Rscaife1682 From United States of America, joined Feb 2008, 319 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (4 years 11 months 4 weeks 1 day 5 hours ago) and read 5369 times:
FAT5DEP From United States of America, joined Mar 2006, 118 posts, RR: 0 Reply 2, posted (4 years 11 months 4 weeks 1 day 3 hours ago) and read 5132 times:
Ahhhh, beat me to it!!! It's nice to reflect on the brighter spots in history given the current state of the industry.
Before a crowd of approximately 95,000 people at Long Beach, CA, Ship One roared into the air at an airspeed of 128 knots using only 3,250 feet of runway. N8008D was the tail number and spent 2 hours and 7 minutes in the air performing test mostly over the Pacific Ocean. Can anyone guess what the 2 planes were that accompanied the first flight? After 50 years the DC-8 has been stretched, modified inside and out and has had several engine changes and is still plowing the skies proudly.
From a personal recollection, one of my favorite memories was when my dad (who was a pilot for United and probably flew every DC-8 United had) and I flew on a DC-8 back in the 80's from SFO-BOS-IAD-SFO all in one day just for the sole purpose of flying on the DC-8.
So a round of beers for everyone and lets lift our glasses to the mighty DC-8 and to those who built them, maintained them and flew them and continue to do so. Longevity and endurance will remain the hallmark of Donald Douglas' first jetliner.
Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.
LongHauler From Canada, joined Mar 2004, 4281 posts, RR: 36 Reply 3, posted (4 years 11 months 4 weeks 1 day 3 hours ago) and read 5060 times:
I have to agree.
My Dad flew the DC-8s as well, the -40s, -50s and -60s, but went to bigger planes before the -70s arrived. When I was 13, he had me issued a complete set of DC-8 manuals which I learned from cover to cover to cover ... shoot, what a geek!
To me it was the epitome of an era gone past.
Imagine a 16 seat First Class section with two lavs, a dedicated galley and a stand up bar and 5 seat lounge.
Never gonna grow up, never gonna slow down .... Barefoot Blue Jean Night
Viscount724 From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 21491 posts, RR: 24 Reply 4, posted (4 years 11 months 4 weeks 23 hours ago) and read 4738 times:
Quoting N6801 (Thread starter): But today does mark the 50th anniversary of the first flight of the McDonnell Douglas DC-8 and that has to be worthy of mention.
It's sad that the first DC-8 ("Ship One") wasn't preserved in a museum rather than being scrapped after spending quite a few years in the desert after being retired by AM, it's last operator.
After Douglas was finished with it, including coversion from -11 to -51 to certify the first turbofan model, it was refurbished and went into airline service. Apart from several short-term leases it spent about 12 years with DL and finally about 7 years with AM.
Photos of "Ship One" with several of its operators (National and Trans International missing). It was also the only passenger DC-8 to appear in LH livery during a 6 or 7 month lease in 1965.
The DC-8 has always been my favorite jet airliner. I feel fortunate to have flown on almost every model from the -10 to the re-engined -71 on about 10 airlines. My first DC-8 flight was on an AC (then TCA) DC-8-40 YEG-YVR in 1963 (my first flight on a jet) and my last flight was on a UA DC-8-71 EWR-SEA a year or two before UA retired the type.
N6801 From Sweden, joined Aug 2001, 192 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (4 years 11 months 4 weeks 21 hours ago) and read 4578 times:
Yes, she sure was a beauty and also my favourite jet aircraft.
My final flight on a DC-8 was the -63 model operated by Icelandair back in 1989. I flew on those (JFK-KEF and KEF-JFK) numerous times between 1985 and 1989.
Viscount724 From Switzerland, joined Oct 2006, 21491 posts, RR: 24 Reply 7, posted (4 years 11 months 3 weeks 6 days 23 hours ago) and read 4203 times:
Quoting TwinOtter4Ever (Reply 6): Did this first DC-8 break the sound barrier in a dive during testing before it delivery to CP? Can anyone confirm this?
Checked my own facts and found that cf-cpg is the aircraft in question...bummer...but a cool plane with great history.
As you discovered, it was another CP DC-8, a -43 with Rolls-Royce Conway engines. Later photos of that aircraft which I flew on several times when I worked for CP.
JetJeanes From United States of America, joined Oct 2004, 1415 posts, RR: 1 Reply 8, posted (4 years 11 months 3 weeks 6 days 21 hours ago) and read 4097 times:
Did anyone notice on the 1st picture of this thread the Antennas? facing forward on each wingtip. I could not imagine them staying on without getting broken off.... But this was my favorite plane.. i can still feel the wings flopping in turbulence and felt safer in this plane than any others.. Dl i believe had the 63 model in the end. but i had an odd freight come in one day and it was a dc-55. I was not familiar with this plane but it had seen its better days and this was in the 80,s
Xaphan From United States of America, joined Apr 2003, 129 posts, RR: 2 Reply 9, posted (4 years 11 months 3 weeks 6 days 20 hours ago) and read 4065 times:
I have flown scads of miles on Delta's DC 8-51s, DC 8-33s, and DC 8-61s. The -51 was my favorite. Well balanced with plenty of power, it fairly jumped into the air.
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