It was on this day in aviation history that the DC-9-30 made its first flight.
Douglas DC-9 Series 30 Prototype
The Douglas DC-9 Series 30 (DC-9-30) is one of the variants of the DC-9 series of aircraft.
The original DC-9 project was unveiled to the world in April 1963. The first prototype, a DC-9-10, flew for the first time on the 25th of February 1965. With seating for 90 passengers, the Pratt & Whitney JT8D aircraft entered service with Delta Airlines on the 8 of December, of that year.
Douglas DC-9-10
Over the following years, there would be many variants of the DC-9, an overview
DC-9-10, first flight 25th February 1965 104 ft (32 meters) long original version Maximum 90 seats Subversion were the Series 14 & Series 15
DC-9-20, first flight 18th September 1968 Produced as DC-9-21 for SAS, 10 built Using the wing and engines (JT8D-11) of the -30 on a DC-9-10 fuselage gave the aircraft the required short-field performance
DC-9-30, first flight 1st of August 1966 Developed as a competitor to the Boeing 737, a total of 662 were built, ~60 of all Dc-9 aircraft. 114' 9" fuselage was a 14'9" stretch compared to the -10. The wingspan increased by 3 feet and the chord was 6% bigger and was equipped with leading-edge slats. (These reduced Vref by 6 knots, with a 5000 lb greater weight) It was produced as the -31, -32 (with different sub-versions for freighter use), -33 and -34 and was powered byP&W JT8D-7 and JT8D-9 engines (rated at 14,500 lbf of thrust) or JT8D-11 with 15,000 lbf thrust.
DC-9-40, first flight 28th of November 1967 With another 6' 6" stretch to the fuselage, this version of the DC-9 had a maximum passenger load of 125. It was fitted with P&W JT8D engines. 71 of these aircraft were produced
DC9-50, first flight in 1974 Launched in 1973 this would be the largest and final version of the Douglas DC-9. Stretching the fuselage another 8' 2" it has seating for 139 passengers. (6 would be delivered to customers al as -51 models.
The different models of the DC-9 showing the different fuselage lengths
The hugely successful DC-9 series would be developed into the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 and MD-90 and also into the IAE V2500 powered Boeing 717.
Some basic specifications of the original DC-9 versions
