The history of the airliners DC-8, DC-9 and DC-10 of the Spanish airline Iberia

@DefAviation ES 2·29·2024 · 14:08 0

The history of commercial aviation is closely linked to an important American company: Douglas Aircraft, founded in 1921.

The Beechcraft C-45 Twin Beech of the FIO, a jewel of Spanish aviation from 1942
Montrove, the data from the report of the worst air accident in the history of Galicia

In 1935, Douglas revolutionized the world of civil aviation with the famous DC-3 (called C-47 in its military version), with more than 16,000 units and which still continues to fly with some airlines for almost 90 years later. In 1958, Douglas launched a four-engine jet to compete with the Boeing 707: the DC-8, of which 556 units were built. A few years later, in 1965, Douglas launched a competitor to the Boeing 727: the DC-8, a twin-engine aircraft that would be very popular on medium and short-haul flights.

In 1967, Douglas merged with McDonnell Aircraft Corporation (founded in 1939) and McDonnell Douglas emerged, one of the aviation giants of the second half of the 20th century, author of such memorable aircraft as the tri-motor DC-10, the F-15 Eagle and F/A-18 Hornet fighters and the C-17 Globemaster III strategic transport aircraft. The company came to an end in 1997 after merging with its largest competitor, Boeing, forming The Boeing Company.

The Spanish airline Iberia was a major operator of three of McDonnell Douglas' aircraft, the DC-8, the DC-9 and the DC-10. Yesterday, Fly By Wire Aviation published an interesting video telling the story of these three commercial airplanes operated by Iberia, aircraft that starred some very important pages of Spanish civil aviation (the video is in Spanish, you can activate the automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):

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Main photo: Iberia. An Iberia DC-10.