I worked at the "Maintenance Operation Center" in South San Francisco from 1966 until 1980. I got my training in the USAF. I really liked working there, but I didn't recognize any of the folks working in the docks. It was a good place to work back then. I was a "sheetmetal/structural repair mechanic, first in "Plane Overhaul (SFOOV), and then over in the sheetmetal repair shops.
One of the hardest airplanes I've worked on. I always wondered if some Douglas engineers went under witness protection. It took tools, a hammer and a wide variety of obscenities to fix.
I worked the Overhaul Dock for Frontier Airlines in Denver, Colorado back in the mid 60’s. Three 8 hour shifts working seven days a week. The pace was stressful and the toxic fumes we were exposed to are still with me. I have permanent lung damage. Interesting video, though - brought back a lot of memories.
I'm quite sure all American carriers still maintain their passenger planes here. I could be wrong, but I don't think they would outsource maintenance to other countries.
@@paulschab8152 there’s a lot of infighting and negotiations in airlines against the unions because the unions want to keep maintenance work done here and airlines like American like to try and send it over to Brazil where they can have the work done for a fraction of the cost. In many union contracts the union has to give up some slack for the company to send some work away while keeping X amount here in the US. It’s a huge mess. If they could get away with maintaining everything in the cheapest shithole they would
What are the claims to the dead and retirees. :) At that time the planes were falling more than 737 max. Against the background of the accident rate of those times, he would not have been so bad. :)
Look how far we've come with regards to lighting and video quality since 1970, yet airliners have hardly changed at all. I think it shows what a great concept Boeing came up with in the 707 (and yes, I know that this film is about a DC-8).
Actually airliners too have come a long way since 1970. Back then we needed 3 people to operate the plane. Now it's 2. And they will be flying the plane farther than the DC-8 could, carrying more people more cleanly and safely too.
I'll show you a gauge cluster from the most advanced airliner from 1970 and we will compare it to a small Cessna or Piper with a glass panel today and you will see that obviously isn't true lol
Wow I used to watch the Discovery series on ABC when I was a kid. It's been years since I heard the intro music and the weird intro animation. Strange, I would have remembered this episode since I am a big airplane fan, but I can't scare up the memories.
You've just watched what is known in the aircraft industry as a "C-Check," as the narrator says is every 6,000-8,000 flight hours. United also did D-Checks where the airframe is stripped down the bare metal. Much of this is now off-loaded to third party maintenance firms.
It must have been a partial C check because there’s no way in hell they’re doing a whole one in 5 days. We spend 30 or more days depending on the age of the aircraft to do C checks on 737s
Imagine a TV show suggesting the reading of BOOKS! Not books to buy, mind you, but borrow them at the library !!! Oh, the humanity ! Sending your audience not only off your channel, but off your medium, and with libraries being free, no chance for affiliate commissions. I can hardly believe this. It is almost as if they were trying to help the viewer learn something. We know better of course, the show must have had a sponsor. Perhaps the airline itself.
It gets the kids excited thinking they should work for an airline. It's a recruitment film. To get idiots to work for this shitty industry. COVID-19 should have put them all out of business.
The DC8 62 and 63 have a wing span of 148 ft...the 61 and standard DC8s had a wingspan of 142ft. The narrator mixed the two wing spans in the presentation. United flew both super DC8s and standard DC8s.
Heck, it was a 60's kids show - books were used as an educational tool back in those dark days. Double heck, I was using a slide rule back then, don't ask . . .
Yes, it goes to show how much the dumbing-down agenda has succeeded when you realise this presentation was made for children. Back in those days, children had the intelligence to be able to read educational and informative material - such as books.
The appreciation of this aircraft comes from inflation of the dollar being taken off the gold standard in 1971, not the maintenance upkeep. Early sheep. 😂
I mean, it flew for 18 years before being scrapped. Considering the advances in technology by the late 70s, I would say it had a very full life, as airliners go.
Anyone else as gob-smacked as I am by how little video production styles and tonalities had changed between 1955 and 1970? If you showed something from 1985 right up against it, they would look like they came from different planets. And the PBS series "21st Century Jet" was 1994, and it's ... it's like it's a different medium altogether.
I thought ailerons were used for rolling around longitudinal axis, and rudder for yaw around vertical axis. So technically she is correct. Pitching is done with the elevator around lateral axis. Turning is something you do on the ground, however in the air it’s called pitch, roll and yaw.
I worked Overhaul for many years at United airlines. Sheet metal repair, fuel tank repair, paint, cargo door rigging, interior, etc. But for last 23 years I’ve worked the Terminals. It really takes a toll on your body and health. It’s hard work and many chemicals.
Crawling into those fuel tanks could not be much fun. I wonder if in 1970 they were following the confined space and ventilation safety protocols we use today. Just one last happy thought, that relatively young man and woman in the film are most likely dead now.
I worked as an apprentice mechanic in1970 in dock 3. We were taught by the WWII guys the ones that kept the planes flying with no parts and crap tools. They knew their shit.
I worked in shipbuilding in the early 2000's and got to work with a few people from "America's Greatest Generation" before they retired. Also we had tooling and machinery from the 1930's & 40's that was still serviceable and in good condition to work with! My uncle was a Flight Engineer for TWA and he loved aviation!
Great documentary posted. Other destinations the plane would fly to include Newark, Philadelphia, Toronto, Chicago, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Denver etc.
United Airlines DC-8 Super 61 fleet were stretched by 36.7 feet and equipped with the more fuel efficient and more powerful CFM-56 engines, I believe in the late 1970s. Their designation became DC8-71. I probably flew this one in the video. It was my first copilot bid at UA, but not until the late 1980s. The DC-8 did not have an APU, so always had Ground Air for starting the engines. Also, no spoilers, so if ATC kept us at altitude and we needed to get down quick, inflight reversers were available, but only on the inboard engines (early warning to the Cabin crew was recommended). Enjoyable to fly, and I believe it was a favorite of many passengers. Well before my time the flight crew consisted of Capt, F/O, S/O, and Navigator. The Navigator position had long been eliminated by the time I joined UA, although the sextant ports were still there. After our final simulator checkride (all normal and emergency procedures such as rejected takeoff, engine fire, engine out approach and landing, etc are performed in full motion flight simulators), the training department scheduled us with a DC-8 that was remaining overnight for us to complete our certification by flying down to Pueblo, Colorado to do our 3 touch and gos. The DC-8 simulator did not have an adequate “visual” to meet FAA standards to allow full pilot certification in the simulator. I did my 3 touch and gos, the other First Officer did his, then flew back to Denver Stapleton. This is never done any more in any major airline training syllabus.
That was American, not United. My uncle was a United mechanic in the 70’s and United mechanic instructor in the 80’s and he was very critical of that practice. When 191 went down he wasn’t a bit surprised.
