McDonnell Douglas MD-80 Promo Film - 1983 

Indeed, I really too miss them

+Chris Nizer DC-9s are louder because they use the older JT8D-17 variant engines which are stage 2 noise. The MD-80s are still a excellent bird but they use the newer quieter JT8D-200 engines that have a larger fan diameter at 49 inches meaning higher bypass ratio that = quieter engines ,The old JT8D-17 engines are 39 inches meaning lower bypass ratio that = louder engines.

You would have hated them all the way across the Atlantic like I did!

One time I was standing close to the taxiway and a MD-88 was taking off. The vibration was so immense it nearly knocked me over and another time I was on the bridge and a MD-88 had just lifted off, the bridge amplified the sound. It sounded like a FIGHTER JET taking off! I can only imagine what a DC-9 or 727 would've sounded like.

Sexiest planes in the skies.

Man I should buy this plane years ago....:-(

+YLW Pyro These are quieter than DC-9s and these aren't retired at all yet .there only from the 80s ,30 years old isn't old enough for an airliner . They will be in service probably until the 2030s. The DC-9s are from the 60s and that's really old for an airliner ,there more rare birds to see nowadays since only 2 operators use DC-9s still.

the only domestic airlines that still fly the MD80 are Delta, American, and Allegiant and they're all retiring their md80s

Noisy... Well, on the outside and to some extent if you're sitting next to the engines. But get a seat in front of the wings, and it sure is the best aircraft around to fly in from a customer or crew point of view. A 737 might be slightly less noisy next to the engines/wings, but it will be more noisy in total all over the cabin. This is amplified by the thin outer skin of the 737s which also make the wind noise unbearable in the cockpit. The thin outer plating makes it so noisy that the crew usually use headset in the 737s, while the MDs were so quiet that the crew mostly used the speaker. In fact, when pilots were transferred from the MDs to the 737NGs in SAS, they were complaining that the cockpit is too noisy. It is a beauty of an aircraft. Long and slim makes it less affected by wind than 737s too. The MD80 is like a nice slim and healthy woman with the right curves. The 737 looks like a gravitationally challenged virgin.

Yes, very noisy, especially if your sitting in the back seat next to the jet engines which also blocks the window so you cannot see out.

Don't know about the -15, but I flew the -30 for six years and welcomed the quietness of the cockpit, where a normal conversational voice level could be used between the pilots, particularly following nine years in both seats of the BAC 1-11, before the noise suppressors.

Frank Naz I worked there two from December 1985 to April 1986 I worked department 546 building 80 on the MD 80 nose doc in April 1987 I transfer department 587 the west ramp and worked there until after 911 where I was transferred to the C-17

what do you mean.....do you mean the MD-80 or the DC-9??

Sean Carley md-80 IS a dc-9. the first examples were known as dc-9-80 (or super 80, for us AA fans). the -80 is a stretched dc-9-50 with more wing, power, & tech

But it's safer though....and it looks a little different:P

A md80 is bigger and better than dc9 -10 -20 -30 -40 -50 ... even the tech used in the 80's is better than another aircrafts nowadays

Hey "museack", u former Museair? I was a huge fan! Great crews and "beautiful" service!!!

+Hazafan88 Very beautiful and noisy jet.

mystique​ yes. Compared to jets now, it's obviously much louder. But so were all the other jets built around that time period. 

+Hazafan88 Still to this day whenever i see an Alaska plane, I too think of flight 261 with much dislike. I will never use their services. I don't care if they are the safest airline since that crash.

That accident is a peculiar one. If it wasn't for those two very experienced test pilots, they might have made it. They started to test a little bit to figure out what was wrong, and did a fatal error while screwing around (literally) with the stabilizer. A less experienced pilot may have landed imediately and not played around to make the job easier for the line maintenance later. It was a very unfortunate accident. A serious situation that could've been saved with some luck and not too calm pilots. In a way, they were too good and confident.

For some strange reason they omitted that test footage from this promo...

+george sager That's not entirely true. Boeing marketed the hell out of the 717/MD95, but it was built for a market that didn't really come into its own until somewhat later. There is some truth in your statement, in that the only way to gain a bigger market, at the time, would have been to increase range, which Boeing was unwilling to do, as it would have eaten into 737-600 sales. Hindsight is 20/20, though: nobody bought the 737-600 anyway, Delta used the 717 to replace the regional jets that initially out-competed the 717, and they're in demand enough that the few airlines that have them fight over the very few that turn up for sale or lease, which means that prices are on the uptick... with no plans for a -600 Advanced (Sorry, "Max 6"), one might wonder if the "MD90-50" could have filled that market for Boeing, a market, I might add, which is now in the hands of the Brazilians and the Canadians.

george sager Sir if you happen to look at the intakes of all the engines you will notice that it is not painted the reason being there are anti-ice ducts that use hot air off the engines that heat the area I worked at McDonald Douglas has a flight route mechanic on all versions of the twins yet which is what we called them and the MD-11’s

but why

@@banana_man_101 , Douglas Aircraft Company still existed as a division of McDonnell Douglas.

The Long Beach, California location was know as DAC or Douglas Aircraft Company. We referred to ourselves as Dougloids.

I myself believe the DC-9/MD-80 series is the best. It's still in the industry today with more than one airline!

The DC-9/MD-8X series for certain. They were some of the most successful, most economical, and reliable jet airliners to ever grace the skies. Their safety record seems very poor because of how popular the airliner was, but they were also pretty safe as well.

DC-9/MD-80 were in my opinion, the finest aircraft ever built. Some DC-9's are 50+ years old and still in service! And in some respects, the MD-80's had better technology then some of the modern-day aircraft!

Hahaha very funny

Until you forget to grease the jack screw holding the elevators in place!

Maxwell M. That was maintenance error by the airline.

261

I take 'exhibits excellent characteristics' to mean 'didn't crash'

@@jblyon2 Which is always a plus (:

I'd like to have a McTwin jet please... With a large soda as well

I took off from Detroit several years back in an MD-88 that wasn't even half loaded. The route was normally served by a regional CRJ-700, but Delta subbed in the 88 after a number of connecting passengers missed an earlier flight to our destination so they would all have seats on our flight. Shortest takeoff roll I've ever experienced. She took off like a rocket! I can't complain about the aircraft that have replaced the 88/90s on the routes I usually fly, but the Mad Dog (88) & Maintenance Delay (90) will always have a place in my heart.

Super 80

DC-9-80 or DC-9 Super 80, used interchangably

gaguy1967 The aircraft name is the Is the MD-80 and upgraded engines the name was modified to the MD-83. I was in charge of the A/C and pressurization on the aircraft, I assumed that role at 28 years old. Is it a fine and sturdy airframe, it is capable of landing with no engines operating and no electrical power, very safe aircraft

It happened... eehh... exactly one time. The wing-mounted engine of other aircraft are more sensitive to ingesting foreign objects from the ground, which has happened a lot more. Even caused a couple of crashes after takeoff.

Yes here in Sweden year 1991 a MD-80 made a crash landing caused by clear ice. miraculously no one died.

+Håkan Gustavsson FOD ingestion from underwing engines is a larger problem, and procedures have been developed and used to mitigate overwing ice ingestion..

A heated blanket on top of the wing was added to prevent ice formation on top of wing from breaking loose and entering engine. Ice ingestion into engine was all but eliminated with this addition.

Another benefit to rear mounted engines versus wingmounted engines if you have to shut down an engine in flight you have less assmetrical yaw with rear mounted engines vs wing mounted engines however rear mounted engines are more susceptible to damage from debris kicked up by the main landing gear tires I worked as a flight ramp mechanic at McDonnell Douglas from 1985 through the merger with Boeing finishing my career working on a C-17 I worked all versions of the twinjet as well as the trijet MD11 KC10

@John Portal This is mainly why Delta retired their MD-90's early. While the engines were commonly used, the variant with the modifications necessary for tail mounting required unique maintenance capabilities which they did not have space for in their maintenance facilities. The last remaining shop that handled the variant was in New Zealand, which is not exactly practical to get to even with the unloaded range of an MD-90. Prior to COVID they planned to retire each MD-90 as it came due for an engine overhaul. That said you can power back with tail mounted engines, which is pretty badass.

Hola Commander402

Juan Cabral which became the Md-80

Department 510 nose join.

You do know that the engines on the MD-80 were meant to be more quieter and efficient, right?

+Treetops97 Uh, no spoilers and tailwind landing, worn out crew on that one. Hardly a combination for brake effectiveness. Testing does not factor those in.

Never have read what a tad is, is tad a unit of thrust, horse power or what?

Tell it to business jet designers. They all have engines in the back. I think it's a great design.

It's quite a smart design to be honest...

The big problem with underwing T-tail designs is that they might slip into something called 'deep stall', occurs when the wings stall and the plane pitches up, airflow is interrupted across the stabilizer and can result in an unrecoverable stall.