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Commercial Aircraft |
 DC-8 (Douglas 1959) |
The DC-8, powered by four jet turbine engines and capable of speeds of more than 600 mph, first flew on May 30, 1958. Throughout its 14-year-long production run, the DC-8 went through seven major variants for a total of 556 aircraft. |
| The DC-8-61 featured a fuselage extension of nearly 37 feet over the original model. In an all-economy passenger configuration, the DC-8-61 could carry 260; the convertible-freighter configuration had a cargo volume of 12,535 cubic feet. | 
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The DC-8-62, a very long range commercial jetliner, carried 189 passengers, or 97,000 pounds of cargo as far as 5,000 nautical miles. |
| All design improvements of the DC-8-61 and -62 were incorporated in the DC-8-63. The fuselage extension, aerodynamic improvements to nacelles, pylons and flaps, plus increased wing span and fuel capacity, combined to provide outstanding payload and range capability. In 1995, more than 300 DC-8s remained in service making over 340 scheduled flights a day. |
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