1971: DC-10 Pilot Report

Almost exactly 43 years ago this week, Aviation Week subscribers were settling down to enjoy a pilot’s report on the brand new McDonnell Douglas DC-10. The report, penned by Los Angeles bureau chief Robert Ropelewski, was an eye-opener to many who had yet to even see a widebodied jet, let alone fly in one. The era of the ‘jumbo’ jet was by this time less than two years old and the DC-10, which made its first flight at Long Beach, Calif, only a year before ‘Rope’ got his chance to fly one, was the world’s second twin-aisle commercial jet.

The eighth DC-10 was used for Aviation Week’s pilot’s report

The DC-10 was also the first widebody trijet, narrowly beating the competing Lockheed L-1011 TriStar into the air by less than three months in August 1970. It is a fair bet to imagine the interest with which Rope’s report was read by the Lockheed development team working on the TriStar project at Palmdale, a few minutes jet flight away from Long Beach across the San Gabriel Mountains. However, while the Aviation Week pilot report was published within days of the DC-10 entering service with American Airlines and United Airlines, Lockheed’s L-1011 had another eight months to await its debut. So sit back, and enjoy a trip down memory lane as Rope (accompanied by DC-10 chief project pilot and commander of the maiden flight, Cliff Stout) gives you a detailed firsthand account of handling one of the industry’s legendary big jets. 

►Read the five page pilot report in the August 30, 1971 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology

► Aviation Week is approaching its 100th anniversary in 2016. In a series of blogs, our editors highlight editorial content from the magazine's long and rich history, including viewpoints from the industry's most iconic names and stories that have helped change the shape of the industry.