747400sp From United States of America, joined Aug 2003, 3301 posts, RR: 2 Posted (2 years 5 months 3 weeks 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 3943 times:
I was thinking about, how the A330 design was base on the A300, then I started to think about the times, when the A300 was on main line service back in the 80's. A lot of time when I think about the A300, I start to think about the DC-8 70 series. Now I know Pan Am, Eastern and Continental had A300 fleets and United and Delta has DC-8 fleets in the 80's, but I would like to know, if somebody who flew on them, could write about there trip?
drerx7 From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 4916 posts, RR: 8 Reply 1, posted (2 years 5 months 3 weeks 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 3881 times:
I missed the DC8...regrettably. The A300 is another story.
I was scheduled to fly on the A300 more times than the trips ever happened. Continental's examples went tech quite often, at least on my attempts. Two trips I remember were IAH-LAX and EWR-IAH in 1994. The particularly IAH-LAX flight was around 1987 or so IIRC as I was about 6 or 7 yrs old. We taxied out from IAH gate C23 ish. In cross referencing www.departedflights.com I believe it was CO101 leaving IAH at 8:40. We taxied out, it was incredibly hot, we taxied back in. A/C inoperable. After waiting at for another 2 hours they started accommodating passengers overnight. We departed the next morning on I believe it was a 722, 733, or M80 - don't remember...I was bummed about it because that was going to be my first time on a 'big' plane. We returned back to IAH on a narrowbody.
In 1994 I was returning from MAD to IAH via EWR - DC10 to EWR connecting to AB3. This flight was uneventful. One thing I remember about the AB3 was that often times takeoff was with slats only, no trailing edge flap application - the only other time I experienced this was on a Sun Country DC10 from LAS-IAH in 1996. The last section of the AB3 angles up slightly, can be seen in pics of the angle up of the cabin windows. The AB3 always felt robust and high off of the ground, touch downs from my memory were always solid, bordering on rough but not quite so. 8 abreast seating in economy, it was a comfortable bird - just problematic. Now, CO was a different airline back then so I don't know how much of its dispatch reliability was AB3 specific.
rlwynn From Germany, joined Dec 2000, 996 posts, RR: 1 Reply 2, posted (2 years 5 months 3 weeks 3 days 7 hours ago) and read 3763 times:
I have flown on Both Delta and United DC-8's. And to be quite honest there really is not really any difference I can tell between those planes and narrowbodys of today except for takeoff noise. I seem to remember that planes of old had much more vibration than planes of today on takeoff. I am thinking that maybe the wings were stiffer than of today, transmitting more of the vibration to the passengers. But I don't know.
drerx7 From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 4916 posts, RR: 8 Reply 3, posted (2 years 5 months 3 weeks 3 days 6 hours ago) and read 3703 times:
I'd imagine that a 753 is alot like flying a DC8 more or less? I'm also assuming the poster is referring to the DC8-7X series birds.
Mortyman From Norway, joined Aug 2006, 3237 posts, RR: 2 Reply 5, posted (2 years 5 months 3 weeks 3 days 1 hour ago) and read 3640 times:
I flew with American Airlines Airbus 300, but that was back in 1990, between New York and San Juan, Puerto Rico. I remember at the time I felt it was strange that I was flying an American airline and a European plane. I was only 12 at the time
American Airlines flew Airbus 300 between 1988 and 2009
falstaff From United States of America, joined Jun 2006, 5705 posts, RR: 29 Reply 6, posted (2 years 5 months 3 weeks 3 days ago) and read 3624 times:
I flew on UA DC-8s back in the 1980s a bunch of times out of DEN. I was just a kid back then, but I liked the DC-8s because they were really good looking planes. I remember looking out the window and seeing two engines hanging on the wings. I also recall visiting the cockpit and meeting the flight crew on one trip. I didn't think of the planes as anything special back then because I was young and I just loved flying on anything back then. I still love flying on anything so I guess things have not changed so much. I do recall the DC-8s landing as kind of rough, but nothing horrible.
I also recall seeing the UA DC-8 freighters hanging around DEN in the 80s too. I liked that UAL color scheme back then, it looked good on a DC-8
mayor From United States of America, joined Mar 2008, 9273 posts, RR: 13 Reply 7, posted (2 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 23 hours ago) and read 3611 times:
I got to non-rev, just once on a DL DC-8-71, SLC-ATL(equip. sub)......the acceleration was amazing......at takeoff, you'd be hard pressed to sit forward in your seat and for much of climbout, also.
[Edited 2010-12-28 21:45:06]
"A committee is a group of the unprepared, appointed by the unwilling, to do the unnecessary"----Fred Allen
727tiger From United States of America, joined Dec 2005, 225 posts, RR: 0 Reply 8, posted (2 years 5 months 3 weeks 2 days 12 hours ago) and read 3569 times:
I flew on DL's DC-8s several times in the late 80s -- ATL-LAS; LAS-ATL; LAS-DFW; DFW-ATL; ATL-BWI; BWI-ATL. I loved each of those flights, except the one time that, because of an equipment change in LAS from the scheduled 757 to the replacement DC-8, my "window" seat became a side bulkhead seat. Even then, I mostly missed the view; I still enjoyed the flight. Strong TO and climbout acceleration. The cabins were so long, seemed like they stretched back forever when you first walked on, mostly because they did.
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