Douglas DC-8-10/20/30/40/50
- CountryUnited States of America
- TypeMedium to long range airliner and freighter
- PowerplantsSeries 50 - Four 80.1kN (18,000lb) Pratt & Whitney JT3D-3 turbofans.
- PerformanceSeries 50 - Max cruising speed 933km/h (504kt). Range with max payload 9205km (4970nm), max range 11,260km (6078nm).
- WeightsSeries 50 - Operating empty 60,020kg (132,325lb), max takeoff 147,415kg (325,000lb).
- DimentionsWing span 43.41m (142ft 5in), length 45.87m (150ft 6in), height 12.91m (42ft 4in). Wing area 257.6m2 (2773sq ft) on early aircraft, 266.5m2 (2868sq ft) on later aircraft.
- CapacityFlightcrew of three. Mixed class seating for 132, typical all economy seating for 144, or up to 179 in high density single class layout. A number of aircraft are converted for VIP/executive use. Freighter versions can carry approximately 15 tonnes (34,000lb) of cargo consisting of pallets or containers.
- Production295 Series 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 DC-8s built between the late 1950s and 1968. Approximately 25 series DC-8-50s were still in commercial service in 2002.
The prominent DC-8 was Douglas' first fly fueled aerial shuttle, and the USA's second effective plane controlled transport behind the Boeing 707.
Notwithstanding its solid hang on the world carrier advertise in the early 1950s, and the presence of the plane controlled De Havilland Comet in 1949, Douglas moved carefully into the field of plane fueled transports, a choice which was to cost it beyond a reasonable doubt in lost potential deals over the accompanying decades.
Douglas declared it was creating the plane fueled DC-8 carrier in June 1955, a year after the first flight of the Boeing Model 367-80, the 707 forerunner. The principal DC-8 flew on May 30 1958, five prior months the 707 entered administration with Pan Am. A coordinated flight test project including nine flying machine prompted accreditation being granted on August 31 1959. Passage into business administration with dispatch clients United and Delta was on September 18 that year.
Lamentably for Douglas, the prior accessibility of the 707 implied that introductory offers of the DC-8 were moderately moderate. In any case, the rise of Douglas' outline had officially constrained Boeing to extend the fuselage width of the 707, and dissimilar to the Boeing the DC-8 was offered in local and intercontinental variants from the begin.
Adaptations of the beginning short fuselage DC-8 were: the Series 10, the introductory local rendition with 60.1kn (13,500lb) P&w Jt3c-6 turbojets - 28 were constructed for Delta and United; the comparative Series 20 yet with all the more capable 74.7kn (16,800lb) Jt4a-9 turbojets; the intercontinental Series 30 and Series 40, controlled by Jt4a-11s or Rolls-Royce Conways separately; and the Series 50, maybe the authoritative short fuselage model and an immediate contender to the 707-320b/C, with 80.1kn (18,000lb) Jt3d-3 turbofans. Convertible 50cf and unadulterated cargo 50af Jet Trader variants were additionally offered, while others were in this way changed over to vessels.
The short fuselage DC-8s were supplanted in creation by the significantly bigger extended DC-8 Super Sixty arrangement.
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