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Why Is The MD80 Nicknamed The "Mad Dog"?  
User currently offlineEA772LR From United States of America, joined Mar 2007, 2836 posts, RR: 11
Posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 19 hours ago) and read 17978 times:

I was just wondering why the MD80 was nicknamed the Mad Dog. I did a search but didn't turn up anything.


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We often judge others by their actions, but ourselves by our intentions.
40 replies: All unread, showing first 25:
 
User currently offlineANCFlyer From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 1, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 19 hours ago) and read 17967 times:



Quoting EA772LR (Thread starter):
Mad Dog



Quoting EA772LR (Thread starter):
MD80

 sarcastic 

Not rocket science really.

User currently offlineEA772LR From United States of America, joined Mar 2007, 2836 posts, RR: 11
Reply 2, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 19 hours ago) and read 17953 times:



Quoting ANCFlyer (Reply 1):
Not rocket science really.

I guess not....woops. I was thinking too hard I guess.


We often judge others by their actions, but ourselves by our intentions.
User currently offlineANCFlyer From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 3, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 19 hours ago) and read 17967 times:



Quoting EA772LR (Reply 2):
I guess not....woops. I was thinking too hard I guess.

Been there done that . . . it's all good.

User currently offlineRJ111 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 4, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 18 hours ago) and read 17800 times:

It was adobted from the wine MD 20/20 which was often reffered to as Mad Dog due to it's potency.



User currently offlineCaptaink From Grenada, joined May 2001, 5016 posts, RR: 16
Reply 5, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 17 hours ago) and read 17606 times:

One: from the front it sometimes look like a dog.. HAHA

Two: MD - Mad Dog

Or maybe it is one of those nicknames of which no one knows the origin.


GND/CRU/TAB/POS/BGI/SVD/SLU/SJU/NAS/ELH/TCB/MIA/FLL/MCO/TPA/DFW/IAH/CLT/DCA/PHL/PIT/LGA/JFK/SYR/YYZ/MEX/GDL/AGU/PVR
User currently offlineTatTVC From United States of America, joined Mar 2005, 72 posts, RR: 0
Reply 6, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 16657 times:

because of the go-around button! A friend of my parents was a Captain on the MD-80s @ Delta for a while, and coming into DFW one time they had to go around, so naturally he hit the go-around button (he hadn't heard the stories yet!.) The throttles go all the way to full power, the nose shoots up, the airplane rattles and roars like never before... he said he had no clue what the airplane was going to do next and it scared the crap out of him!* After that, he swore he'd never hit that button on the Mad dog again! But really, for the most part AFAIL it's from the McDonnell Douglas abbreviation.

*Not to suggest of course that he didn't know what he was doing; he was a great pilot and flew everything in Delta's fleet as he climbed the seniority list. But apparently the go-around button on the MD80/90 is something else!

-TatTVC

User currently offlineJettaKnight From United States of America, joined Feb 2007, 192 posts, RR: 0
Reply 7, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 16092 times:

Wasn't the MD-80 the first aircraft launched with the 'MD' designation?

User currently offlinePh-tvh From Netherlands, joined May 2001, 115 posts, RR: 0
Reply 8, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 15996 times:



Quoting TatTVC (Reply 6):
coming into DFW one time they had to go around, so naturally he hit the go-around button (he hadn't heard the stories yet!.) The throttles go all the way to full power, the nose shoots up, the airplane rattles and roars like never before... he said he had no clue what the airplane was going to do next and it scared the crap out of him!*

Dont tell me he never practiced go-arounds in the simulator?

User currently offlineTrijetsRMissed From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 1795 posts, RR: 7
Reply 9, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 13 hours ago) and read 15960 times:

Quoting JettaKnight (Reply 7):
Wasn't the MD-80 the first aircraft launched with the 'MD' designation?

The MD-80 was originally launched as the DC-9-55 in 1977. However, prior to service entry it was changed to the DC-9 Super 80 series, which included the -81, -82, -83. In 1983, the MD moniker was adopted to refresh the company image following AA 191. The MD-88 is the only variant of the MD-80 family that is not listed as "DC-9" on its type certificate.

So it was the first aircraft to be given an "MD" title. But the first to be launched as such was the MD-11.

[Edited 2008-03-14 14:54:36]


There's nothing quite like a tri-jet.
User currently offlineTravatl From United States of America, joined Mar 2001, 2172 posts, RR: 13
Reply 10, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 12 hours ago) and read 15433 times:



Quoting TrijetsRMissed (Reply 9):
But the first to be launched as such was the MD-11.

Which was the dusted off DC-10-Super 60 project.

User currently offlineDeltaDAWG From United States of America, joined May 2006, 617 posts, RR: 1
Reply 11, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 12 hours ago) and read 15406 times:



Quoting TrijetsRMissed (Reply 9):
The MD-88 is the only variant of the MD-80 family that is not listed as "DC-9" on its type certificate.

MD-90, IIRC I thought it too was not listed as DC-9?


GO Dawgs, Sic' em, woof woof woof
User currently offlineTatTVC From United States of America, joined Mar 2005, 72 posts, RR: 0
Reply 12, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 12 hours ago) and read 15227 times:



Quoting Ph-tvh (Reply 8):
Dont tell me he never practiced go-arounds in the simulator?

I'm sure he did. I was young when I heard the story and haven't seen or heard from him 10+ years, but the definite point was that the mad dog went crazy when the go-around button got pressed. I guess the simulator didn't quiet accurately portray what would happen! Besides, as amazing as simulators are, there's no substitute for the real thing (even though simulators are AMAZING!! Just got my first ride in ANC last summer at Fedex and it was sooo cool!!)
-TatTVC

User currently offlineMdorbust From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 13, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 15158 times:



Quoting TatTVC (Reply 6):
because of the go-around button! A friend of my parents was a Captain on the MD-80s @ Delta for a while, and coming into DFW one time they had to go around, so naturally he hit the go-around button (he hadn't heard the stories yet!.) The throttles go all the way to full power, the nose shoots up, the airplane rattles and roars like never before... he said he had no clue what the airplane was going to do next and it scared the crap out of him!* After that, he swore he'd never hit that button on the Mad dog again!

An entertaining story, but most likely not true.

The MD-80 is a very quite plane up front, even under full power.

User currently offlineHawaiian717 From United States of America, joined May 1999, 3039 posts, RR: 10
Reply 14, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 15138 times:



Quoting DeltaDAWG (Reply 11):
MD-90, IIRC I thought it too was not listed as DC-9?

Yes, both the MD-90-30 and the Boeing 717-200 are on the DC-9 type certificate and not listed as DC-9-xx.


go! is no Aloha. Mesa, go! home.
User currently offlineSuseJ772 From United States of America, joined Aug 2005, 585 posts, RR: 1
Reply 15, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 14623 times:



Quoting Ph-tvh (Reply 8):
Dont tell me he never practiced go-arounds in the simulator?

It's not like the simulator can simulate the "shake and raddle" of the cabin. Like the dude said, it isn't that he didn't know what he was doing, he was just surprised by the way it "felt."


Currently at PDK, requesting FWA >> >>
User currently offline474218 From United States of America, joined Oct 2005, 6340 posts, RR: 9
Reply 16, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 10 hours ago) and read 14231 times:



Quoting TrijetsRMissed (Reply 9):
The MD-88 is the only variant of the MD-80 family that is not listed as "DC-9" on its type certificate.



Quoting DeltaDAWG (Reply 11):
MD-90, IIRC I thought it too was not listed as DC-9?

Are you sure?

Quoting Hawaiian717 (Reply 14):
Yes, both the MD-90-30 and the Boeing 717-200 are on the DC-9 type certificate and not listed as DC-9-xx.

Correct: T.C.D.S. A6WE the MD-88 is listed right next to the MD-90-30 and the 717-200.

User currently offlineWarszawa From United States of America, joined Nov 2003, 726 posts, RR: 8
Reply 17, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 9 hours ago) and read 13903 times:



Quoting ANCFlyer (Reply 1):
Not rocket science really.

It's just that simple? Gee and this whole time I thought there was some kind of story or folklore behind it.

Well, in that case, i'll call em the Monkey Dung 80's.  snaggletooth 


Flying a plane is no diff. from riding a bicycle. Its just a lot harder to put baseball cards in the spokes. -'Airplane'
User currently offlineN1120A From United States of America, joined Dec 2003, 25566 posts, RR: 87
Reply 18, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 9 hours ago) and read 13846 times:

Another nickname for the MD80 is Skidbuggy. Has to do with their propensity for hairy landings.


Mangeons les French fries, mais surtout pratiquons avec fierte le French kiss
User currently offlineRampart From United States of America, joined Aug 2005, 2329 posts, RR: 8
Reply 19, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 13352 times:



Quoting Warszawa (Reply 17):
Quoting ANCFlyer (Reply 1):
Not rocket science really.

It's just that simple? Gee and this whole time I thought there was some kind of story or folklore behind it.

Well, in that case, i'll call em the Monkey Dung 80's.

I too was hoping for something deeper. Not a flippant restating of the abbreviation. I figured that. But why "mad" and why "dog"? Anything with the personality of the aircraft? Or the pilots that flew them?

-Rampart

User currently offlineANITIX87 From Switzerland, joined Mar 2005, 3039 posts, RR: 16
Reply 20, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 13244 times:
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It looks like a dog from a head-on angle, especially this Alitalia one. MD is the same letters as Mad Dog. I guess they could have called Manly Donkey, but it doesn't look like a Donkey.

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Alita...McDonnell-Douglas-MD-82/1115990/L/

TIS


www.tisdigital.com, www.stellaryear.com: Canon EOS 50D, Canon EOS 5DMkII, Sigma 50mm 1.4, Canon 100mm 2.8L, Canon 100-40
User currently offlineTrijetsRMissed From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 1795 posts, RR: 7
Reply 21, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 8 hours ago) and read 13125 times:



Quoting Travatl (Reply 10):
Which was the dusted off DC-10-Super 60 project.

True, a lot of R&D done for the DC-10 Super 60 series benefitted the MD-11 project. But the MD-11 still encompassed many things the Super 60 did not. Winglets, glass cockpit, composite panels, engine type, etc.

Quoting DeltaDAWG (Reply 11):
MD-90, IIRC I thought it too was not listed as DC-9?

 checkmark  Yes, as with the 717 too. But I said the MD-80 family specifically. Although they are so similar, I categorize the MD-90 as a "Mad Dog" as well. To really break it down, MD-90 and MD-95 were intended to be their own families. But thanks to Boeing, only two variants of the former and one of the latter ever saw the light of day.

Quoting 474218 (Reply 16):
Are you sure?

Yes, the other MD-80 variants are listed as the DC-9-81, -82, -83, and -87.


There's nothing quite like a tri-jet.
User currently offline7673mech From United States of America, joined Mar 2004, 612 posts, RR: 0
Reply 22, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 7 hours ago) and read 12805 times:

It is a play on McDonnell Douglas and the stories the follow the aircraft in service.

Quoting TatTVC (Reply 6):
because of the go-around button

I can tell you also that the aircraft is a work horse and very reliable atleast in its day.


Over eight-hundred twenty times a day the people of TWA take to the air with just one mission. Yours.
User currently offlineConcordeBoy From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 23, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 5 hours ago) and read 12288 times:



Quoting N1120A (Reply 18):
Another nickname for the MD80 is Skidbuggy.

...and another name for the MD11, or really-- Delta's, would be: SCUDs!

User currently offlineVatveng From United States of America, joined Jan 2004, 811 posts, RR: 1
Reply 24, posted (3 years 11 months 4 days 3 hours ago) and read 11731 times:



Quoting Rampart (Reply 19):
I too was hoping for something deeper. Not a flippant restating of the abbreviation. I figured that. But why "mad" and why "dog"? Anything with the personality of the aircraft? Or the pilots that flew them?



Quoting ANITIX87 (Reply 20):
It looks like a dog from a head-on angle, especially this Alitalia one. MD is the same letters as Mad Dog. I guess they could have called Manly Donkey, but it doesn't look like a Donkey.

"Mad Dog" suggests a certain "attitude" that something like Manly Donkey or some of the other oh-so-eloquent suggestions above do not. And if there is anything the MD-80 has, it's attitude.

25 TrijetsRMissed: Indeed, especially on take-off climb. I think that name originated with AA.
26 Pilotboi: Okay, now that we've gone over the MD part, it's "80"s turn. Why did MD skip ahead to DC-9-80 from DC-9-50. Was it because the 80s were coming? Obviou
27 ThirtyEcho: You need to use spell check or go back and get your GED, your choice.
28 ImperialEagle: No, actually that would be "Mighty Dawg".
29 FlyASAGuy2005: A bit touchy aren't we? Take a chill pill... Another thing, which may be a bit off topic, what's with AA and "Super_____"
30 Hawaiian717: The MD-80 was originally marketed as the DC-9 Super 80. Douglas had done the same with the DC-8 Super 60. Alitalia also uses the Super 80 designation
31 Iceberg210: I believe that part of the reason that the MD-80 was called the 80 may have been that it was in succession to the DC-8 60 and 70 series so the next se
32 Post contains images Viscount724: Swissair, the launch customer (along with Austrian) and first MD-80 operator, also called them Super 80s. Swissair and Austrian ordered 15 and 8 resp
33 TrijetsRMissed: I think that's the most logical explanation. Given that the year of the first flight and/or service entry for each aircraft, MD-81 through -88, seeme
34 Post contains images Pilotboi: But there was never a 60 or 70 series - at least that I know of. Yeah, the years seem to match up a bit. Even the 90 and "95" (717). So that's who st
35 Xaphan: Because "P.O.S." was already taken. I worked the aircraft for years in Delta operations. It was a nightmare to balance. The only place you could load
36 FlyASAGuy2005: They also call their ATR's "Super" ATRs. Noticed that for the first time in PR.
37 CALTECH: Never ever heard of that one, not from pilots, techs, ops, or rampers. Mad Dogs because they didn't like you touching them, leave them alone and they
38 Toltommy: some of the DL MD-11 pilots I knew referred to the MD-11 as the "Mighty Dog"....
39 Widget1580: I have also heard the MD-90 referred to as the "mother dog" I don't know how true that is. -Travis
40 Xtoler: Damn, RJ111, you beat me to that one. Not only is Mogan David a fine Jewish fortified wine, but also an aircraft maker as well. Oh, MD stands for Mc D
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