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Douglas DC-8

1959 COLD WAR MODERN AIRCRAFT

History of the Douglas DC-8

The Douglas Aircraft Company was established in 1921 and rose to prominence during World War II (1939-1945), but was slow to enter the passenger aircraft market, opting instead to develop more powerful and efficient propeller drives in the United States platform. postwar world. This commitment led to a string of successes for the Douglas "DC" family of aircraft, spanning decades of flight, from the pre-war DC-2 to the post-war DC-7.

The British beat everyone by taking the lead in flying their de Havilland "Comet" (described in detail elsewhere on this page) with a working passenger plane.

The Comet was a technical success at the time, but its career was marred by high-profile crashes and accidents, which in turn prevented American companies from fully adopting jet flight in the civilian market space. Boeing then overtook Douglas to secure new U.S.

Air Force (USAF) requirements for jet tankers, surprising Douglas, who expects to develop project proposals as before in several contracts and months. Take World War II for example. The Boeing product became the legendary KC-135 (detailed elsewhere on this site).

Series 50 jets include the DC-8 "Jet Trader" and the EC-24A. The former is a cargo aircraft model, while the latter is used by the US Navy for electronic warfare (EW) training missions. The 50 series aircraft have a shorter fuselage and are powered by JT3D engines.

The Super 60 series includes the DC-8 61 series, 62 series and 63 series aircraft. The 61-series aircraft are designed for the mid-range market, while the 62-series platform with an extended fuselage is intended for the long-range market. The 63 series is another structurally more efficient tensile model (a modification of the 62 series).

These are powered by JT3D-7 engines with 19,000 pounds of thrust.

The Super 70 series includes DC-8-71, -72 and -73 variants, built from the DC-8-61, -62 and -63 models respectively. They are retrofitted with CFM56-2 series turbofan engines for more power and performance. About 110 aircraft were produced in the early 1980s.

Historically, operators of the DC-8 family have ranged from Austria and Belgium to Venezuela and Zambia - apparently nowhere in the world has not been affected by the DC-8 family of aircraft. The series failed to achieve a spotless record, as some 83 airframes were reported lost, of which 2,256 were killed in the process.

Due to noise restrictions at many global airports and the enormous cost of maintaining a decades-old aircraft, the DC-8 is a rare sight in today's skies and is extremely in use today (2018).??? for limited.