NASA Douglas DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory
At the end of World War II, Douglas Aircraft practically owned the airliner market in the United States, and a significant share in Western Europe as well: the DC-3, DC-4, and DC-6 dominated the airways, with the longer-ranged DC-7 due to enter service. Boeing's entry into the postwar market, the bigger and more luxurious Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, suffered from being more expensive and less reliable than the Boeing aircraft.
That was about to change. Boeing began working on a jet airliner with swept wings, and to stay competitive, Douglas began looking into a design as well. At first, the company only intended to compete with Boeing for the USAF's jet tanker project, but the USAF chose the KC-135 (based on the Boeing Dash 80 prototype) before Douglas' design was barely off the drawing board. Since it was known Boeing intended to develop the Dash 80 into a viable airliner--the 707--Douglas had to keep going with their design to stay competitive. This would become the DC-8, which first flew in 1958.
To the casual observer, the DC-8 looked nearly identical to the 707, in that both were narrow-body airliners with all four jet engines in pods below the wing. They were very different aircraft, however: the DC-8 used a slightly different wing design (including leading-edge slats) and a narrower fuselage, though with the same six-abreast seating as the 707. The nose was also different, with two cooling intakes being an instant identifier for the DC-8. Because of the similarities in design, airlines questioned what the DC-8 could offer that the 707 couldn't, though the DC-8 was faster (one prototype actually broke the sound barrier in a dive). After Pan American bought several DC-8s as a hedge against the failure of the 707, other airlines did the same--if an airline ordered the 707, its biggest rival would often order DC-8s just to be different. Delta Airlines would become the aircraft's first revenue customer in 1959
Still, though the aircraft was successful, DC-8 sales remained flat: Boeing offered short-range 720s, intermediate-ranged 707-120s, and the long-range 707-320, which Douglas could not match. In 1965, however, the DC-8 was saved when Douglas proposed the "Super 8" designs: this stretched the fuselage on either side of the wings. Though it gave the impression of being long to the point of being unsafe (the DC-8-63 was the longest airliner in the world when it entered service), this gave the DC-8 a much larger passenger capacity than the 707, and handling on the "Stretch 8" was no different than the earlier short-fuselage types. Until the arrival of the 747, the "Stretch 8s" were unrivaled for sheer amount of passengers carried.
Production of the DC-8 ended in 1972 in favor of the wide-body DC-10, but now-McDonnell Douglas wanted to keep the aircraft viable. To reduce smoke and noise (the DC-8 was notoriously loud), and increase fuel efficiency, the company offered a reengine program, using high-bypass CFM56 turbofans to replace the earlier JT3 turbojets. This was a huge success, keeping DC-8s in passenger service into the early 1990s. Even after the "Stretch 8s" were retired by airlines, they got a second life as cargo aircraft. 556 were produced, and at least six are known to still be flying; at least seven more survive in museums.
One of the last flyable DC-8s and possibly the last unstretched one, N817NA started off as a DC-8 for Alitalia in 1969. It flew with the Italian flag carrier for a decade, then was passed to Braniff in 1979. After Braniff went out of business in 1986, NASA picked up the DC-8 for modification into the Airborne Science Laboratory. By this time, it had been reengined with CFM56 turbofans. Flying on behalf of the Dryden Research Center and the Armstrong Flight Research Center, both at Edwards AFB, California, N817NA would remain with NASA until 2023, when it was retired to become a ground instruction trainer at the University of Idaho. N817NA made its final flight from Edwards to Pocatello in May 2024.
The similarity between the Airborne Science Laboratory and a standard DC-8 is only skin deep. The ASL was actually heavily modified on its interior, with a suite of electronics that rivals the USAF's RC-135 fleet. Various sensors for measuring atmospheric phenomenon could be attached as needed; satellites could be tracked to make sure their orbits are not decaying; it could track the reentry of spacecraft; the ASL can even monitor and track wildfires, while coordinating data in real time with NASA ER-2 aircraft and UAVs. In addition to these roles, it could also act as a testbed for various sensors and such.
I caught N817NA by chance: while researching the Gulfstream at the Evergreen Air and Space Museum, I saw an article about N817NA buzzing Pocatello on its last flight (mainly to warn residents not to freak out about an airliner making low passes over the city). On our way down to Arizona in June 2024, we decided to make a stop at Pocatello, and sure enough, N817NA was parked there. I was able to get a decent through-the-fence shot. N817NA is looking a little dirty, but hopefully after it's done being a ground trainer, the ASL will be donated to a museum.
NASA Douglas DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory
At the end of World War II, Douglas Aircraft practically owned the airliner market in the United States, and a significant share in Western Europe as well: the DC-3, DC-4, and DC-6 dominated the airways, with the longer-ranged DC-7 due to enter service. Boeing's entry into the postwar market, the bigger and more luxurious Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, suffered from being more expensive and less reliable than the Boeing aircraft.
That was about to change. Boeing began working on a jet airliner with swept wings, and to stay competitive, Douglas began looking into a design as well. At first, the company only intended to compete with Boeing for the USAF's jet tanker project, but the USAF chose the KC-135 (based on the Boeing Dash 80 prototype) before Douglas' design was barely off the drawing board. Since it was known Boeing intended to develop the Dash 80 into a viable airliner--the 707--Douglas had to keep going with their design to stay competitive. This would become the DC-8, which first flew in 1958.
To the casual observer, the DC-8 looked nearly identical to the 707, in that both were narrow-body airliners with all four jet engines in pods below the wing. They were very different aircraft, however: the DC-8 used a slightly different wing design (including leading-edge slats) and a narrower fuselage, though with the same six-abreast seating as the 707. The nose was also different, with two cooling intakes being an instant identifier for the DC-8. Because of the similarities in design, airlines questioned what the DC-8 could offer that the 707 couldn't, though the DC-8 was faster (one prototype actually broke the sound barrier in a dive). After Pan American bought several DC-8s as a hedge against the failure of the 707, other airlines did the same--if an airline ordered the 707, its biggest rival would often order DC-8s just to be different. Delta Airlines would become the aircraft's first revenue customer in 1959
Still, though the aircraft was successful, DC-8 sales remained flat: Boeing offered short-range 720s, intermediate-ranged 707-120s, and the long-range 707-320, which Douglas could not match. In 1965, however, the DC-8 was saved when Douglas proposed the "Super 8" designs: this stretched the fuselage on either side of the wings. Though it gave the impression of being long to the point of being unsafe (the DC-8-63 was the longest airliner in the world when it entered service), this gave the DC-8 a much larger passenger capacity than the 707, and handling on the "Stretch 8" was no different than the earlier short-fuselage types. Until the arrival of the 747, the "Stretch 8s" were unrivaled for sheer amount of passengers carried.
Production of the DC-8 ended in 1972 in favor of the wide-body DC-10, but now-McDonnell Douglas wanted to keep the aircraft viable. To reduce smoke and noise (the DC-8 was notoriously loud), and increase fuel efficiency, the company offered a reengine program, using high-bypass CFM56 turbofans to replace the earlier JT3 turbojets. This was a huge success, keeping DC-8s in passenger service into the early 1990s. Even after the "Stretch 8s" were retired by airlines, they got a second life as cargo aircraft. 556 were produced, and at least six are known to still be flying; at least seven more survive in museums.
One of the last flyable DC-8s and possibly the last unstretched one, N817NA started off as a DC-8 for Alitalia in 1969. It flew with the Italian flag carrier for a decade, then was passed to Braniff in 1979. After Braniff went out of business in 1986, NASA picked up the DC-8 for modification into the Airborne Science Laboratory. By this time, it had been reengined with CFM56 turbofans. Flying on behalf of the Dryden Research Center and the Armstrong Flight Research Center, both at Edwards AFB, California, N817NA would remain with NASA until 2023, when it was retired to become a ground instruction trainer at the University of Idaho. N817NA made its final flight from Edwards to Pocatello in May 2024.
The similarity between the Airborne Science Laboratory and a standard DC-8 is only skin deep. The ASL was actually heavily modified on its interior, with a suite of electronics that rivals the USAF's RC-135 fleet. Various sensors for measuring atmospheric phenomenon could be attached as needed; satellites could be tracked to make sure their orbits are not decaying; it could track the reentry of spacecraft; the ASL can even monitor and track wildfires, while coordinating data in real time with NASA ER-2 aircraft and UAVs. In addition to these roles, it could also act as a testbed for various sensors and such.
I caught N817NA by chance: while researching the Gulfstream at the Evergreen Air and Space Museum, I saw an article about N817NA buzzing Pocatello on its last flight (mainly to warn residents not to freak out about an airliner making low passes over the city). On our way down to Arizona in June 2024, we decided to make a stop at Pocatello, and sure enough, N817NA was parked there. I was able to get a decent through-the-fence shot. N817NA is looking a little dirty, but hopefully after it's done being a ground trainer, the ASL will be donated to a museum.