Brons2 From United States of America, joined Sep 2001, 2973 posts, RR: 5 Posted (10 years 10 months 2 weeks 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 2052 times:
I saw a pic on here of a DC-8-71 in 1990. This really surprised me as I would have thought the DC-8's would have been long gone by that point. What's the latest date that UAL used a DC-8 on pax services?
DC-10inLB From United States of America, joined Aug 2000, 140 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (10 years 10 months 2 weeks 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 1997 times:
Hi there. UALs DC-8s were great. I flew on it from LAX-SFO in 1991, that was the last year UAL operated them. Delta had DC-8s in the early 90s as well, i think their last Super 70 was retired in '90.
FlagshipAZ From United States of America, joined Jan 2001, 3419 posts, RR: 15 Reply 2, posted (10 years 10 months 2 weeks 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 1942 times:
Greetings. United retired the last of their 29-strong DC-8-71s in early 1992, while the last of Delta's 13 DC-8-71s were retired in early 1989. Most of these airframes went to UPS as freighters where they're still going strong. Regards.
"Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." --Ben Franklin
Airsicknessbag From Germany, joined Aug 2000, 4723 posts, RR: 37 Reply 3, posted (10 years 10 months 2 weeks 3 days 12 hours ago) and read 1941 times:
UA´s last DC8 flight was on October 23, 1991. If you dig deep enough through the web you´ll find the exact flight it was. SAN might have been involved, I don´t remember 100%.
American 767 From United States of America, joined May 1999, 3334 posts, RR: 14 Reply 4, posted (10 years 10 months 2 weeks 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 1904 times:
SFO was involved as well, it's one of United's main hubs. The final revenue flight departed SFO and arrived in Kona, Hawaai. The aicraft was ferried back to SFO. I remember reading that in Airliners. United has operated the Douglas DC-8 for over two decades, since the mid 60's until early 90's like you pointed out. The DC-8 replacement is the 757.
Ben Soriano
Brussels Belgium
"Aimer jusqu'a l'impossible, c'est possible". Tina Arena.
Gr8SlvrFlt From United States of America, joined Jan 2002, 1583 posts, RR: 16 Reply 5, posted (10 years 10 months 2 weeks 3 days 9 hours ago) and read 1896 times:
Actaully, the first United DC-8 service was on September 18, 1959.
Broke From United States of America, joined Apr 2002, 1322 posts, RR: 4 Reply 6, posted (10 years 10 months 2 weeks 3 days 8 hours ago) and read 1889 times:
UPS has 13 ex-Delta DC-8-71's. UPS does not have any ex-United DC-8's, happily. United had a feature that no other operator went for, which made their airplanes a pain for second tier and beyond operators. The lower baggage compartment doors on all (I believe) United DC-8's were on the centerline of the belly. They required a special container which was shaped in the cross-section of the compartment with a curved belly. The container was raised into the compartment with cables and slid fore and aft. The container transport carts had a fabric (canvas??) bottom on which the curved bottom of the container would rest.
Sounds good in theory, but once wear and tear occurred, the cables would hang up, the pulleys would break or jamb, a container would jam kitty corner somewhere in the compartment. But they used them to the end. Second tier operators would bulk load the bellys and going in through the belly door (unaffectionately known as the bomb bay door) was a real pain in the posterior (make whatever substitution for that term you would like). And a cargo shift would, at times, end with cargo sitting on the door.
ORD From United States of America, joined Jul 1999, 1370 posts, RR: 1 Reply 7, posted (10 years 10 months 2 weeks 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 1822 times:
I was amazed that United completely refurbished their DC-8 interiors near the end. In the mid-80s I was on some DC-8s that had new seat coverings but the older overhead bins, ceilings and sidewalls.
Much to my surprise, I flew again on the United DC-8s in 1990 and the whole plane was redone and looked really sharp. I remeber the ceiling panels and areas around the windows were shaped like stop signs. And it had very integrated overhead bins also with a new look.
737doctor From United States of America, joined Mar 2001, 1332 posts, RR: 47 Reply 8, posted (10 years 10 months 2 weeks 3 days 4 hours ago) and read 1804 times:
UPS has 13 ex-Delta DC-8-71's. UPS does not have any ex-United DC-8's, happily. United had a feature that no other operator went for, which made their airplanes a pain for second tier and beyond operators. The lower baggage compartment doors on all (I believe) United DC-8's were on the centerline of the belly. They required a special container which was shaped in the cross-section of the compartment with a curved belly. The container was raised into the compartment with cables and slid fore and aft. The container transport carts had a fabric (canvas??) bottom on which the curved bottom of the container would rest.
Sounds good in theory, but once wear and tear occurred, the cables would hang up, the pulleys would break or jamb, a container would jam kitty corner somewhere in the compartment. But they used them to the end. Second tier operators would bulk load the bellys and going in through the belly door (unaffectionately known as the bomb bay door) was a real pain in the posterior (make whatever substitution for that term you would like). And a cargo shift would, at times, end with cargo sitting on the door.
Those planes fly for Air Transport International/BAX Global. I had the pleasure of working on those particular aircraft for 6 1/2+ years. I love the DC-8, but you're right, those doors were often a "pain in the posterior" if the loaders didn't secure the nets properly or managed to somehow get them "off track".
RayChuang From United States of America, joined Jun 2000, 7716 posts, RR: 5 Reply 9, posted (10 years 10 months 2 weeks 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 1725 times:
Quick question: did UA ever use the re-engined DC-8's on the SFO-JFK or LAX-JFK routes? Or was this route switched over to the 767-200 before UA got their re-engined DC-8's?
DouglasDC8 From Australia, joined Dec 2007, 0 posts, RR: 0 Reply 10, posted (10 years 10 months 2 weeks 2 days 16 hours ago) and read 1710 times:
RayChuang,
The re-engined DC-8's were not used on the JFK-LAX route after the 767's were numerous in UAL's fleet. They were used on routes like DEN-EWR, SAN-ORD, SFO-KOA. Then for some reason, they started appearing on the EWR-LAX market.
UA actually did have one DC-8 that did not have the "pod" system, as we used to call it. It was an ex-JAL airplane that wound up in the bay at SFO due to a landing accident. As I recall it's UAL nose number was 2477. I don't know the registration number though. It had a somewhat different seating capacity than the other DC-8's. Something in the range of 28F/174Y. I believe that the rest of the fleet had a 26F/176Y config.
Another note, The Emery DC-8 that crashed at SMF a couple of years ago was an ex-UAL bird. Also, after the re-engine, they were easy to load plan. I never had a weight restiction on one, even on a long haul.
By the way, the DC-8 pods were carried in a metal dolly on the ramp. the door was fiberglass and the top was a canvas-like cover. As you may have guessed by my screenname, it's my favorite plane for sentimental reasons.
Brons2 From United States of America, joined Sep 2001, 2973 posts, RR: 5 Reply 11, posted (10 years 10 months 2 weeks 2 days 15 hours ago) and read 1686 times:
Speaking of the DC-8....
How come Douglas never tried to make a 2 engined version to compete with the 757? It would have slotted nicely between the DC-9-51 and the DC-10. They certainly could have made it lighter by carrying less fuel, the 757 only carries 11,489 gallons whereas the DC-8 had as much as 23,390 gallons. With a RB-211 twin DC-8, maybe it could have worked!
But anyways...I hope to fly on a DC-8 someday. Maybe I will ship myself somewhere
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