Window view from Biman Bangladesh Airlines McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 registration S2-ACO during takeoff from Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport (KTM), Nepal. Operating flight BG702 to Dhaka (DAC), Bangladesh on 3rd August 2012.
My first flight was on a United DC-10 in 1974 from Boston to Los Angeles. I was 12 years old, and they let my stand in the cockpit doorway. I remember the dials and what was then state of the art display, the three throttles, and three very friendly crewmen. "You can step closer in and look over my shoulder if you want to see out the window." There will never be a time like that again.
Agreed. My first DC-10 flights were r/t United 20, SFO to BOS and back in '90-91, then PDX to ORD. Also, flew NW DC-10s, SEA to DTW and back. Nice plane. Sad to know that they are gone now, likely to never come back into commercial service again.
Most DC-10s + MD-11's are flown for transporting air cargo, no more human passengers flying on any of these legacy jets to my best belief. The tri-jets were retired from service. Biman was the last airline flying it up until a few years ago, ~ early 2014. NW flew them til ~ '08, I think.
that screeching sound at the start gets me every time. I still remember, when I was a child I got scared by the sound cause I didn't expect the engine to roar up. DC-10 is the plane that I rode for the first time.
I have flown on quite a number of DC-10s and MD-11s on American and United Airlines. The last time I was on one was in 1999 on an overnighter flight from Oahu to San Francisco on North West. It's first class was amazing, flat seated beds, modern entertainment system, it was a beautiful plane. I miss the DC-10, it was a very comfortable and beautiful plane.
Wonderful video of an wonderful aircraft. I love the DC-10. I flown so much in the last 20 years but I never felt so well as in a DC-10. Powerful and smooth and very comfortable. I miss this great plane.
Agreed, vintage gold of the legacy DC-10-30 tri-jets. Biman was last airline to fly them; Northwest was last North American airline to have and fly the legacy DC-10s (30 series, I presume). I flew mostly on Northwest DC-10s, with a couple of occasions on United.
I had flown with DC-10 several times in the early 2000's. The smell of late 70s and 80s seat clothing with oily windows and it was a wonderful machine back then.
I think some of the issues with the DC 10 was that is was rushed into production because of the competition with the Lockheed L1011 coming out soon. Of course the L1011 was a far superior aircraft but cost way more than a DC10. After Douglas fixed all of the issues with the DC10 it became a pretty good old workhorse.
Great comments and perspectives, on the legacy DC-10s vs. L1011 tri-jets. Both were good wide-body jets, albeit Douglas did rush their DC-10s and had post-launch issues with engines, hydraulics, cargo doors, etc.
What an awesome video! This is the perfect angle and the engines sound amazing. I like how the wings look from this view also. If I had one more pass on the DC-10 this would definitely be the view to get. My last DC-10 flight was on NWA flying DTW - LGW back in 1999 I believe. It was at night and way before I had a digital camera so sadly I have nothing to remember it by. Thanks for bringing the unique colors of classic passenger aviation back to life :)
Great video, I once flew on an Air Lanka Tri Star back in '98, it was 4R-ULE , it should of been one of the then new A340s , but they were updating the computers, so we went out on the Tri Star. I loved it , it was also very quiet, I expected it to be noisy with the engine sat on the rear of the fuselage, but it wasn't.
The first DC-10 I ever saw was Wardair Canada at NCL in 1985 when I was 5 years old. Your username just reminded me of that, since we are talking DC-10s!
Last flight I took on a DC-10 was in February 1999 - was 9 going on 10 and taking a trip JFK-LAX with my older brother to visit my grandma... an American Airlines DC-10-10. Miss it. I sat window seat 4th row back from the overwing exit.
It's been 20 years since I've flown on a DC-10, and as much as I miss them, I don't think I would feel safe flying with this airline. Nice video, though.
I flew on one in 1977 from SFO to Miami. We were fully loaded (so were me and my friend) and I was looking out the window during takeoff. It seemed to take a very long time to lift off...I was getting concerned. Finally, it raised up and off we went. Later, my friend found out the plane was a "weaker version" of the DC-10. The airline was National Airlines. My friend used to fly World Airways...lots of DC-10's.
sunking2001 National operated mostly series 10; they have less power, but also a smaller Max Take off weight (MTOW), so their performance is as good as the heavy 30 or 40 version. What may have happened, is that DC10 has a Flex Take off mode that after calculating weight, wind, temp, and runway length, offers the pilot the minimum safe figure for reduced thrust take off (including all safety parameters). This prolongs engine life and when done properly it is a totally safe practice. It means that if instead of a normal heavy 110% N1 rpm, you can take off at say 96% N1 rpm, which means a longer take off run. When followed consistently, especially in Domestic flights that rarely go at full weight, the maintenance savings are important.
sobelou Thanks for the information...I fully understand what you explained. I always thought big jets like this one took off to get air born ASAP in case the take-off had to be aborted. My friend, who was a flight attendant for World Airways, explained there is a marker/light on the runway specifically lit for that aircraft. If the plane is not air-born at that point...the takeoff must be aborted. Is that true or did I misunderstand something?
sunking2001 Thank you for your kind words. Regarding your question, it isn't a fixed point on the runway, it is a speed, called V1 or decision speed. V1 varies depending on aircraft type, of course, but the important factors are take off weight, available power, runway length, outside temperature and wind strength and direction. When V1 is calculated, it simply means that after you reach that speed, you are committed to take off as there is simply not enough runway ahead of you to stop the airplane. Let's say that a typical V1 is 130 knots, so any failure before you reach that speed will mean that you can stop the aircraft using all means: brakes, spoilers and reverse thrust. But even if you lose an engine after V1, you must continue the take off. Fortunately all modern jets can continue the take off even if an engine is lost at or after V1, although just enough for a shallow rate of climb that you will allow you to return for an emergency landing.
sobelou Great explanation. But, how does the captain know if the aircraft is taking too much time to achieve V1 compared to how much runway length is remaining? Does the on-board computer set off alarms alerting the captain of this? The night of our flight we were departing on one of the eastbound runways at SFO. After the runway ends there is the bay. I guess that could be a good thing as opposed to smashing into buildings and freeways. BTW...news is starting to come out of the downed jet in Malaysia...alarms were "screaming" at the captain as he attempted to climb beyond the aircraft's abilities.
Running this video using a 1000 watt amp and a quality bass speaker is ah.......pretty thrilling. That incredible deep, deep, grinding sound goes right to your spine. I can't see a DC-10 takeoff video of a wing and engine without thinking of AA191 crashing in Chicago. You can almost see the entire #1 engine pod ripped out and flying backwards over the right wing. If you haven't seen the Mayday Air Crash Investigation of 191 look for it on RU-vid, incredible.
Yup, that "roar" is something else, on those large GE engines. Jumbo jets needed those large turbo-fan engines to get these legacy jumbo jets flying. RIP, DC-10 + MD-11 jumbo jets.
@@chrisparsons3367 Agreed, and good point. Many DC-10s had good takeoff performance to get airborne. Engine sound is ~ 100% of that of former NW DC-10s, likely using the same engines as former NW DC-10s and United DC-10s, my best guess.
@@DH111d: that depends. NWA used a mix of DC-10-40s (AKA DC-10-20) that were delivered new and DC-10-30s that were purchased secondhand much later. The DC-10-20/40s used PW JT9D engines while the -30s used the same CF6 as other operators. I can tell you the DC-10-40s were woefully underpowered by modern standards as the JT9D-20 was a very early high bypass engine. A DC-10-30 with the CF6-50 would have had about 21,000lb more thrust at its disposal than a DC-10-40 with the JT9D-20. Do not confuse Northwest's DC-10-40 (again, actually DC-10-20) with the much later JAL version with JT9D-59A which was comparable in performance to the CF6-50. With respect to acceleration, that's very hard to compare from a RU-vid video without knowing the weight, runway length, and calculated power settings used (we can calculate the rotor speed from the sound of the clip, but that would be a deep dive I don't have time for at the moment). Most people assume that every takeoff in every airplane is conducted at maximum power all of the time, and that's simply not true. Generally, operators use as little flap and as much runway as possible to ensure a higher takeoff speed and better initial climb performance while using as little power as possible to save on engine wear. 80% on the N1 rotor at takeoff is not uncommon on modern jet airliners when the situation allows. In other words: when you have enough runway, you want to use as much of it as you can get away with. What I can tell you is that, based on other takeoff videos and my memory of flying on NWA DC-10-30s, this takeoff was conducted at the higher end of the RPM range. VNKT has a 10,000 foot runway, but the airport is 4,300 ft or so above MSL, nearly a mile up. This takeoff was also conducted in August. We can reasonably call this a "hot and high" operation, so it's not surprise that they were trying to accelerate as quickly as possible. They simply needed to. So what are we comparing it to in terms of other airplanes of similar size? A 767 that had comparable runway but loaded lighter and used a lower power setting because they could get away with it? An L1011 departing from ATL at nearly sea level? An A330 using FLEX in the winter? You can see how this becomes a complicated situation very quickly.
It looks like they could be around another couple of years, from what I have been told by Pilots on the last few trips. There should be 2 active this week, S2-ACO & ACP.
flymajj....i worked for Wardair for ten years from November 1980. Was the best job, with the best people. Still keep in touch with some former colleagues.
For me, the first time was on a Continental Airlines Dc10-30. From Nadi , Fiji back to Sydney, Australia. I seem to recall in ecco that it was 2x5x2, or at least I think it was.
Yes it is :( My first airplane ride ever was on a premiair Dc-10 from Stockholm Arlanda to Canary islands in 1999. I got no memories from the flight because I was a 4 months old baby. But my parents are aviaton and cruise boats nerds to. Just like me.
CoCkerzz_ How can you just ignore the obvious. DC-10’s design was flawed and rushed so they ended up designing a better and safer one hoping they could dominate the market again which never worked out.
It's always kind of weird when these videos are focused right at the wing and engine. I get it.. awesome wing and engine, and a unique design, but I'd also like to see a bit of unobstructed Kathmandu scenery.
Great video and audio of one of the last flown DC-10s (30 or 40 series?). Biman was last airline to fly the DC-10; NW Airlines was last North American carrier flying the DC-10's (30 series, I think).
-30 and -40. They tended to use the -30 on international flights and the -40 on domestic flights at that time. The DC-10-40 as used by NW was originally delivered as the DC-10-20 and was used on intercontinental routes at the time, but the higher performance of the -30 was simply too hard for them to ignore, and in later years they were rarely used on international routes.
Same here, as I also flew on Douglas DC-9s and also DC-10s, mostly NW Airlines. I survived, NW/NWA did not, as Delta took them over and NW merged into Delta's operations.
In my opinion, these DC-10’s are quieter and a lot more pleasant to fly on than the obnoxious CFM-LEAP-1A/B/C engines. These are even quieter than the CF6-80 engines. CF6-50 engines for the win!
I recall my first and only DC-10 flight was on American...I was too young to really think about it...flying JFK-MBJ...normally an A300-6...well wouldnt ya know it when we were all strapped I glanced at the safety card and say :DC-10-30"...I had no idea until that point, but I was so happy!!
@@boffis123 It is (or was) Douglas Aircraft, becoming McDonnell Douglas. RIP, old DC-10 fleets of legacy airlines, including NW/NWA (Northwest Airlines), Continental Airlines, among other legacy airlines. Lockheed made the semi-equivalent L-1011 jumbo jet flown by Delta, TWA, and other legacy airlines.
