McDonnell Douglas / Boeing MD-11

History of McDonnell Douglas/Boeing MD-11

The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is an American wide-body three-engine jet airliner, manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (MDC) and later Boeing. The MD-11 program was launched on December 30, 1986, following the DC-10 development study. Assembly of the first prototype began on March 9, 1988.

It was launched in September 1989 and made its first flight on January 10, 1990. Received FAA certification on November 8. The first delivery was to Finnair on December 7, 1990, and it entered service on December 20.

It retains the basic three-jet configuration of the DC-10, upgraded with a GE CF6-80C2 or PW4000 turbofan. It has slightly wider wings with winglets, and its MTOW has increased by 14 percent to 630,500 pounds (286 tons). Its fuselage has been lengthened by 11% to 61.6 m (202 ft) and can accommodate 298 passengers in three categories with a range of up to 13,200 km (7,130 nautical miles).

It has a glass cockpit, eliminating the need for a flight engineer. The MD-11 did not meet its range and fuel consumption goals. After Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas in 1997, the last of the 200 aircraft was built in October 2000.

Some MD-11 freighters were built, but more were converted MD-11 passenger planes, many of which are still in service with cargo airlines.

Specification

BASICS

Years of Service

1990

Origins

United States

Crew

10

Production

200

Manufacturer

McDonnell Douglas / Boeing - USA

Operator

Belgium; Brazil; Colombia; China; Ethiopia; Ghana; Germany; Indonesia; Ireland; Italy; Israel; Japan; Malaysia, Namibia; Philippines; Saudi Arabia; South Korea; Switzerland; Taiwan ;Thailand;UK;US

Roles

Commercial Aviation

Used in roles serving the commercial aviation market, moving passengers and cargo over long distances.

Dimensions and Weight

Length

200. 9 feet

(61.23m)

Width/span

169.5 feet

(51.66m)

Height

57.7 feet

(17.60m)

Cured weight

283,975 lbs

(128,809 kg)

MTOW

630,522 lbs

(286,000 kg)

Wgt Difference

+346,547 lbs

(+157,191 kg)

Performance

Installed:

3 x Pratt & Whitney PW4460 dev 60,000 lbs or Pratt & Whitney PW4462 dev 62,000 lbs or GE CF6-80C2D1F dev 61,500 lbs.

Maximum speed

587 km/h

(945 km/h | 510 knots)

Maximum

45,000 feet

(13,716 m | 9 km)

Area

7,863 km

(12,655 km | 23,437 nautical miles)

Range (MPH) Subsonic: <614mph | Transonic: 614-921 | Hypersonic: 921-3836 | Hypersonic: 3836-7673 | Hypersonic: 7673-19180 | Reentry: > 19030

Armor

None.

VARIANTS

MD-11 - the name of the basic series; Freight intermodal model-extended range model