{"id":58210,"date":"2024-12-27T19:38:47","date_gmt":"2024-12-27T18:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=58210"},"modified":"2025-12-27T00:35:27","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T23:35:27","slug":"a-historic-film-showing-the-test-flights-of-the-douglas-dc-9-prototype","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2024\/12\/27\/a-historic-film-showing-the-test-flights-of-the-douglas-dc-9-prototype\/","title":{"rendered":"A historic film showing the test flights of the Douglas DC-9 prototype"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 1963, Douglas Aircraft Company, creator of the legendary DC-3, began developing a twin-engine aircraft focused on short-distance flights.<\/p>\n

The history of the airliners DC-8, DC-9 and DC-10 of the Spanish airline Iberia<\/a><\/rel>
\nAn abandoned MD-82 in Puerto Rico and the risks of exploring without proper footwear<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

The aircraft was to complement the four-engine DC-8<\/strong>, which had made its first flight in 1958 and was an excellent aircraft that was a sales success. Following the company's nomenclature, the new aircraft was christened DC-9<\/strong> and was even more successful than its older brother, becoming a classic in many cities like mine, Vigo, which have small airports.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
The Douglas DC-9 prototype during its construction phase (Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive<\/a>).<\/div>\n

The DC-9 made its maiden flight on 25 February 1965<\/strong> and entered service that same year. It remained in production until 1982, when it was handed over to two new aircraft series, the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and MD-90<\/strong>, which shared their simple design, with a narrow fuselage with four rows of seats, stabilizers on the fin and engines located in the tail. The MD-90 series was manufactured until 2000<\/strong>, so the DC-9 and its descendants were in production for 45 years.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
The Douglas DC-9 prototype in flight (Photo: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive<\/a>).<\/div>\n

Although there are still some DC-9s flying in America and Africa<\/strong>, in the rest of the world these small planes have given way to more modern models, such as the Airbus 320, and also to the most recent models of the DC-9's great competitor, the Boeing 737<\/strong>, an aircraft of which more than 10,000 units have been manufactured. For those nostalgic for those classics of commercial aviation, today Fly By Wire Aviation<\/a> has published an interesting historical document: the first flights of the DC-9 prototypes.<\/strong><\/p>\n