United Airlines was the launch customer of the Douglas DC-8 jet in 1959 and they liked them so much they operated them through to 1991. When it was introduced, a promotional film was created which you can see below.
Many airlines made films promoting their new jet services. This one is a little bit different as it shows some detail about training the pilots and mechanics back then, as well as a whole flight.
United DC-8 Film
While the video is definitely a promotional piece, some of the things stand out. The personal reading light for starters, which is quite huge and is in the head rest of the seat.
Enjoyably it shows a flight simulator from the era with the images coming from a camera “flying” over a physical representation of the terrain. It’s literally filmed and projected in front of the pilots, substantially different to today.
https://youtu.be/U_u-pWghgM0
For a change I can finally see why people say that meals were better in years past. The film shows the DC-8 meal service in both economy class and first class and it looks pretty decent!
Some things no longer occur nowadays, such as the kids getting their wings when they fly on board. It is a shame, because I think things like that are really good for keeping children interested in aviation.
Overall Thoughts
It’s always fun to see the original jet airliner service. The DC-8 was certainly a popular aircraft, with 556 built though this is just over half of what the competing Boeing 707 sold.
When the seats recline in the video, you can see the room is not too different from what we experience today on board. It is a shame we can’t go back in time to see what it was really like, but video is the next best thing.
Have you travelled on board a United DC-8 or experienced the service back in the day? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Featured image by Jon Proctor via Jetphotos.net
My father was a United DC-8 pilot from 1959-1968, often on their Hawaii service even though we lived in Seattle. When he retired my mother, brother and I flew over to Honolulu a couple of weeks before his last flight for a month-long vacation. We were space available so we didn’t always know which flight we would get but luck was on our side and it turned out that my dad was the pilot on the flight to Hawaii! Mid-flight, my brother and I, one at at time, were allowed to come up to the cockpit. That is a favorite memory of mine and the only time I ever got the chance to fly with my father in anything but a light aircraft.
What a wonderful memory… and awesome they managed to make things work so that you were all on the same flight together. I can imagine visiting the cockpit to see your Dad in action is something you’ll never forget. An amazing experience all round, I think! That’s really great – thanks for sharing that!
The photo is from 1969-1970. Taken at HNL, and the aircraft is a DC-8-62.
Thank you for pointing that out, I appreciate it. It is difficult to find good colour photos from that era online, but I liked this one – the aircraft looks great in those UA colours. Appreciate the comment!
I remember flying aboard a United DC-8 as late as the 1980’s (Denver Stapleton to San Francisco). The plane was so empty. In retrospect, there were roughly 40 passengers. There were many more exits than planes now. The top photo shows 10 exits. Some versions, maybe the DC-8-63, had 14 exits. Now the Embraer E175 skimps with only 4 and no overwing exits. Qantas is sealing two exits on the Airbus A380 upper deck.
In general, business class now is the best ever. Economy class peaked in the 1960’s to 1990’s, depending on criteria. Mainline flying to smaller cities may have peaked in the early 90’s. Now some cities, like Louisville, KY or Columbia, SC have few mainline flights. Others, like Portland, OR, now have a non-stop to Boston while 10 years ago, a connection somewhere was required.
An interesting article!
Yes, I have seen a seat map of the DC-8 and it has exits everywhere! I think I recall something about some of them being called Jetescape doors. The upper deck exit sealing on Qantas makes sense as it they have very low density seating there.
Thanks for the kind words and appreciate your input and comments! I think you’re very right on business class now being the best ever whereas economy class peaked in the past.
+ meals were better, legroom was better, more empty seats
– minimal overhead space, less safe, high fares, less frequency
In the 1970’s, meals in economy were often in a tray with different compartments
Yes, there would have been way more empty seats due to the high fares. It would have added to the spacious feeling. Also true about overheads, they were originally hat racks before they became enclosed and bigger and bigger and bigger. Thanks for the comment!
That’s so cool to see!
I agree! Thanks for the comment!
My last flight on a DC-8 was on a United flight back in the 1980s. I recall the aircraft as being spacious with ample legroom and shoulder space in economy. And the aircraft itself seemed to have impressive performance from those four engines. Takeoff was a no-nonsense affair to be sure. The DC-8 was an impressive aircraft, as was the 707. IIRC, they both cruised at a higher airspeed than any commercial equipment does now.
As for the meals, those weren’t so great by the 1980s; however, I recall flying with my folks when I was very little (late 60’s/early 70’s) and the food was VERY good – even to a picky kid. I remember taking a transcon where we even received a menu – in economy!
I hear you on the impressive performance – they all became DC-8-71 aircraft in the early 1980s with brand new CFM56 engines (the ones that the 737s of that era had). They were more powerful, far quieter and far more efficient than the ones the replaced.
Menu’s in economy class have certainly gone for the most part haven’t they? I can imagine flying in the late 1960s and early 1970s would have been something. Thanks for the comment!
Other than the upper cabin of a 747 w/ lay flat seats, the United DC-8 was my favorite plane to fly back and forth to Hawaii in the 80s. Having a client on Maui, I had to make the flight regularly making it easy to get upgrades. The forward cabin was one of the most spacious at the time with extremely comfortable seats. I wish it was still flying.
I would have loved to have had the opportunity to fly on the DC-8. Great to hear they had very spacious and comfortable seats – for you to single it out over everything apart from the upper deck of a Boeing 747 with lie flat seats is high praise indeed. What was the on board meal service like? Thanks for the comment!
You need to stop reminding me of the “good old days.” The meals and service on the Hawaii flights were always exceptional. I especially remember Hawaiian music playing, steaks that were cooked to order in first class and unlimited macadamia nuts. There was always a meal choice–even in coach. The flight attendants (dressed in mumus) would ask, “Chicken or beef?” Our kids wound up picking up on the flight attendant lingo, “Feather or leather?” IOW, lots of memories! One last thing: the only plane that I wish I could have flown is the PanAm Clipper.
I love Macadamia nuts, so I would have been all over that. Steaks cooked to order is something you can’t even get nowadays so that sounds wonderful. I think the US airlines have always made the Hawaii flights a bit special as it’s just so far away, but they sound better in the past compared to now. I hear you on the Pan Am Clipper, now that would have been something completely unique to experience!