McDonnell Douglas DC-10

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DC-10
DC-9 · DC-10 · MD-11 · MD-80/MD-90 · MD-95
Ghana Airways DC-10-30
Type	Airliner
Manufacturer	McDonnell Douglas
Maiden flight	29 August 1970
Introduction	5 August 1971 with American Airlines
Primary users	FedEx Express Omni Air International Arrow Air Gemini Air Cargo
Produced	1968-1988
Number built	DC-10: 386 KC-10: 60
Variants	KC-10 Extender McDonnell Douglas MD-11

The McDonnell Douglas DC-10 is an American three-engine medium- to long-range widebody airliner, with two engines mounted on underwing pylons and a third engine at the base of the vertical stabilizer. The model was a successor to the company's DC-8 for long-range operations, and competed in the same markets as the Airbus A300, Boeing 747, and Lockheed L-1011 Tristar, which has a similar layout to the DC-10.

Production of the DC-10 ended in December 1988 with 386 delivered to airlines and 60 to the U.S. Air Force as air-to-air refueling tankers, designated the KC-10 Extender.^[1] The DC-10 was succeeded by the related McDonnell Douglas MD-11 which entered service in 1990.

[edit] Development

The design of the DC-10 began in 1967.^[2] It became McDonnell Douglas's first commercial airliner after the merger between McDonnell Aircraft Corporation and Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. It was built to a specification from American Airlines for a widebody aircraft smaller than the Boeing 747 but capable of flying similar long-range routes from airports with shorter runways. Although the Boeing 747 had commercial advantages due to its size, smaller airports could not accommodate it because of gate restrictions and runway length. McDonnell Douglas was able to capitalize on this with the DC-10.

The DC-10 first flew on August 29, 1970 and entered commercial service with launch customer American Airlines on August 5, 1971 on a round trip flight between Los Angeles and Chicago, nearly a year before the Lockheed L-1011 Tristar (which was built to a similar specification). The similarity to the L-1011 in terms of passenger capacity and launch in the same time frame resulted in a head to head sales competition which affected profitability of the aircraft. The launch customers for the DC-10 were American Airlines and United Airlines with orders for 25 and 60 respectively of the Series 10 model. Eventually, the DC-10 was able to distinguish itself from its competitors with a second engine supplier, which has the possible effect of controlling costs due to competition, as well as earlier introduction of longer range variants than the L-1011.

Northwest Airlines DC-10-30.

The first DC-10 version was the "domestic" series 10 with a range of 3,800 miles (6,112 km). The series 20 (only ordered by Northwest Orient and Japan Airlines) had a typical load range of 5,750 mi (9,265 km) or a maximum payload range of 7,520 km. The series 30 had a typical load range of 6,220 mi (10,010 km) or a maximum payload range of 7,410 km. The series 20 was powered by Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines, whereas the series 10 and 30 engines were General Electric CF6.

Before delivery of its aircraft, Northwest's president asked that the "series 20" aircraft be redesignated "series 40" because he argued that the aircraft was much improved over the original design. The FAA issued the Series 40 certificate on 27 October 1972.^[3]

One of the main visible differences between the models is that the series 10 has three sets of landing gear (one front and two main) while the series 30 and 40 have four gear (one front, three main). The center main 2-wheel landing gear (which extends from the center of the fuselage) was added to accommodate the extra weight by distributing the weight and providing additional braking.

The 446th and final DC-10 rolled off the production line in December 1988 and was delivered to Nigeria Airways in July 1989.^[4] The DC-10 was assembled at McDonnell Douglas's Douglas Products Division in Long Beach, California.^[1]

[edit] Design

FedEx DC-10 landing.

The DC-10 is a low-wing cantilever monoplane with a conventional tail unit with a single fin and rudder. It has a retractable tricycle landing gear, the later series 30 and 40 have an additional two-wheel main landing gear. It is powered by two turbofan engines mounted on underwing pylons and a third engine at the base of the vertical stablizer. It was designed to be a medium to long-range airliner with a widebody fuselage to seat over 250 passengers. It is operated by a crew of three located on the flightdeck in the nose on the same level as the passenger cabin. The fuselage has underfloor stowage for cargo and baggage.

[edit] Service issues

Despite its troubled beginnings in the 1970s, which gave it an unfavorable reputation,^[5] the DC-10 ultimately proved a reliable aircraft, much loved by engineers and pilots. The original DC-10-10's notorious safety record continuously improved as design flaws were ironed out and fleet hours increased. In fact, the DC-10's lifetime safety record as of 2003 is comparable to similar second-generation passenger jets.^[6] Increased inspections and modifications made the DC-10 among the safest aircraft for passenger travel.

[edit] Cargo doors

The DC-10 was designed with cargo doors that opened outward instead of inward as inward-opening "plug-type" doors used on smaller pressurized aircraft. Outward-opening doors allowed larger openings required by baggage for a wide-body jet. Outward-opening doors rely on a heavy locking mechanism to secure the door against the outward force caused by the pressurization of the fuselage. In the event that the door lock malfunctioned, there was potential for explosive decompression. This was discovered in 1972 following an incident aboard American Airlines Flight 96, but no mandatory repair order was issued until the Turkish Airlines Flight 981 crash in 1974. The cargo door on all DC-10s then underwent a redesign that added an additional lock safety device to the system.

[edit] Hydraulic system

Other initial design problems included its lack of locking flap mechanisms designed to maintain their position in the event of a hydraulic failure. The lines from all three independent and redundant hydraulic systems were located in close proximity, directly beneath the tail engine. The MD-11, and later DC-10s incorporated hydraulic fuses to prevent such catastrophic loss of control in event of a hydraulic rupture.

[edit] Engine pylons

Although the design of the engine pylons was adequate, it was not designed to facilitate easy maintenance; the original procedure for an engine change was to detach the engine from the pylon first, which was tedious and time-consuming due to tight tolerances. To save time and costs, American and Continental Airlines both started to use a faster procedure, instructing their mechanics to remove the engine with pylon as one unit using forklift trucks. McDonnell-Douglas advised against this procedure.^[7] This procedure was very difficult to execute successfully and led to damage that was the principal cause of the crash of American Airlines Flight 191. In November 1979, the FAA fined American Airlines $500,000 for using this faulty maintenance procedure. Continental Airlines was fined $100,000 on a similar charge.^[8][7]

[edit] Insulation blankets

An acoustic/thermal insulation material known as metallized polyethylene terephthalate or Mylar which was subsequently found to be flammable^[9] in the investigation of the crash of Swissair flight 111, was used on some DC-10s. In November 2000, the FAA ordered this insulation to be removed by June 2005.^[10] The high cost of complying with the Airworthiness Directive (FAA estimates a cost of $991,010 per airplane^[10]) was a factor for some airlines to withdraw the airplane from passenger service prematurely.^[11] This material has been removed from all commercial aircraft since 2005.

[edit] Variants

Japan Airlines DC-10 cockpit

Japan Airlines DC-10-40

The DC-10 was manufactured in a number of different variants:

• DC-10-10 (122 built): Original version, produced from 1970. The customers for this domestic version were American Airlines (35), Continental Airlines (8), Laker Airways (6), National Airlines (11), Turkish Airlines (3), United Airlines (46) and Western Airlines (13). The DC-10-10 was equipped with GE CF6-6 engines, which was the first civil engine from the successful CF6-family.
• DC-10-10CF (9 built): Convertible passenger/cargo transport aircraft. Only built for Continental Airlines (8) and United Airlines (1).
• DC-10-15 (7 built): Also known as the "DC-10 Sport", designed for use at hot high-altitude airports. The series 15 was fitted with higher-thrust GE CF6-50 powerplants. Only built for Mexican carriers Aeroméxico and Mexicana. Produced between 1979 and 1982.
• DC-10-20 : Proposed but unbuilt DC-10-10 powered by Pratt & Whitney JT9D turbofans. With minimal airline interest for the original -20, the name was initially recycled to cover the Pratt-powered version of the intercontinental-range DC-10-30. Northwest, one of the launch customers for this longer-range JT9D-powered DC-10 requested the name change to -40 (see -40 entry below).

• DC-10-30 (164 built): The most common model, built with General Electric CF6-50 turbofan engines and larger fuel tanks to increase range and fuel efficiency, as well as a set of rear center landing gear to support the increased weight. It was the second long-range model after the -40 and very popular with European flag carriers. Produced from 1972 to 1988, the DC-10-30 was delivered to 38 different customers, amongst which Lufthansa (11), Swissair (11), VARIG (11), KLM (10) and Iberia (9) were the largest.
• DC-10-30CF (26 built): Convertible cargo/passenger transport version and delivered to Martinair Holland (4), Overseas National Airways (5), Sabena (5), Trans International Airlines (3) and World Airways (9). Sabena was the only commercial operator to fly both cargo and passengers at the same time with its DC-10-30CF.
• DC-10-30ER (6 built): Extended range version. The first aircraft was delivered to Finnair in 1981, followed by Swissair with two aircraft in 1982 and finally Thai Airways International with two in 1987 and one in 1988. The -30ER aircraft have a higher Maximum Take Off Weight of 263,160 kg/580,000 lb, are powered by three GE CF6-50C2B engines each producing 54,000 lb of thrust and are equipped with an additional fuel tank in the rear cargo hold providing an additional 700 miles of range (10,620 km/6,600 mi/5,730 nm). In 1983, United Airlines leased three DC-10-30s from CP Air. These aircraft were modified to -30ER standards to allow the US carrier to fly non-stop on its Seattle-Hong Kong route. When returned to the Canadian operators these aircraft were kept in that version and two more DC-10-30s were converted by Canadian Airlines to extended range specifications.
• DC-10-30AF (10 built): The all freight version production could have started in 1979 if Alitalia had confirmed its order for two aircraft then. Thus, that variant of the trijet was only launched into production in May 1984 with the first order for five aircraft from FedEx. The express carrier ordered more DC-10-30AF in July 1985 to bring its order to twelve freighters. The last two were later canceled as the carrier was building up a fleet of second hand aircraft, and reconfigured to passenger by the manufacturer and sold to Biman Bangladesh and Nigeria Airways respectively.

KC-10 Extender during refueling

• DC-10-40 (42 built): Produced from 1972 to 1982, this was the first long-range version, fitted with Pratt & Whitney JT9D engines. Originally designated DC-10-20, this model was renamed DC-10-40 after a special request from Northwest Orient Airlines as the aircraft was much improved compared to its original design, with a higher MTOW (in par with the Series 30) and more powerful engines, the airline's president wanted to advertise he had the latest version.^[3] Northwest Orient Airlines and Japan Airlines were the only airlines to order the series 40 with 22 and 20 aircraft respectively. The DC-10-40s delivered to Northwest were first equipped with three Pratt & Whitney JT9D-15 producing 45,700 lb of take off thrust, before the introduction of the JT9D-20J, generating 50,000 lb of thrust through water injection),^[3] and had a MTOW of 555,000 lb (251,815 kg), while those produced for Japan Airlines were equipped with P&W JT9D-49A that produced a maximum thrust of 53,000 lb and had a MTOW of 565,000 lb (256,350 kg).

• DC-10-50 (none built): This was a proposed version using Rolls-Royce RB211 engines. It was hoped that by offering these engines British Airways would place an order for the DC-10. Such an order never came and the plans for the DC-10-50 were abandoned.^{[citation needed]}

• KC-10A Extender (60 built): Military version of the DC-10-30 used for aerial refueling. The aircraft was ordered by the U.S. Air Force. Produced from 1981. It is the longest-ranged production aircraft in the world.
• KDC-10 (4 built): Aerial refueling tanker for the Royal Netherlands Air Force. Converted from civil airliners (DC-10-30CF) to a similar standard as the KC-10. Also, commercial refueling companies Omega Air and Global Airtanker Service operate two KDC-10 tanker for lease.^[12][13]

The 10 Tanker during a water drop demonstration.

• MD-10: This was retrofit cockpit upgrade to the DC-10 and a re-designation to MD-10. The upgrade included an Advanced Common Flightdeck (ACF) used on the MD-11.^[14] The new cockpit eliminated the need for the flight engineer position and allowed common type rating with the MD-11. This allows companies such as Federal Express, which operate both the MD-10 and MD-11, to have a common pilot pool for both aircraft.

• 10 Tanker: A DC-10-10 converted into a firefighting tanker aircraft.

[edit] Incidents and accidents

"If there are in America or the world people who hesitate to fly by DC-10, those people are, like our airplane and our company, victims of a great mass of misinformation and baseless speculation. They have been misled, as we have been maligned, by so much falsehood that the truth, when it finally emerged, was scarcely recognized."
- Sanford McDonnell, 1980

The early DC-10s suffered a trying time during the 1970s when a string of notorious incidents and crashes led to a brief grounding by the United States Federal Aviation Administration.

[edit] Cargo door problem

The outward-opening cargo door design problem was first identified on June 12, 1972, when American Airlines Flight 96 lost its aft cargo door after takeoff from Detroit, Michigan, but the crew was able to perform an emergency landing with no further incident. Before Flight 96 took off, an airport employee had forced the door shut, weakening the locking pin and causing the door to blow out as the plane reached altitude.

In 2006, FedEx became the first U.S. carrier to equip its aircraft with an anti-missile defense system. The gray oval Northrop Grumman Guardian pod can be seen on the belly of this FedEx MD-10 between and just aft of the main landing gear

Although many carriers voluntarily modified the cargo doors and re-trained their ground crews, there was not yet a mandatory redesign of the system. Severe design problems still persisted with the aircraft's cargo doors, and two years after the American Airlines incident, an almost identical cargo door blow-out caused Turkish Airlines Flight 981 to crash into a forest near the town of Ermenonville shortly after leaving Orly Airport in Paris on March 3, 1974. 346 people were killed in one of the deadliest air crashes of the twentieth century, recorded in Aviation History books as the "Ermenonville air disaster". The circumstances surrounding this crash were similar to those surrounding the previous accident; however, a modified seating configuration on the Turkish aircraft exacerbated the effects of decompression which caused the floor of the aircraft to collapse into the cargo bay. Vents were not present to allow the pressure between the cargo and passenger compartments to equalize. Control cables running through the floor of the plane were severed when the floor collapsed and this rendered the aircraft uncontrollable. In the aftermath of this crash, all DC-10s underwent a mandatory door redesign.

[edit] American Airlines Flight 191

In 1979, with the cargo door issues resolved, DC-10s (all series) around the world were grounded following the crash of American Airlines Flight 191. Flight 191 lost its number one wing engine after taking off from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, USA, May 25, 1979.[1] As the engine separated upwards, it ripped through the leading edge of the wing, rupturing hydraulic lines which caused a hydraulic cylinder that locked the port wing slats to fail. As airspeed was reduced per AA emergency climb-out procedures, the slats retracted, the left wing stalled, the plane rolled left and crashed before the flight crew could recover. All 271 people on board, plus two on the ground, were killed in this accident; the worst single plane crash in America.

The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials discovered that a maintenance procedure was the culprit: American Airlines mechanics had removed the engine and its pylon together, rather than removing the engine from the pylon then the pylon from the wing, as recommended by McDonnell Douglas. This was done using a forklift and the pylon was inadvertently cracked in the process. The short-cut procedure, thought to save several man hours on maintenance, was used by three major airlines, although McDonnell Douglas advised against it.^[7] Although McDonnell Douglas was not directly at fault for the pylon separation, it redesigned the DC-10 to allow more redundancies in the hydraulic systems.

The Chicago incident also highlighted a major deficiency in the DC-10 design—its lack of locking flap mechanisms designed to maintain their position in the event of a hydraulic or pneumatic failure. Other wide-body aircraft of the day carried such a feature, but it was omitted from the DC-10. Another deficiency highlighted in the NTSB report was the vulnerable placement of wiring at the leading edge (front) of the wing. When the engine pulled up and over the wing, it tore out these wires, thus rendering inoperable vital warning instruments in the cockpit. Other aircraft of this era typically placed this kind of wiring in the center of the wing, in a less vulnerable position. In addition, only the pilot had a stick-shaker to warn of stalling, as the co-pilot was the one flying the plane, there was no warning that the plane was stalling.

[edit] United Airlines Flight 232

Perhaps the most infamous instance of a DC-10 crash was the Flight 232 disaster at Sioux City, Iowa, USA, on July 19, 1989. After the #2 engine (tail engine) suffered an uncontained fan disk failure in flight which ruptured critical hydraulic lines, the crew, led by Captain Al Haynes and assisted by a senior pilot flying as a passenger (Dennis E. "Denny" Fitch), performed an emergency landing by varying remaining engine power to control the plane. Although the aircraft was destroyed with the loss of many lives, the crew flew the aircraft onto the runway in a partially controlled manner and 185 of the 296 people on board survived. It is the closest any passenger jet has come to a safe landing without hydraulics.

The Sioux City crash concerned investigators because the total loss of hydraulic pressure aboard the DC-10 was considered nearly impossible. The design had lines from all three independent and redundant hydraulic systems in close proximity, directly beneath the #2 (tail) engine. Debris from the #2 fan disk separation failure penetrated all three lines resulting in total loss of control to the elevators, ailerons and rudder.

[edit] Other notable accidents and incidents

Other than the American Airlines, Turkish Airlines and United Airlines crashes well covered by the media and mentioned above, many other DC-10s were lost in different types of accidents. Other notable incidents involved DC-10s.

• November 3, 1973 - National Airlines Flight 27, a DC-10-10 experienced an uncontained failure of the right (#3) engine. The cabin was penetrated by engine shrapnel from the engine and lost pressure. One passenger was killed. The crew initiated an emergency descent, and landed the aircraft safely.[2][3]
• December 17, 1973 – Iberia DC-10-30 EC-CBN crashed in bad weather at Boston after having hit landing lights on approach.
• November 12, 1975 – Overseas National Airways DC-10-30CF N1032F was taking off at New York JFK Airport when it encountered a flock of birds. Take-off was rejected, but the aircraft could not be stopped on the runway. The pilot steered it on a taxiway Z at a speed of 40 knots. The main undercarriage collapsed and the DC-10 came to a halt on the taxiway’s shoulder where it burned out.
• January 2, 1976 – Overseas National Airways DC-10-30CF N1031F was operating a Hajj on behalf of Saudia. While the aircraft was on approach to Ankara, Turkey it reportedly suffered engine troubles. The DC-10 made a heavy landing and came off the runway. The trijet was then damaged beyond economical repair.
• March 1, 1978 – Continental Airlines DC-10-10 N68045 was destroyed by fire following an aborted take-off at Los Angeles Airport and the collapse of its left main landing gear.
• October 31, 1979 – Western Air Lines DC-10-10 N903WA was destroyed by fire at Mexico City after attempting to land on the wrong runway and having crashed into a building.
• November 28, 1979 - An Air New Zealand DC-10-30 flew into Mount Erebus in Antarctica during a sight-seeing trip. All 257 on board Air New Zealand Flight 901 were killed. The accident was caused by complex factors not related to the airworthiness of the aircraft.
• February 2, 1981 – Pakistan International Airlines DC-10-30 AP-AXE was destroyed in a hangar fire at Karachi, Pakistan.
• January 23, 1982 – World Airways DC-10-30CF N113WA was damaged beyond economical repair after touching down late and overrunning the icy runway into Boston harbor. Two people were killed.
• September 13, 1982 – Spantax Flight 995 DC-10-30CF EC-DEG was destroyed by fire after an aborted take-off at Malaga, Spain.
• December 23, 1983 – Korean Air Cargo Flight 084, DC-10-30CF HL7339 was destroyed after colliding head-on with a Piper PA-31 while taxiing at Anchorage, Alaska. All on board both aircraft survived.[4]
• August 10, 1986 – American Trans Air DC-10-40 N184AT was destroyed by fire while parked at Chicago O'Hare with no injuries or loss of life.
• January 10, 1987 – Nigeria Airways DC-10-30 5N-ANR caught fire after overshooting the runway at Ilorin International Airport, Nigeria during training flights.
• May 21, 1988 – American Airlines DC-10-30 N136AA was damaged beyond repair after overrunning the runway during an aborted take-off at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
• July 27, 1989 – Korean Air Flight 803, DC-10-30 HL7328 crashed short of the runway in bad weather at Tripoli, Libya.
• September 19, 1989 – UTA Flight 772, DC-10-30 N54629, crashed in Ténéré Desert following an in-flight bomb explosion, claiming the lives of all on board.
• December 21, 1992 – Martinair Flight 495 DC-10-30CF PH-MBN crashed while landing in bad weather at Faro, Portugal.
• April 14, 1993 – American Airlines DC-10-30 N139AA was damaged beyond repair at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport during a landing with crosswind. After the aircraft touched down, it drifted off to the runway's right.
• June 13, 1996 – Garuda Indonesia DC-10-30 PK-GIE had just taken off from Fukuoka Airport, Japan when a high-pressure blade from engine n°3 separated. The aircraft was just a few feet above the runway and the pilot decided to abort the take-off. Consequently, the DC-10 skidded off the runway and came to a halt 1,600 ft past it, having lost one of its engines and its landing gear.
• September 5, 1996 – FedEx DC-10-10F N68055 was destroyed by fire at Stewart International Airport, Newburgh, NY, following an emergency landing caused by smoke warnings in the maindeck cargo hold.
• December 21, 1999 – AOM French Airlines DC-10-30 F-GTDI overran the wet runway at Guatemala City while landing. At the time of the accident, the trijet was operating for Cubana.
• April 30, 2000 – DAS Air Cargo DC-10-30F N800WR was damaged beyond repair after overrunning into Lake Victoria while landing at Kampala, Uganda.
• January 31, 2001: Japan Airlines Flight 958, bound for Narita International Airport from Gimhae International Airport, nearly collided with another Japan Airlines aircraft. The other aircraft, a Boeing 747, suddenly dived and avoided the Narita-bound DC-10.
• December 18, 2003 – FedEx MD-10-10F N365FE was destroyed by fire during landing at Memphis, Tennessee.
• April 28, 2004 – Centurion Air Cargo DC-10-30F N189AX hit a pot hole and overran the runway at Bogotá, Colombia. During the overran, n°1 and 3 engines broke off and the aircraft's belly was damaged beyond repair.
• July 1, 2005 – Biman Bangladesh Airlines DC-10-30 S2-ADN was damaged beyond repair after the aircraft ran off the runway during landing at Chittagong, Bangladesh.
• June 4, 2006 – Arrow Air DC-10-10F N68047 overran the runway while landing at Managua, Nicaragua. The aircraft's front lower fuselage was substantially damaged following the nose landing gear collapse.

The Air France Concorde crash of 2000 was attributed to a fragment of titanium that fell from the thrust reverser of a Continental Airlines DC-10 that had taken off some four minutes earlier. This fragment was traced to a third party parts replacement which had not been approved by the FAA. A similar incident occurred in the following months when a Northwest Airlines DC-10 lost part of a thrust reverser after departure from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, also blamed on non-FAA approved parts.^{[citation needed]}

Sources: [5] and Jet Airliner Production List^[4]

[edit] Operators

See also: List of McDonnell Douglas DC-10 operators

Bangladesh Airlines DC-10-30 with landing gear extended.

On January 8, 2007 Northwest Airlines retired its last remaining DC-10 being used for scheduled passenger service, replacing it with an Airbus A330 for a route between Minneapolis-St. Paul and Honolulu,^[15] thus ending the aircraft operations with all major airlines. Regarding the retirement of Northwest's DC-10 fleet, Wade Blaufuss, spokesman for the Northwest chapter of the Air Line Pilots Association said, "The DC-10 is a reliable airplane, fun to fly, roomy and quiet, kind of like flying an old Cadillac Fleetwood. We're sad to see an old friend go."^[16] "The DC-10 is going to be remembered as a better cargo plane than passenger plane," said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst at the Teal Group.^[16] In November 2006, ATA Airlines announced it had purchased seven of Northwest's remaining DC-10s, to replace ATA's L-1011 airplanes. Omni Air International purchased six of Northwest's DC-10 aircraft, recently putting five of them into service, modernizing its fleet and accomplishing considerable upgrades to the flight decks of these aircraft.^{[citation needed]}

The aging models are now largely being used as dedicated freight aircraft. American Airlines and United Airlines have sold their large DC-10-10 fleets to cargo carrier FedEx. Many have been modernized to MD-10s by adding a glass cockpit, which eliminates the need for a flight engineer. Other DC-10 aircraft continue in charter and cargo services with their three-person flight deck configuration. Omni Air International and World Airways, continue to operate the DC-10 on charter passenger services as well as for the Air Mobility Command. Biman Bangladesh Airlines operates five DC-10-30s as one of their primary passenger aircraft.^{[citation needed]}

Non-airline operators include The Royal Netherlands Air Force with three DC-10-30CFs converted to KDC-10 flying tankers, the USAF with its 59 KC-10, the 10 Tanker Air Carrier with its modified DC-10-10 used for fighting wildfires, and Orbis International, which uses a single DC-10-10 converted into a flying eye hospital.[6] As of December 2007, there are 21 military and civilian operators of DC-10s.^[17]

[edit] Specifications

Sources: [7], [8], [9] and [10]

[edit] See also

Related development

• KC-10 Extender
• McDonnell Douglas MD-11
  

Comparable aircraft

• Lockheed L-1011 Tristar
• Airbus A330-200/300
• Boeing 767-400ER
• Boeing 787-8
  

[edit] References

• McDonnell Douglas DC-10 by Terry Waddington (ISBN 189243704X)
• McDonnell Douglas DC-10 and KC-10 Extender by Arthur A C Steffen (ISBN 1857800516)
• McDonnell Douglas DC-10 by Günter Endres (ISBN 1853109142)

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

McDonnell Douglas DC-10

• DC-10 page on Boeing.com
• DC-10 history on Boeing.com
• DC-10 on Aircraft-Info.net
• DC-10 & MD-10 page on Airliners.net
• McDonnell Douglas Trijet Network
• Early DC-10 concept