WHAT AIRPLANE IS THIS?

Douglas’s DC9 Airliner

A little known fact is that Douglas had designed a four-jet airliner before Boeing finished its design. Douglas’s Santa Monica design staff completed work very early in 1952. Boeing had finally finished tinkering with straight wing jet airliner designs based on their propeller-driven C-97s then in service with the US Air Force. These models, 367-40 through 367-70, had various landing gear configurations and engine locations. It was not until a month later than Douglas, in 1952, that the Boeing design was frozen at the swept wing “Dash 80”, the model 367-80. The Dash 80 went on to become the famous Boeing 707.

Although ready a little earlier, Douglas did not have the capital to actually produce their design. Boeing went on to get the Air Force Tanker contracts and the first civil airliner orders while Douglas just watched from afar. Douglas had to compete somehow. On October 13, 1955 Douglas received a Pan AM order for the Douglas DC-8. Using this order to obtain production capital, the first DC-8, the Series 10, flew on May 30, 1958. It started service flying for United and Delta in September, 1959. The Douglas series of jet airliners was born.

Douglas made up for lost time by beating Boeing as the first to offer a long range jet airliner, the DC-8 Series 40. In 1961, this very successful airliner made history as the very first airliner, with a full load, to actually break the Sound Barrier and survive. The Dc-8 had far more design flexibility than did the Boeing 707 and went on to capture many orders as it could be made to fit almost any requirement.

Now, with sufficient money to look at designing other aircraft, Douglas identified the shorter trip markets that were still being serviced by propeller-driven airliners as the best place to sell a new jet airliner. The first designs finished in 1958 were just smaller versions of the DC-8 and still had four jet engines. But the French Caravelle and the British BAC One-Eleven small jets were proving very efficient and popular with the airlines. Douglas countered with their Design 2086, the now famous DC-9. The first DC-9, powered by Pratt & Whitney JT8D Turbofan engines was an instant success from its very first flight on February 25, 1965.

Douglas was deluged with DC-9 orders; so many that capital again ran short just from the need to purchase all that raw material. Douglas needed help and McDonnell Aircraft Company had the money. Because of the DC-9, today’s giant McDonnell Douglas Corporation was born.

The DC-9 was proving to be the favorite of most airline pilots. It was considered “The Sports Car of the Air” and some pilots even called it the “DC Vette 9” (or “Douglas’s Corvette”) because it was fast like the Chevrolet Corvette and handled even better. But the original DC-9 only seated about 80 passengers varying by each airline’s specifications. Its speed made the airplane practical to operate but profitability could be increased if more passengers were carried per flight.
Douglas lengthened the fuselage to allow room for up to 115 passengers. This “stretched” DC-9, the Series 30, first flew on August 1, 1966 and began airline service with Eastern Airlines on February 1, 1967. It was an in instant success. With its full-span leading edge slats and double slotted wing flaps, the DC-9 Series 30 became the most popular narrow-body airliner in the World.

Many versions were produced from a shorter bodied Series 20 for small fields to a Series 40 with room for 125 passengers. The Air Force bought them under the name C-9A Nightingale (just who names these airplanes anyway?) while the Navy hung the name C-9B Skytrain II (huh? This is the best we can do?) on their DC-9’s.

Finally, the DC-9 Series 50, our contest airplane, was produced and flown in December, 1974. The Series 50 carried the more passengers; up to 139 in US Airline service and up to 160 people elsewhere. It was also the quietest airliner as it was equipped with new noise absorption, high-thrust turbofan engines.
The DC-9 was operated by almost every country in the Free World. Since the collapse of the communist block, some Eastern European countries now operate versions of this great airliner. The airplane in the contest photo was in BWIA service. Originally called British West Indian Airlines, the airline later became West Indian Airlines. The photo was probably taken before the name change.

The DC-9 still flies over all the world. While the design is getting old, the airplane is just too efficient to go away soon. While most larger US airlines have gone on to newer aircraft like the B-737, many of the world’s smaller airlines and regional carriers still find the DC-9 a profitable aircraft to operate.

The clues in this month’s contest were fairly straight forward:

The Douglas DC-9, the "stretched" version for extra seating capacity, has two jet engines mounted in the rear; one on each side of the fuselage, and was operated by many airlines, including BWIA (British West Indian Airlines)." The photo clearly shows the BWIA on the aircraft’s vertical fin. There are also only two jet engines on the contest airplane.

The Boeing 737-300 has only two jet engines, but they are located under the main wing, one on each side."
The contest photo airplane does not have engines on its wing.

"The Lear 36, while capable of intercontinental flight, is a small aircraft with just 5 windows per side."
This one speaks for itself. There are at least 15 windows behind the wing and 19 more in front of the wing. The contest airplane just can’t be a 5-windowed Lear 36 then.

The Boeing 727B is powered by three jet engines, two in the rear and one in the rear under the vertical fin."
Although the photo does not show the complete rear of the airplane, it does clearly show that there just can’t be an entire third jet engine anywhere in the rear section.

Back to NTP Aviation History