatched in an intant to places all over the globe.

Read it.....You'll be impressed.

 

[EternalOptimist]

You all DO, of course, realize that Boeing bought MD several years ago and they are now one and the same company, right? FL000's post didn't sound like he/she was aware of that.

 

[FL000]

Punch a hole in a Boeing, and punch a hole in a Douglas, and the Douglas will be flying PAX while there still trying to draw up an engineering order for the Boeing.

Oh, an they also will ferry the Douglas unpressurized to the repair location with a little speed tape..

What say you to this? They landed single-engine, no less.

By the way, I do realize that they are now the same company, thus the crux of my dry joke.

 

[jarhead]

I am sure everyone knows that Boeing bought Douglas some time back. I think the statements centered more around which design of aircraft made by the companies when they were competitors and such was the thrust. (Jeesh, I sure hpoe so)

Yea, BOEING now produces the 717, which was the DC-9, MD-80 stuff before the acquisition.

Let's hope all know that fact!

 

[enigma]

I can't really compare the two. I can say that the DC9 will take a licken and keep on ticken. The DC9 series is virtually all mechanical, the flight controls are cable actuated, etc. The airplanes are getting older, and more little glitches appear every day. I don't like the way the Douglas flys (it's a pig/truck, but then I'm an old Lear pilot), but I am perfectly willing to climb aboard one and feel perfectly safe.

Also, Alaska doesn't have a real good record in their m/x decisions, I wouldn't put too much stock in anything they have to say.

regards,
enigma

 

[jarhead]

I once flew from DTW to MSP in a NWA DC-9. In the cabin, next to me on the aisle seat, was a NWA CA (in Uniform) who was comuting home. We struck up a conversation, and eventually started talking about aircraft.

Seems as though at one time in his NWA career, he flew the DC-9 at NWA, and he said that it was in fact, one rugged A/C, and that he still had such fond memory of the controls being tied to cables that he could 'feel' working the control surfaces. He said that to him, the DC-9 was the last aircraft built, in the NWA fleet, that gave him the true sense of being in total control.

Pretty good testament to McD!

 

[fracflyer]

I flew the DC-9 for a while and have to say it's the nicest flying jet I've had the pleasure of driving. At least the -30 was, the -10 and -50 were a different story. It certainly didn't have the power of the 757 or 767, but it really felt like it was all you and the airplane. Stick and rudder. Citation flies like a old C-172. As far as the better airplane, I think Boeing and Douglas both build/built incrediable machines. I've never flown a Lockheed, but I'd jump at the chance to try out that L-1011.

 

[jergar999]

Who is your friend at Alaska? My former flight partner at ATP is a mechanic for them and had the exact same comment. He also added that in addition to being less maintenance intensive, the Boeings are also easier to work on when the time comes.

 

[LR25]

I have been a mechanic on DC-8's for the last 7-8 years for a couple of freighter airlines, I am convinced there is no airplane out there today that can take abuse like the 8.

The DC-8 is the modern day DC-3, it just keeps going, it sure is sad to see them go.

If you find some corrosion, just blend it out, put on some boiler plate and hi-locks and keep flying. They are showing there age though, and part are becoming an issue.

I heard when they go to hack up an 8, it takes several swings to cut them, like they are fighting back.

 

[A Squared]

FL00,

Some people look at that picture and say "A Boeing can land with a huge piece of it's fuselage missing" Others look at it and say, "Hmmm, Boeings occasionally lose huge pieces of thier fuselage in flight" I don't recall any douglases doing that.

Ask yourself: How many DC-3's are in regular commercial service, and how many Boeing 247's?
Right, whatthehell is a Boeing 247?

How many DC-6's are still in regular commercial service vs Boeing 377s.

How many DC-8's are still in regular commercial service vs Boeing 707s, 720s

 

[SkyWestCRJPilot]

Has anyone flown both a DC-9 (or MD-80,-90) and a B717? I'd like to know how they compare and what systems changes were made other than the avionics.

 

[corky]

The 717 is a DC-9-30. It handles the same. Still fly by cable but all the bells and whistles of a modern jet and gobbs of power. It's the best DC-9 ever built.

 

[SkyWestCRJPilot]

Have you flown both corky?

 

[LR25]

I am a DC-9 mechanic, and the first time I was on an AirTran 717 during pushback, I heard the familiar sound of the PTU in the wheel well, and said yup, its definetely a DC-9.

Douglas does make a fine product, dont they.

Anybody ever heard of an MD-20................?

A little hint, it was a DC-8 fuselage, new wings, and 2 motors.

 

[SkyWestCRJPilot]

Is a MD-20 a modernized DC-8 like a MD-10 is a modernized DC-10?

 

[fracflyer]

I never had the pleasure of flying the 717, but it's very loud in the back as a pax. The A/C was weak on the DC-9, and someone told me the engineers set out to double the airflow on the 717. However, they forgot to increase the size of the eye-ball vents and the noise of the air being forced out makes it louder than the DC-9. I do think the big engines and the modern flight deck make it the best DC-9 yet.