McDonnell Douglas MD-80
As jet power began to supersede propeller-driven aircraft in the late 1950s, Douglas began looking at designing a smaller jet airliner for operations into regional airports. At first, the company partnered with Sud-Aviation of France to market the Caravelle in the United States, but there was little to no interest in the French airliner. Boeing was gearing up for production of the 727, which used a fuselage design similar to the 707, but Douglas saw no way to scale down their successful long-range airliner, the DC-8. Therefore, the company would have to start from scratch.
The DC-9 was designed to be able to operate from smaller, regional airports that lacked a great deal of infrastructure, and might not even have the same quality of runways. To reduce the change of foreign object damage to the engines, both were placed on the rear of the fuselage; Douglas chose to use only two engines rather than emulate the 727's three to save costs. By mounting the engines on the tail, the DC-9 could be then lower to the ground, which made loading baggage easier, and component airstairs were included as an option in the tail and fuselage. This also left the wing clear of anything that would induce drag, allowing for a cleaner aerodynamic design. Large flaps were included as high lift devices to keep the DC-9's takeoff roll relatively short--an important consideration in small airports.
To get the DC-9 in revenue service faster, a prototype was not built and Douglas went straight into production, with the DC-9-10 series, capable of carrying 90 passengers. Delta Air Lines was the launch customer, as Delta needed an aircraft capable of serving their smaller airports, and already had a good working relationship with Douglas, operating DC-8s on long distance flights. The first DC-9 entered revenue service in December 1965.
Though competing directly with the 727, the DC-9 did quite well; along with the 727 and 737, the DC-9 was the primary short-range airliner for the Western world. The type was continually improved by stretching the fuselage for more passengers; leading-edge slats were also added to later Series 20, 30 and 40 DC-9s to improve short-field takeoff. To stay competitive, Douglas planned even longer versions with improved engines, but after the merger with McDonnell, these became the MD-80/90 series. A final variant, the MD-95--essentially a short-fuselage DC-9-30 built with composite materials--ended up, ironically, being produced as the Boeing 717 after McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in the mid-1990s. The last DC-9, a 717 version, left the plant in 2008, ending over 40 years of production. 2441 of all types were built.
These two MD-80s are parked at Madras Municipal Airport, where they serve as spares sources for Erickson Aero Tanker's MD-87 fleet. The closest one is N950NS, built originally for Alaska Airlines in 1991. It was sold to Ryan International Airlines in 2009, where it served as part of the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS, aka "Con Air"). Erickson bought it for parts in 2014; it has not flown since then.
The other aircraft is a bit more mysterious--I didn't get a good look at the registration number. However, I believe this is N990DL, a MD-88 built for Delta Airlines, also in 1991. It would fly with Delta for its entire career; after being retired in 2020, it was purchased by Erickson, also for spares. The remains of its Delta livery can still be clearly seen on this aircraft.
Probably these aircraft are eventually destined to be scrapped, but they were still there in May 2024, when I got this picture. In the distance behind N990DL is Mount Hood--we would get up to the eastern slope about an hour later, which is the closest I've ever been to a volcano. (Mount St. Helens was on the itinerary two days later, but the weather didn't cooperate and the mountain was hidden behind clouds--the day before the anniversary of the eruption, too.)
McDonnell Douglas MD-80
As jet power began to supersede propeller-driven aircraft in the late 1950s, Douglas began looking at designing a smaller jet airliner for operations into regional airports. At first, the company partnered with Sud-Aviation of France to market the Caravelle in the United States, but there was little to no interest in the French airliner. Boeing was gearing up for production of the 727, which used a fuselage design similar to the 707, but Douglas saw no way to scale down their successful long-range airliner, the DC-8. Therefore, the company would have to start from scratch.
The DC-9 was designed to be able to operate from smaller, regional airports that lacked a great deal of infrastructure, and might not even have the same quality of runways. To reduce the change of foreign object damage to the engines, both were placed on the rear of the fuselage; Douglas chose to use only two engines rather than emulate the 727's three to save costs. By mounting the engines on the tail, the DC-9 could be then lower to the ground, which made loading baggage easier, and component airstairs were included as an option in the tail and fuselage. This also left the wing clear of anything that would induce drag, allowing for a cleaner aerodynamic design. Large flaps were included as high lift devices to keep the DC-9's takeoff roll relatively short--an important consideration in small airports.
To get the DC-9 in revenue service faster, a prototype was not built and Douglas went straight into production, with the DC-9-10 series, capable of carrying 90 passengers. Delta Air Lines was the launch customer, as Delta needed an aircraft capable of serving their smaller airports, and already had a good working relationship with Douglas, operating DC-8s on long distance flights. The first DC-9 entered revenue service in December 1965.
Though competing directly with the 727, the DC-9 did quite well; along with the 727 and 737, the DC-9 was the primary short-range airliner for the Western world. The type was continually improved by stretching the fuselage for more passengers; leading-edge slats were also added to later Series 20, 30 and 40 DC-9s to improve short-field takeoff. To stay competitive, Douglas planned even longer versions with improved engines, but after the merger with McDonnell, these became the MD-80/90 series. A final variant, the MD-95--essentially a short-fuselage DC-9-30 built with composite materials--ended up, ironically, being produced as the Boeing 717 after McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing in the mid-1990s. The last DC-9, a 717 version, left the plant in 2008, ending over 40 years of production. 2441 of all types were built.
These two MD-80s are parked at Madras Municipal Airport, where they serve as spares sources for Erickson Aero Tanker's MD-87 fleet. The closest one is N950NS, built originally for Alaska Airlines in 1991. It was sold to Ryan International Airlines in 2009, where it served as part of the Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System (JPATS, aka "Con Air"). Erickson bought it for parts in 2014; it has not flown since then.
The other aircraft is a bit more mysterious--I didn't get a good look at the registration number. However, I believe this is N990DL, a MD-88 built for Delta Airlines, also in 1991. It would fly with Delta for its entire career; after being retired in 2020, it was purchased by Erickson, also for spares. The remains of its Delta livery can still be clearly seen on this aircraft.
Probably these aircraft are eventually destined to be scrapped, but they were still there in May 2024, when I got this picture. In the distance behind N990DL is Mount Hood--we would get up to the eastern slope about an hour later, which is the closest I've ever been to a volcano. (Mount St. Helens was on the itinerary two days later, but the weather didn't cooperate and the mountain was hidden behind clouds--the day before the anniversary of the eruption, too.)