On-board an American DC-10 Departing From Miami

Craig's spotting trip in October 1991 is officially over, here you see an American DC-10 pulling up to the gate to take its passengers to DFW. You get a great view of Miami on the climbout while over the wing of this classic. This video is also a test to see if 1080p actually improves the quality of an older VHS tape compared to 720p that I normally use for uploading. I'd like feedback from subscribers and regular viewers, if possible. Thank you!
Shot by my friend Craig Pilkington (Aviation Media ©).
Edited / uploaded by me with the kind permission of Aviation Media ©

[@darrenschannels]

Can we all agree that the American Airlines DC-10 was one of the coolest looking airplanes ever?

[@MicahtheDrumCorpsPseudoboomer]

Of course it is, comrade.

[@gavrushka69]

Dc-10 is prolly the coolest looking plane ever

[@aeiou9054]

​@Trumpispoopdc 10 looks better tho

[@thecaynuck]

It does look cool but I think in terms of trijets, nothing beats the L-1011 TriStar.

[@goodfella2400]

That’s some spectacular footage for amateur camera work for 1991. Long live the memory of the DC-10.

[@eyestoenvy]

The "CADILLAC" of the skies... when America was America, and American was American..

[@Zach-xc3vd]

eyestoenvy it still is...

[@bingbong7777]

LOL more like the "DEATH TRAP" of the skies.

[@byronpost809]

I flew on a DC-10 3 times in my life. This was post 1979 Chicago crash. I prayed every time!

[@glenrosarian2352]

The DC-10 was my favorite equipment in AA's post-deregulation fleet (which in the very early '80s was almost all 727's except for the DC-10's and a handful of 747-123's, after the 707 retirement) It was such a majestic aircraft (and HUGE) with a super-spacious cabin interior in first-class. It is unfortunate that it had some debugging that needed to be done in its early years. Still, it carried thrones of passengers safely and in style for 2 decades after those early problems were corrected.

[@Discotex54]

Wow, during the roll you could see all the Pan Am planes parked at the gates. Two months later they'd be history. Great vid.

[@WilliamK-nu6uc]

Discotex54 when did they crash?

[@Discotex54]

Pan Am ceased operations on December 4, 1991. The last flight to land was PA 436 from BGI to MIA. Cheers.

[@herbertcarrillo-ramos3772]

Ughhhhhh Noooooo PAN AM ceased operation in 1989

[@AvsfanGoAvsGo]

Herbert Carillo No it was 1991

[@herbertcarrillo-ramos3772]

Yes ..your correct ...my bad...

[@steveskouson9620]

Just a little bit of history; The American Airlines DC-10s, and the MD-11s were the most expensive to build. All that shiny aluminium, (Sorry, too many English friends) was quite difficult to work. EVERYTHING showed! Interesting story. I lived in Hawaii, and shipped flowers to the Mainland. One day, I was driving a load of flowers to Hawaiian Air, and looked out at a Hawaiian Air converted American Airlines DC-10. I WISH I had had a camera, because there was a rainbow, stretching from wingtip to wingtip. The most beautiful picture I'd seen, and NO CAMERA! Before I went to Hawaii, I worked at Douglas, building the MD-11. STILL a beautiful airplane! DC-10 as well as MD-11! When we were building the MD-11, Douglas made a bunch of pencils, labeled McDonnell Douglas. Douglas was at the eraser end. A LOT of them got sharpened, just enough, if you catch my drift! steve

[@goodfella2400]

Steve Skouson thank you for sharing! I wish there were more stories from former Douglas folks.

[@goodfella2400]

Steve Skouson what made the AA more expensive? Because of the fact that they were early builds on the production line? I thought the bare aluminum just lacked the coat of paint.

[@steveskouson9620]

If you have an aluminum skin, you can't have any imperfections in it. Something that is structurally strong, like a bushing around a rivet, cannot be allowed on a bare skin airplane. You need to replace that panel. Bushings, on the ones I worked on, were held in dry ice, until the install. Dry ice makes the aluminum shrink. Pop it in the oversized hole, and wait. As soon as the bushing warms up, you CANNOT remove it. But, it doesn't "look" good, on a shiny skin aircraft. Bush it, ream out the hole, and re-apply the rivet. (Or, any other fastener going through the skin.) Can't do that on a shiny skin airplane. Yes, there were coolers FULL of dry ice all over the floor. I can't remember if I ever "borrowed" some to carbonate a beverage or 30. steve

[@yoyoyoyoshua]

@@steveskouson9620 you can't have any tools marks on the skin but they're easy to blend out. I honestly rather work with aluminum than composite.

[@rich1223]

What?lol the AA livery was the best ever lol stop!!!

[@mnic1234]

That livery is just fantastic.

[@macktravels68]

Awesome. So miss flying the DC-10.

[@ryankenyon5010]

I'm so glad you and Craig recorded the stuff you did. There isn't a lot from this era.

[@bobbypaluga4346]

You don’t see wings that size in today’s widebodies, they certainly gave the DC-10 a smooth ride.

[@tomstarzeck7137]

I used to fly AA dc 10 from Chicago to Buffalo NY...sometimes flight only had 50 passengers. .could move around the cabin freely lol

[@pvpat92]

Tom Starzeck flew SFO-LAX one night, probably one of the last flights of the night. 737. No more than 10 people on the plane. They definitely lost money on that flight😁

[@mehmetokay7073]

That must have been in 70s flying a DC 10 into BUF.

[@tomstarzeck7137]

I do miss those big tri jets.. And the real pleasure it was to fly back then..a real treat..

[@BroadwayLTDProductions]

Now today they use tiny little CRJ’s and E jets that crammed like sardine cans.

[@BettinaBalser]

She's a beauty. Thanks for posting :)

[@chicagoaviationguy3721]

Great video! Love that sound!

[@Grupocondorrfs]

Love the trijets

[@Satoshi9801]

Taking a video camera on a plane must've been something in those days.

[@Geoffr524]

I just Subbed, because I love old jetliners, and this is just like a virtual time machine. Thanks for the videos.

[@manifestgtr]

The DC10’s inboard elevators hold a special place in my heart. The first widebody I ever flew on was a Northwest DC10 (from Boston to Detroit, of all things). It was also the first time I ever saw inboard elevators as a kid and it was incredibly fascinating…only deepened my love for all things aviation

[@Oche76]

Thanks for posting..great video

[@MrErictyrones]

Very nice video I miss flying on DC-10s

[@1972Cathy]

Nice flight. Thank you

[@jetfreak4]

Wow, this is one of AA's original DC-10. It's a -10 model, as noted by the lack of a middle wheel between the main gear trucks.

[@steveskouson9620]

2 wheels. And, that is a center main truck. steve

[@glenrosarian2352]

All of AA's original DC-10's were DC-10-10's. In the mid 1980's, AA acquired some DC-10-30's, all second-hand, mostly from Air New Zealand. These were used on their new routes to LGW, FRA, and ORY. The 30's had the center main truck to help support the heavier weight of the plane.

[@Berlinbroadcaster]

a time when filming in an airplane was a allowed! I love your Vids!

[@Helicopterpilot16]

All of my airline pilot friends say the DC-10 was the best out there!

[@lolpo555]

I like how a man guides the airplane to the gate

[@RicardoNY1]

I think the video quality is great considering the source is VHS. Better than my Hi8 conversions! I went along on "Ecuatoriana De Aviacion" DC-10's back in the 80's and very early 90's. Memorable times riding next to that wing. The DC-10 was certainly an aircraft of my time. I'd like to see American hold on to those MD 8x's just a little longer. I like those also.

[@boneeatingsilicate580]

I will never forget flying a AA DC10 from Honolulu to Maui in like 15 minutes..lol

[@donaldalbano6484]

i also flew on this bad boy, although out of new york's laguardia to dallas/fort worth in dec. 1989, who knows, maybe this very same aircraft; the meanest looking commercial airliner in my opinion. i sat on the right side all the way in the back, i remember the flight was nearly empty!

[@thebrummierailenthusiasts5329]

Terrific job

[@nenblom]

Very nice!!

[@billjoe39]

Not bad for VHS source...at 1:53...always felt a little queasy at that point, wishing I was still on the ground...still remember the flight 191 coverage after all these years

[@steveskouson9620]

Sorry to throw AA under the bus, but that was caused by AA not following Douglas procedure. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_191 OK, interesting story. I was on a DC-10, leaving Lawton Oklahoma, back to Phoenix Az, for my father's funeral. As usual, I got a window seat, just ahead of the wing. I knew the story with 191, and saw the engine bouncing around. I wondered if it would be a funeral for 2! (I had been an electrician, in the Army, on Chinook helicopters.) Later on, when I was working for Douglas, doing electrical installations on the wing of MD-11s, I saw the thrust bearings that were there just to let the engine move around a bit.DC-10s have the same mounting. steve

[@BroadwayLTDProductions]

I miss flying in DC-10’s. Done it many times in the 90’s when I was a kid. Way better than the microscopic sissy planes like CRJ-7’s and E jets of today.

[@Springbok295]

Wow nice stuff! I've flown on only 4 DC-10s in and out of MIA in my time. First was MIA-ATL on a Delta -10 in '73, then on a National aircraft LHR-MIA in July '77, and finally MIA-LHR roundtrip on a PA DC-10 in June/July '81.

[@steveskouson9620]

My last flight, on a Continental DC-10, was from HNL to LAX. Some kind of DC-9 derivative from LAX to PHX. steve

[@XaircraftX]

awesome plane!

[@christopherhennessey8991]

I loved flying American’s DC-10s ,particularly on the Miami-LAX route.

[@LoganLavery]

Excellent marshaling job

[@RyanBomar]

@RicardoNY1, thanks for the input! I usually upload straight from CyberLink PowerDirector but it only allows you upconversion as high as 720p. I figured out how to produce it and send the edited copy to my desktop and then upload the file to KZbin seperately, it takes a ton more time but if the quality is way better than usual it's worth it.

[@CaptainStevenMarkovich]

Excellent

[@JupiterTechnology12.000]

Beautiful Aircraft

[@flightfernando]

Remember VARIG DC 10 to Belem, Manaus, Recife, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro non stop flights. Great memories ☺️

[@johannesbols57]

I live on Lower Queen Anne Hill in Seattle, under final approach to SEA when the wind is from the South. Airliners are so quiet now it's hard to tell if they're taking off or landing because the sound level is almost identical.

[@RyanBomar]

@Helicopterpilot16, the MD-11 has winglets. The MD-10 is a DC-10 modernized with a glass cockpit making it a two man crew along with a few other various enhancements.

[@steveskouson9620]

Another interesting thing. You look at the wing, you can see pretty much everything the pilot is thinking. That straight section, before the wing tapers off, the piece that looks curved, the inner aileron. Inboard and outboard of that, are the flaps. You can tell the outboard aileron, because it also has a spoiler on it, just forward of the aileron. Pilot wants to bank left, (and turn left) the left aileron moves up, as well as the spoilers. Turning right, since we're watching the left wing, ailerons will go down. Ailerons are quite interesting. On a small aircraft, too much aileron control will roll the fuselage, but also make the aircraft yaw in the other direction. Hence the spoilers. steve

[@friendlysky7674]

Your referring to flight 191. Although this is what a view definitely looked like

[@ELPJM09]

Unfortunately wide body jets flying domestic routes is very rare now. I flew from Dallas-Forth Worth to Miami a couple years ago and it was on a Boeing 737-800.

[@iwenttobunnings7868]

It's quite interesting hearing about wise body/long range aircraft flying domestically. I live in Australia, and besides the A330-300's that fly from Sydney to Perth, all of our domestic flights are either 737-800's, or A320-200's. Even some regional flights are of those two models.

[@RyanBomar]

@otterman11, thanks. The other flights were not recorded, sorry.

[@otterman11]

Great video, Ryan. Anymore like it? Perhaps the departure from DFW to MIA?

[@Helicopterpilot16]

@RyanBomar Cool, is there any change to the fedex 727's. I see them parked at the cargo ramp yet I've never seen one in action yet.

[@jahwangful]

Notorious MD series !

[@joelt4416]

I had the scariest take off on a DC-10. Varig GIG - MIA. back in 1990. We got downgraded from a 747. That thing was so heavy I thought it'd never rotate. We used every inch of that runway!

[@varigdc10]

+carleton morris What's important is you are still alive, probably had a bunch of "caipirinhas" on the way to Idlewild, the DC-10, probably the sexiest airliner of all time, regards to you...................

[@jacobnathanielzpayag3885]

You were lucky that you were on a DC-10. If it was a 767 I highly doubt the survivability of the flight

[@goodfella2400]

The DC-10-30 had more legs than people give it credit for

[@sce2aux464]

Summer in GIG?

[@christopherescott6787]

No huge flex,no ugly winglets and shiny aluminum. Yep. THIS was the real deal.

[@ChrisZoomER]

You got to fly on AA's Luxury Liner, that's so awesome!

[@AeroTurk]

Thats crazy quite

[@jakeianmartinez9902]

Wish u also film the cabin interior. I heard the legroom here was the best

[@Helicopterpilot16]

@RyanBomar Damn that had to be a loud jet! I love the old jet engines. I'm going to be really pissed when the JT8D Is gone, its the closest thing to a vintage jet sound. yet doesn't even compare to a Lear 23 24 or 25 or a dc-8.

[@anim-yaya4640]

Bro thankgod ur srill alive

[@RyanBomar]

@Helicopterpilot16, I can't read the reg on this one but it's safe to say it is or was flying around as an MD-10 for FedEx.

[@RyanBomar]

@Helicopterpilot16, FedEx had upgraded some of their 727's to the "Super 27" but I think that all 727's in service today remain 3 person flight decks (someone correct me if I'm wrong). UPS did an odd thing with the 727-100, they installed the Rolls-Royce Tay engines and also had a glass cockpit. You see a UPS 727 taking off and you hear a Gulfstream IV :)

[@JacobTJ1]

one beautiful airplane in the best American Livery

[@Yesnomaybeidontknowcan]

lol the dc-10 pilots of those days must have been the sheriff's of the airport!

[@zippyjetbernstein]

Where was this DC-10 flying to? Usually when you are landing at MIA you come in from the west over the Everglades. On departing MIA, you get the scenic flight path taking you out over Miami Beach and out over the Atlanic.

[@Helicopterpilot16]

@RyanBomar I'm also currently using Cyberlink PowerDirector!

[@miguelgabriel7568]

On board?? Lindo vídeo..ficaria melhor se tivesse mais duração e mostrasse o interior e detalhes internos do dc10

[@JupiterTechnology12.000]

Legendary Trijet The DC10

[@thebrummierailenthusiasts5329]

As of today all the dc10 planes are now gone because 2014 was the very last flying for them before scrapping

[@ikolkyo967]

Good aircraft, Horrible history.

[@mh295zerbernak]

classic

[@bunnyrabbits35]

What's the plane's destination?

[@hananokuni2580]

Concourses G and H can be seen in this video, over 20 years before the opening of Concourse J.

[@JupiterTechnology12.000]

This Aircraft is Identical to the Plane that Crashed in Chicago in 1979 American Airlines 191

[@williamtoad8040]

Damn those OG 707s has some major emissions issues

[@gamingwithmattsocool3661]

They should bring the dc-10 back

[@Helicopterpilot16]

@RyanBomar I just say the DC-10 has no winglets, MD's Have them.

[@vacuumtube56]

Where is part 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 etc.... LOL Nice Flight and no camera turbulence

[@yoyoyoyoshua]

were there MD80's there. I there were 727's but I thought I saw a MD80

[@Zach-xc3vd]

yoyoyoyoshua they’re still md80s lol

[@Howrider65]

Glad they did not use a fork lift on these engines.

[@kaamfiniti]

what kind of marshall in was that 😂

[@joelt4416]

I used to hate this airplane, it just seemed like a pig on the runway but now I miss it! :(

[@DJSI3434]

B727-200. @ 1:27

[@ayhanbaseren6360]

What is the serial number of this DC-10 aircraft? I wonder about the cargo door. It is very dangerous when blasts off in flight.

[@mehmetokay7073]

A robust airframe.

[@iwilleatyourentirefamily9694]

Avgeeks before moment

[@VishNChips]

Amazing video, but @ikolkyo967 is right, the DC-10's history is tainted with accidents and fatalities...But nevertheless, it's still a beautiful bird and will be surely remembered for decades!

[@graziellabosco8791]

ho viaggiato con American da Milano Malpensa a Chicago. Sulla CNN la pubblicità descriveva la comodità dei sedili spaziosi e confortevoli. Nulla di più falso: erano scomodissimi. In compenso il biglietto aereo costava di meno.

[@Helicopterpilot16]

I love seening fedex dc-10's at MSP! They have suck a sexy looking body!

[@sswwaaggyyzadar]

Who else is here because of the crash on May 25, 1979

[@Astrobucks2]

Yup. In fact I got kind of queasy watching this one roll to the left on takeoff. Those people on 191 probably thought it was a normal roll and it just kept sinking.

[@friendlysky7674]

@@Astrobucks2 I wonder why it rolled left.

[@danielshon]

The DC-10 the most dangerous plane in the history

[@sce2aux464]

Wrong.

[@john2k24]

It most certainly isn’t lol

[@Chorizo727]

Another dumb useless comment.

[@melanieenglert931]

Imagine the engine flying off and over the wing at 1:51 and everyone being dead by 2:21. RIP AA 191.