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McDonnell Douglas MD-11
Varig
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McDonnell Douglas MD-11
KLM
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McDonnell Douglas MD-11
Varig
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McDonnell Douglas MD-11
The McDonnell Douglas MD-11 is a Widebody Trijet powered by three engines.
The MD-11 is based on the DC-10 but featuring a stretched fuselage, more
wingspan with winglets, refined airfoils on the wing and tailplane, new
engines, extensive use of composites, and a two-crew, all-digital glass cockpit.
Production ceased after McDonnell-Douglas was acquired by Boeing in 1997.
Until the end of production in February, 2001, the MD-11 was assembled at the
Douglas Products Division of Boeing in Long Beach, California. Two hundred
aircraft were produced. The production ceased because of lack of sales due mostly
to unmet performance goals and competition from comparable aircraft such as
the Airbus A330, A340, and the Boeing 777.
Currently, most MD-11 are used in cargo operations. Retired passenger versions
of the MD-11, formerly used by airlines, are being converted into freighters.
The MD-11 program was launched on December 30, 1986, with orders and commitments
for 92 aircraft from 12 airlines and leasing companies. Assembly of the MD-11
began on March 9, 1988, with the first flight of an MD-11F (freighter version)
on Jan. 10, 1990. FAA certification was achieved by Nov. 8, 1990. The first
MD-11 was delivered to Finnair on Dec. 7, 1990. Finnair's first revenue
service with the MD-11 occurred on December 20, 1990, when the aircraft
carried passengers from Helsinki to Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
According to Boeing there was not sufficient market demand to warrant
continued production of the MD-11. McDonnell Douglas originally projected that
it would sell more than 300 MD-11 aircraft but only a total of 200 planes were
built. The last MD-11 was delivered to Lufthansa Cargo on February 22, 2001.
The MD-11 was manufactured in four versions, passenger, all freighter,
convertible freighter, and combi, where passengers and freight are carried on
the main deck with additional freight carried below the deck.
Depending on configuration, the MD-11 can carry from 285 to 410 passengers.
Fully loaded the MD-11 airliner has a range of 7,630 miles (12,270 km),
while carrying 285 passengers and their baggage.
American Airlines and Delta Air Lines used MD-11s for intercontinental flights
during the 1990s, but have since sold their fleets to FedEx. Current
operators include Alitalia, China Airlines, EVA Air, Finnair, Gemini Air Cargo,
KLM, Lufthansa Cargo, Swiss International Air Line (which recently retired its
fleet), Air Namibia(operating a newly acquired Swiss aircraft), Varig, Thai
Airways International, and World Airways.
Swissair Flight 111, which crashed on September 2, 1998, was an MD-11.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the Wikipedia article "McDonnell Douglas MD-11".
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