was for an in-service date in late 1971.
The contract was provisional, in that the
manufacturer wanted two other airlines to
put pen to paper within 90 days before it
would build the DC-10.
United Airlines, on April 25, announced
an order for 30, plus 30 more options.
This was deemed sufficient for James
McDonnell, who was now in control of the
manufacturer, to authorise full production.
Both airlines would have simultaneous
deliveries, then planned for August 1971.INTO THE AIR
July 23, 1970 saw prototype N10DC come
out of the Long Beach, California, factory
and on August 29 it took to the air for the
first time with Clifford L Stout at the controls.
A trio of General Electric CF6-6D turbofans
with an output of 39,300lb st each provided
the power.
The landing was 3hrs 26mins later at
Edwards AFB with no reported problems.
Just 11 months from this first flight, the DC-
10-10 was certified by the Federal Aviation
Authority (FAA). During this time, the typehad flown 929 times and logged 1,551
hours in the air.
As promised, both American Airlines and
United Airlines received their first aircraft
at the same ceremony presided over by
James McDonnell on July 29, 1971, the day
the FAA issued full type certificate.
Even though both airlines received their
first aircraft at the same time, American
upstaged United by flying in the ultimate
classic Douglas airliner, the DC-3, in a
1930s livery, with a film star of that period,
Gloria Swanson, on board.
American, the first to order the type,
was also the first to put it into service. Eight
days after delivery, DC-10-10 N103AA,
operating flight AA184, left Los Angeles for
a round trip to Chicago (ORD) on August- Since the DC-10 was much larger than
most aircraft at that time, and airlines did
not expect to fill them to capacity, American
took out seats to fit passenger lounges.
In the front of the cabin was the First
Class lounge. This had seating for eight
and room for others to stand, and be served
cocktails while talking to other passengers.
American had a second lounge at the
rear of the aircraft for the Coach (Economy)
passengers. This was the larger of the two
having seats for 11 and room for another
dozen, as well as a stand-up circular bar.
The overall seating capacity was 206.
They were titled ‘DC-10 LuxuryLiner’ below
the cockpit. Originally, they were going to
call the fleet ‘DC-10 Astroliner’ and several
aircraft in the test fleet bore this name, but it
changed before service entry.
During that first year of operations in
1971, American had five DC-10s delivered
and the remaining 20 from the first firm
order followed in 1972. Of the 25 options,
ten were converted to firm orders and
delivered in the latter part of the decade.
The long-range version of the type, the
DC-10-30, went into operation with the
airline in 1983. Power for this variant came
from three GE CF6-50c turbofans with an
output of 48,000lb st. The maximum take-
off weight was 575,000lb (260,816kg) an
increase from the -10 model of 117,000lb
(53,070kg).
To cope with the extra weight, thehttp://www.aviation-news.co.uk 67Left: On the final approach to Los Angeles, DC-10-10 N134AA about to land on Runway 06L in September 1988. The airport was one of the main
centres for American Airlines’ operations of the type. Gerry Manning
Top: One of three DC-10-30ERs in the American Airlines’ fleet. Its maximum take-off weight was increased to 455,000lb. Bob O’Brien Collection
Above: The airline has long had a policy of not painting its aircraft as paint costs money and adds weight. A lighter aircraft uses less fuel and
saves money. Gerry Manning66-69_american_airlinesDC.mfDC.indd 67 01/12/2017 18:27