#n982tw

[sentinelchicken]

N982TW, one of the last American MD-80s, gets ready to head out for retirement in the desert at Roswell, New Mexico, after pushback from Terminal C at DFW on the day of the MD-80’s last passenger services for American Airlines on 4 September 2019. Next to where N982TW was parked was N984TW that flew the actual last American MD-80 passenger services DFW-ORD that day. ⁣ ⁣ N982TW was part of the last delivery group to TWA in December 1999- those three aircraft were the MD-80s N982TW (the MD-80 I photographed here), N983TW, and the very last MD-80 built, N984TW. ⁣ ⁣ In its history, TWA operated a total of 104 MD-80s, all of them -82s and -83s, delivered between April 1983 to the very last MD-80 built, delivered to TWA in December 1999. TWA”s order for the MD-80 started with a lease of 15 aircraft on the heels of the landmark American Airlines order that literally saved the MD-80 production line. ⁣ ⁣ The TWA Board approved the deal in November 1982 and it and the American Airlines deal were innovative as “pay-as-you-go” utilization arrangements that are now commonplace in the airline industry. For TWA, the MD-80s were slated to replace the Boeing 707 and 727 on select domestic routes. Trans World would be 18th airline to operate the MD-80 which at the time of its deal in 1982, had been in service with airline fleets for two years and was still being marketed as the DC-9-80. ⁣ ⁣ #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KDFW #DFW #dfwavgeek #airport #planespotting #airlines #McDonnellDougas #MD80 #American #AmericanAirlines #N982TW #instagramaviation #splendid_transport #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation #TeamAvGeek #MD80Sunset (at DFW Airport) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3-6HtZBP2c/?igshid=7r5nyv7aqao1

[sentinelchicken]

On the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 (as well as the legacy DC-9), the elevators are actually free floating and only receive a hydraulic boost with the control column pushed nose down more than 10 degrees. All all other times, the elevator free floats and is actuated by servo tabs connected by cables to the control column. ⁣ ⁣ To move the elevator nose down, the servo tab deflects up which moves the elevator down and to move the elevator nose up, the servo tab deflects down which moves the elevator up. When the MD-80/DC-9 is parked, the elevators tend to deflect upward because they are slightly weighted to be nose down. ⁣ ⁣ If the elevators were weighted more nose up, there would be more flutter coming from the tail surfaces during cruise flight. Since the elevators are free-floating, they are also not mechanically linked so in some wind conditions, a parked MD-80/DC-9 may have one elevator deflected upward more than the other side or even one up and one down. ⁣ ⁣ The aircraft in the foreground is N984TW, the last MD-80 built as “The Spirit of Long Beach” when it was delivered to TWA in 1999. That’s the aircraft that flew the last American Airlines passenger MD-80 services today as AA80 DFW-ORD. The other MD-80 is N982TW which left just before AA80 and was headed to Roswell for storage. ⁣ ⁣ #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KDFW #DFW #dfwavgeek #airport #planespotting #airlines #McDonnellDougas #MD80 #American #AmericanAirlines #N984TW #N982TW #instagramaviation #splendid_transport #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation #TeamAvGeek #MD80Sunset (at Dallas/Fort Worth Intl Airport (DFW)) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2AGu9Hh3nr/?igshid=u2h9f4c2qyzs

[sentinelchicken]

N984TW, one of the former TWA MD-80s that crossed over to American with the acquisition of Trans World Airlines in 2001, arrives at DFW early one foggy morning back in 2014. ⁣⁣ ⁣ TWA and American’s order for the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 came roughly the same time, around 1983. At the time there was a recession going an and the MD-80 production line was in danger of being shut down with a slow down in sales. At the time, American had $1.5 billion in outstanding long term debt on its books and a new aircraft acquisition seemed impossible as it would have added to the debt.⁣⁣ ⁣ McDonnell Douglas came up with a then-innovative financing plan that had the MD-80s leased for five years with an option to extend the lease another 15 years, bringing the total to 18 years which was the customary term for new-jet financing. What made the financing of American’s purchase unique was that if the operating costs of the MD-80s were below an agreed upon point, the lessors, McDonnell Douglas and Pratt & Whitney (which were leasing the engines separately from the aircraft lease), shared the profits with American. In effect, McDonnell Douglas and Pratt & Whitney were sharing ownership with American of the new MD-80s.⁣⁣ ⁣ American wanted to the MD-80s as replacements for the Boeing 727-100 as it offered superior economics and an increased passenger capacity- on many routes served by the 727-100s, the aircraft was too small but the demand was too little to justify the 727-200 which was out of production already and what American had couldn’t be spared.⁣⁣ ⁣ TWA followed suit with their order which involved a lease as well, only TWA’s MD-80 purchase deal didn’t include the profit-sharing feature. TWA would end up operating 104 MD-80s in its history up to the acquisition by American.⁣⁣ ⁣ #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KDFW #DFW #dfwavgeek #airport #planespotting #airlines #McDonnellDougas #MD80 #American #AmericanAirlines #N982TW #instagramaviation #splendid_transport #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation #TeamAvGeek #MD80Sunset (at DFW Founders Plaza) https://www.instagram.com/p/B15JWZPhhxm/?igshid=14sucnb566kr6

[sentinelchicken]

Back in the early 1980s, there was a noise limit on aircraft arriving at Washington National (DCA) after 10pm- any such late arrivals had to be less than 85 decibels on approach and at the time, only turboprop aircraft met that restriction at DCA. ⁣ ⁣ However, the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 was the first commercial turbofan transport to meet DCA’s night time noise restriction limit as it only generated 83 decibels on approach. As a result, American Airlines launched two late night arrivals into DCA, one arriving at 1055pm from Chicago and one arriving at 1219am from DFW via BWI. ⁣ ⁣ Local groups were up in arms about the approval of the flights to which American Airlines responded “A decibel is a decibel is a decibel” and the FAA did state that American’s MD-80s did meet the regulations on being under 85 dB limit on approach into DCA. ⁣ ⁣ American’s MD-80s however, would remain overnight as a night time departure at DCA at the time required aircraft to be less than 75 dB on takeoff, something that quite obviously even the MD-80 didn’t meet. ⁣ ⁣ #Avgeek #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #KDFW #DFW #dfwavgeek #airport #planespotting #airlines #McDonnellDougas #MD80 #American #AmericanAirlines #N982TW #instagramaviation #splendid_transport #instaaviation #aviationlovers #aviationphotography #flight #AvGeeksAero #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation #TeamAvGeek #MD80Sunset (at DFW Airport) https://www.instagram.com/p/B2xQWTMBJ8o/?igshid=iphrzawd5vtv