The Rise And Fall Of The McDonnell Douglas MD-11

the mcdonald douglas md-11 was one of the most visually striking aircraft of its time developed from the earlier dc-10 its distinctive 3-engine configuration helped it to stand out wherever it flew while it promised a lot the md-11 particularly in its passenger configuration failed to live up to expectations this is the story of its rise and fall the mcdonald douglas md-11 made its first flight more than 31 years ago in january 1990 however its story can be traced back significantly further to a previous mcdonnell douglas trijet design we are of course talking about the famous dc-10 this aircraft first flew in august 1970 around the same time as other first generation wide bodies like the boeing 747 while the dc-10 sold 386 units as well as 60 examples of the kc-10 tanker variants mcdonald douglas was reportedly considering new derivatives as early as the mid-1970s at this time it had its eye on stretched versions of the existing dc-1010 and dc 1030 variants however accidents involving the dc-10 began to worsen its reputation with no fresh dc-10 orders coming in macdonald douglas decided to rename the new derivative as the md-11 in 1984. it eventually launched the program in december 1986 garnering 52 firm orders alongside a further 40 options assembly began in 1988 great promise amid the negative publicity that surrounded the dc-10 following a series of high-profile accidents it was important for mcdonald douglas to emphasize the md-11's improvements a key feature was its two-person glass cockpit such a digital setup eliminates the need for a flight engineer on board saving airline space as well as money mcdonnell douglas also fitted the md-11 with winglets following research that he undertook in conjunction with nasa the design boasted a maximum take-off weight or mtow that was 14 higher than the dc-10s meanwhile its fuselage was 11 longer clocking in at 61.6 meters the new design could typically hold 298 passengers across three classes then there was the matter of range the dash 30 had been the dc-10s best performer with a range of 9600 kilometers or 5200 nautical miles however the new derivative specifications boasted an impressive 12 455 kilometers or 6725 nautical miles of range all in all things were shaping up well for mcdonald douglas as the company looked to put the dc-10s troubles behind it as we have established the md-11 made its first flight in january 1990 by the end of that year it had also entered service with thin air doing so on december 20th data from chaviation.com shows that the finnish flag carrier went on to fly seven passenger carrying md-11s the nordic one world member also flew two cargo configured md-11f's in its early years the md-11 had a unique cost of around a hundred million dollars or 209 million dollars today the first md-11s actually cost more than this to produce despite being similar to the existing dc-10 indeed the early production costs of 120-150 million dollars meant that to begin with the type was a loss maker however these costs were planned to drop to 90 million dollars over time mcdonnell douglas produced just 200 md-11s between 1988 and 2000. this represents a considerably lower figure than the company managed for the previous dc-10 family the reasons for which will become evident of these the majority 131 examples belong to the standard passenger carrying variant of the md-11 meanwhile mcdonald douglas also produced 53 cargo carrying examples of the md-11f there are also several far less numerous variants such as the md-11c just five examples of this combi aircraft were produced the same figure that the extended range md-11er managed there were also six convertible freighter examples of the md-11cf in terms of passenger carrying md-11s the largest all-time operator was former brazilian carrier varick with 24 examples swiss air was close behind with 20 followed by american airlines on 19. meanwhile delta flew 17 md-11s the md-11f remains reasonably widespread today the largest current fleet belongs to fedex with 59 examples a key factor in the md-11s comparatively low production output and a production cycle that lasted just 12 years was its inability to meet targets for given metrics the most crucial of these were range and fuel burn where it was soon found to be underperforming this prompted american airlines to express its dissatisfaction with the 19 tri-jets that it had received the fort worth-based u.s legacy carrier and one world founding member claimed that there were issues with its airframe and engines singapore airlines cancelled its 20 aircraft mt-11 order in favor of the airbus a340 300 due to the problems so how much did the md-11 miss its ranged targets by as we've established its specified range was an impressive 12 455 kilometers or 6725 nautical miles however in reality the underperforming md-11 could only manage this if its payload dropped to 22 000 kilograms a reduction of more than 20 percent if the aircraft did fly with a full payload this restricted its range to just 12 025 kilometers or 6493 nautical miles these struggles as well as internal competition from boeing products after it took over mcdonnell douglas caused production of the md-11 to cease at the turn of the century it soon experienced something of a fall from grace in terms of use on passenger services that being said it wasn't until 2014 that klm retired the final passenger carrying example the md-11 has found a strong niche in the domain of air freight the type remains a popular cargo aircraft today with ch aviation listing 108 as still being active while these trijets days are numbered at certain carriers such as lufthansa the longevity of cargo aircraft means that the type likely won't disappear from the skies entirely for a while yet what do you make of the mcdonald douglas md-11 did you ever fly on one of these iconic tri-jets let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments in addition to our daily youtube videos simpleflying publishes over 150 articles and a podcast every week if you're looking for the latest aviation news and insights visit simpleflying.com thanks for watching and don't forget to like and subscribe [Music]

Channel: Long Haul by Simple Flying

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Keywords: aviation, flying, flight, boeing, airbus, planes, aircraft, 737, 747, 757, 767, 777, 777x, a320, a321, airbus a380, a380, airports, american airlines, united airlines, delta airlines, british airways

Id: bVobYwr8N4g

Length: 8min 20sec (500 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 27 2022