Best airliner?

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I feel the best aircraft manufacturing company as well, too bad they don't exist any more.

Douglas DC-8 has done something no other Jet airliner has done that wasn't purpose built for the task. It was the first airliner to break the sound barrier.
It flew super sonic on August 21 1961.
https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/i-was-there-when-the-dc-8-went-supersonic-27846699/

It is pretty much common knowledge that most any other airliner that would try that would likely break up from flutter and aerodynamic forces. Awesome plane.
 
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Im from Wichita so I have a bias with all the big names like LearJet,Cessna,etc. Flying a airline I have to pick Qantas,Icelandic Air or Tel-Aviv.
 
Lets be real. 556 Douglas DC-8's were made and 83 of them suffered hull loss accidents. Not exactly a stellar safety record.
 
Very neat story- great Sunday morning read drinking coffee... thanks for posting
 
Best airliner I've ridden, from a passenger experience standpoint, which means ride, comfort, quietness, and feel (after 8 hours aboard) was easily the Boeing 787. It was the quietest and I love the big windows. I'd bet the best in terms of all things considered, though, would be the 777. Going back a bit, I remember a great ride from Cincy to London on a Delta Lockheed L1011 Tristar. What a nice aircraft that was!

I flew over part of Russia, Iraq, and western Iran in a Qatar Airways Boeing 777. It's times like that where you really appreciate the reliability of those big GE engines!

I had a couple of great rides on the Airbus A380, as well. I really like that big machine, too!
 
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Its the airline that counts.
laugh.gif


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeYf-rhMQIQ
 
Originally Posted by Exhaustgases
I feel the best aircraft manufacturing company as well, too bad they don't exist any more.

Douglas DC-8 has done something no other Jet airliner has done that wasn't purpose built for the task. It was the first airliner to break the sound barrier.
It flew super sonic on August 21 1961.
https://www.airspacemag.com/history-of-flight/i-was-there-when-the-dc-8-went-supersonic-27846699/

It is pretty much common knowledge that most any other airliner that would try that would likely break up from flutter and aerodynamic forces. Awesome plane.



Three words: DC-10 Cargo Door.

They knew about the problem, they didn't care, people died, they tried to bury the problem with bribery and pressure, more people died - it killed the company. No, McD was not the best aircraft maker ever.

Also, the Convair 990A Coronado probably could have replicated the feat because parts of it were already exposed to supersonic airflow at cruising speed. In service, they were faster than the DC-8.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHw3nRjj5xc
 
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The Convair 990 was the fastest airliner ever built. Period.

The shock bodies on the upper wing were distinctive and reduced trans-sonic drag as well as increased the critical mach.

The Douglas DC-8 supersonic flight was a one-time test point.

A stunt.

The airplane itself had a modest cruise speed of 0.82. About the same as the 757/767. The 747, cruises considerably faster, at 0.86, than the DC-8. The 777 and the 787 are both 0.85, also higher than the DC-8. I'm willing to bet that the A-350 and A-380 are also higher, though I've not flown them.

You can look at the leading edge angle and get an idea of the design cruise speed. More sweep angle = higher speed wing. The DC-8 had a modest sweep, similar to the 707, 757, and 767. The 747 has nearly double the sweep angle. The shock bodies on the Convair 990 accomplished the same thing, higher speed, without changing the wing structure.

There was a great article on the Convair 990 published in "Air & Space" a few years back.

Ultimately, though, it's cost/seat/mile that matters. Top speed is cool, but low cost sells airplanes.
 
Originally Posted by Astro14
The Convair 990 was the fastest airliner ever built. Period.

The Concorde would like to speak with you now...
And that's not counting the TU-144.

concorde-388-june14.jpg
 
The 747 and 787 are great planes to fly on.

In the end it comes down to the airline. How much leg room you have, how well maintained the seats and facilities are. The type of seat matters as well.

I flew a couple of transpacific flights on a airline that had those seats that didn't recline but the seat bottom slid out. Slouch seats is what I called them. Your back will remind you around the four hour mark that they are not ergonomic. At the twelve hour mark you cannot stand anymore. Thankfully enough complained and they have gotten better.

Or the Northwest Orient 747 I rode on many times with the overhead bins that shook and rattled the entire trip.
 
In the narrow body,IMO, B757 (seven five seven) is the best.
It is quite and less vibration (at least the one that I rode) compare to others even the newer one.
Unfortunately, it has been out of commision as passenger jet for a long time.
 
Boeing 747, by far. Comfortable, enough size and space to take a walk. Very quiet up front. Favorite seats are the first few Business Class rows in the lower nose, w/ the upper deck seats close, but the last 2-3 rows are also OK (the fuselage narrows and you have less seats w/ a bit more room). I've spent way, way too much time on British Airways, Lufthansa, United and Singapore's various 747's. Sadly, they are being phased out.

Next would be the Airbus A330.
 
After my wife's flight last week, I have to vote for the Embraer ERJ-145 regional jet. In particular, tail number N644AE. N644AE took a lightning strike causing one of the two engines to fail in flight about 30 min shy of arrival. Flight crew proficiency and a proven airframe lead to continued safe flight and safe landing, on schedule (a little early actually), at Charlotte NC.
 
Originally Posted by skyactiv
Lets be real. 556 Douglas DC-8's were made and 83 of them suffered hull loss accidents. Not exactly a stellar safety record.


In the early jet age, hull loss rates were way beyond what we'd consider acceptable today and the DC-8 doesn't stand out as having an unusually high loss rate.
Up into the seventies, the sky practically rained airliners. Accidents were very common while they are a rarity today even with the vastly expanded number of airliners flying vastly more hours and miles.
It should also be remembered that all manner of training was carried out in actual aircraft in the days prior to the widespread adoption of full-motion sims and there were many accidents involving training flights.
The DC-8 was conceived by a long-time dominant player in the airliner market and this shows in the design as compared to that of the B707.
The DC-8 had a much longer airframe fatigue life than did the 707 at the cost of greater empty weight and was also more stretchable than the 707.
The DC-9 continued this design philosophy in both respects and the following DC-10 also proved to be a very robust design capable of more hours of use than the larger B747.
In the case of the DC-10 aft cargo door, had a conventional plug door been used or had a more robust latching system been designed, there would have been no problems. Had the aircraft had better venting between the passenger deck and the hold, as was later required for all wide-bodies, there would have been a loss of cabin pressure in the event of door failure but no crash.
I'll second that the Avro Vulcan is a really neat aircraft even sitting on the ground while Convair's jet transport program resulted in the largest corporate loss in US history up to that time and permanently ended Convair's commercial business, other than turboprop conversions of their successful piston twins.
 
From a passenger standpoint, my best flights have been 787 Dreamliner and airbus A380. Great inflight camera on the tail of the A380 made the lumbering takeoff fun to watch. The carbon bodied Dreamliner seemed quieter than aluminum aircraft with great windows and tech.
 
Originally Posted by Imp4
Originally Posted by Astro14
The Convair 990 was the fastest airliner ever built. Period.

The Concorde would like to speak with you now...
And that's not counting the TU-144.


You're absolutely right, I meant conventional/subsonic airliners.

The Convair 990 was the fastest.

No comparison with the Concorde...
 
Over the Atlantic recently … it's been the MNTW-800)

(Mother Nature Tailwind)
 
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Narrow body B757, Widebody L-1011 are my favorite. Had the pleasure of working on them. loved them both from a maintenance POV. Hated working on the A310. A330 and B767 I like. 737NG is ok but lower to the ground which means alot more crawling around. A320 series and dash-8 are ok to work on.
 
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