Does anyone remember the Douglas DC-9?

The Flight Detective
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The Douglas DC-9 was the second jet aircraft produced at Douglas Aircraft in Long Beach, California and first flew on 25 February 1965. It entered service on 8 December the same year, with Delta Air Lines.

Designed for short to medium haul routes, it typically seated 72 to 135 passengers. The most popular variant was the DC-9-30, which was built to compete with the Boeing 737.

Douglas DC-9 Video

Following on from last weeks video about the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, this week we take a look at the Douglas DC-9. Running for a little over a minute, this is a snapshot about the aircraft produced by Bloomberg when it was finally retired.

As the video points out, the aircraft has some legacy, being the basis for the later McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and MD-90 series. The more modern Boeing 717 started life as the MD-95 before Boeing took over McDonnell Douglas, so it is essentially a 1990s update of the DC-9-30.

What Is A Night Landing In A DC-9 Like?

Night landings when viewed from the cockpit of an airliner have a unique romance about them that can’t be beat. Here is four minute video of a landing in Merida, Mexico filmed from the jumpseat.

The views are amazing as it was a very clear night. It gives you some indication of what pilots might get to see during the course of their duties. Pretty cool stuff!

Overall Thoughts

There were 976 Douglas DC-9s delivered during the production run which lasted from 1965 to 1982. Final services in the USA were by Delta Air Lines, who inherited a fleet from Northwest when they merged. At the time, the aircraft were over 35 years old and still providing stellar service.

Just like the Boeing 727 and BAC One-Eleven, the Douglas DC-9 also had rear stairs built in that dropped down under the tail. Airlines around the world used the aircraft, such as Eastern Airlines, TWA, both TAA and Ansett in Australia, SAS, Finnair, British Midland, Air Canada, Southern Airlines, North Central, Allegheny, JAT, KLM, Swissair and lots more.

Have you flown on board the DC-9 before? What did you think? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image by Bob Garrard via Pinterest.

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Travis

I flew on a DC-9 from Flint, MI to Atlanta on New Year’s Eve 2010 on Delta. I was 15 at the time and I was on cloud 9 when I found out the first leg of my trip to Jacksonville would be on a DC-9 because I knew full well that that bird’s days were numbered.

Stefan

The boarding announcements used to be different. At my parent’s hometown airport, they made announcements in the “classic” way into the 80s. What I mean is most airlines had some sort of nickname or terminology hoping to make their version of what everyone else flew seem different. You might hear “Eastern Airlines announces Flight 213 DC-9 Whisperjet service to Louisville and Washington D.C. ready for boarding at Gate 12.” Not to be outdone: “Delta Airlines Flight 453 is ready for boarding at Gate 3, DC-9 fanjet service to Memphis and New Orleans.” PanAm had Clippers. Piedmont had Pacemakers. American’s Astrojets.… Read more »

Sante Brucoli

I love that airplane! Best teaching aircraft, old-school systems… and the MadDog (MD80) excellent aircraft…. with -219 engines is just a rocket! I started as a mechanic at Aeropostal airlines working on these birds…

Chuck Griffin

My Mom was a Reservations Agent for Ozark Airlines so I basically grew up on those birds. Flew the -10, -30, -40 and -50 by way of Ozark, Delta, Air Canada, Eastern, Northwest, TWA and Hawaiian. Got to board via the tail cone stairs once or twice. My shortest flight on the -9 was from Peoria, Illinois to Champaign/Urbana Illinois, a whopping 86 nautical miles and my longest flight was on the rare DC-9-30LR on Ozark from St. Louis to San Diego, a 1,557 nm run. On a certain aviation forum, my user name is OzarkD9S, so that will give… Read more »

Christian

If you count the MD80’s and 90’s, I was and currently am a fan of this plane. Less middle seats mean are a big plus. I also flew BWIA to Barbados once where the rear of the DC-9 had a self-lowering staircase, which let us just walk down onto the tarmac. I loved the idea.

Dave

Flying on Northwest and TWA (post-Ozark) were good ways to be aboard a DC-9. I remember being on many DC-9-10, DC-3-30’s and a few DC-9-50’s. Sadly, I have never been aboard a DC-9-20, those flying only for Scandinavian. The DC-9-20 was, in general, a DC-9-10 body with DC-9-30 wings.

DaninMCI

The first plane I flew on as a child on a Christmas time trip from MCI to New York (LGA I think) on TWA DC-9 quite the memory. I was about 9 years old at the time in the mid 1970’s.

Chris

The edge of that cockpit jumpseat always used to hurt my ass!

Chris

It was about a 14 inch square that folded from the wall next to the bifold door then has a small flip-up back. It was a small cushion but there was a metal lip on the front edge that dig into the back of your legs. Sitting on that thing was always a last resort!

Matthew

I listen to Joe Ely’s Song “Dallas” every time I pass through Dallas.

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