United Airlines, Douglas DC-8 jetliners at ORD, 1991

Video of arriving, ground handling, landing and departing of United Airlines stretch DC-8's at Chicago O'Hare Field (ORD). The DC-8-71, the last of UAL's once mighty Douglas DC-8 fleet (going back to September 18, 1959) apparently had around a year to operate in service when this was recorded within the busy United O'Hare terminal on May 28, 1991.
Note that the DC-8 required a ground power unit to start its' four engines as it lacked an APU (auxiliary power unit) on board. UAL would have its' Pratt & Whitney JT3D-3B turbofan powered DC-8-61's re-engine with GE/SNECMA CFM-56 high bypass engines leading to the new designation of DC-8-71. This conversion was performed in the early 1980's.
Hey, how 'bout that dedicated United employee with the conveyor truck making that last minute placement of apparently a late passenger's luggage on board the DC-8 jetliner AFTER it was pushed back from the gate. Talk about service!

[@user-tk3fq9md6i]

Love the old United logo and colors.

[@davef.2329]

I got to fly some of these starting not long after UAL sold them and they were converted to freighters. I recall when we initially went to UAL's training facility at the former Denver Stapleton, the folks on the instructor staff, especially the older guys, were quite envious of us having the "privilege" to fly their favorite airplane. Our main instructor, who was well up in his years, had flown one of UAL's very first DC-8 flights in 1959, and in his post-60 flying years, had flown one of their very final DC-8 flights in the early 90s from the FE's position. The older UAL academy folks will know exactly who I'm speaking of. He's likely gone by now, so RIP K.S.

[@joer5571]

Ken Skapa, had him as initial DC-8 FE ground school instructor as a new hire at United 7-89… Great guy, great instructor, if there was something about the DC-8 that he didn’t know, it wasn’t worth knowing… RIP Ken…

[@UALDC10]

Hard to believe those birds were still flying passengers into the 90s

[@aviationlba747]

Terrific! Love to see footage of the old Diesel 8s in passenger service.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

"Diesel 8s," I never heard that description, but it does sound right.

[@clivehutt2709]

Re Engined DC8 the last one I flew on was from Chicago to Seattle in the late 1980's beautiful aircraft and they had those big leather seats in first. Did a lot of flights on Thai in those DC8s they had silk curtains on the windows.

[@twincitiesdashcam9119]

I remember flying on one of these back in the early 80's from Denver to Honolulu. It was a really nice trip.

[@WilliamMoriaty-hp3fp]

My favorite of all planes. Used to fly the 61's and 71's on Delta between ATL and TPA in the 70's and 80's. The first 71 series I ever saw was a UAL in MCO in early 1983. A truly timeless and beautiful design.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

I agree, the Douglas DC-8 was a beautiful design not to mention a practical one as well. I only flew once domestically in July 1976 on a DC-8. That was a Delta Air Lines flight on a series 50 from New Orleans to Chicago (ORD). Come to think of it, that was the last time I ever flew on Delta!

[@lanerailvideo5928]

Flew one of these United DC8's back in 1982 or 1983, from SEATAC to Reno. Hit a pocket of air on descent at about 10,000 feet, the stewardess was picking up last minute items. It about dropped her to knee's as she nearly split a drink on some of us nearby passengers. We were just glad she was alright. Only flew on one once, but having the memories of that day is pretty neat. The trip was also the first flight I learned about the flight deck channel, even at 9 years old at the time, I thought the radio chatter was rather intersting. I miss that, & the plane too.

[@jimbjorenson3636]

I was lucky enough to catch a flight on one of the United DC-8s from Orlando to Des Moines.....there were only 4 total passengers and I had the run of the whole plane.....this was in 1988.

[@gw78787]

I absolutely loved the DC8!! It was so comfortable and had huge windows!! Similar to that of the DC9’s.

[@gw78787]

Took them a lifetime getting that jet bridge to the plane!

[@rainbowgateway9425]

There were very few of these left but still I saw them at ORD when my career with Simmons (American Eagle) began in 1991 (Fall).

[@markdorais2846]

Miss this Beautiful Jetliner

[@seeburg220]

I flew on one just like this in 1978 or 79, from IAD-PDX (United). I was 13 and remember the plane only being 1/3 full. The F/A told.my brother and I that we could go pick our own row of seats. Man, was that a long aisle!

[@WAL_DC-6B]

Thanks for your recollection of a trip on a stretch DC-8! I flew on Loftleidir "stretch eights" round trip from Chicago to Iceland in 1975. It was a full flight on the return trip. That was one, totally filled plane (all six across, cramped seating-no first class and I had a middle seat). There was always a line in the back of the plane where the four lavatories were located.

[@seeburg220]

@@WAL_DC-6BIn the late 1980's, Iceland Air used to fly one out of BWI to Reykjavik. It wasn't a stretch-8 and it had the older engines (underpowered). That plane had such a shallow climb rate on takeoff, it looked like it was going to crash. In reality, it was probably fine, but compared to the newer jets of the day, it sure seemed like it was struggling to get airborne.

[@vintagesupermarkets5210]

That’s some awesome DC-8 pax service footage in the twilight of its career with UA. DC-8s flew in pax service in Canada until about 1995.

[@craigjackson2428]

Great vintage video of the 8s as a time capsule. Remember when Delta operated their 8s as well. I started out with UPS part time next day air in Louisville marshalling the second hand reengined CFM DC-8s to and from parking stands. I remember to start the engines the mechanic' s used air starts and ground power units we positioned. Thanks for sharing!!!

[@melrose9252]

I flew in a Delta DC-8-71 from Atlanta to Orlando. Nice ride back in ‘83.

[@fredgarvinmaleprostitute6451]

My uncle was a pilot for United and he told me the DC-8 was his favorite out of all the planes he flew! he liked the DC-8 more than the 747-400 he retired from!

[@marcchavez6658]

darthfurious80: if your uncles still around thank him for me i might have been a passenger on one his flights; DC8 was the smoothest most comfortable flying transcontinental jet in my book, as a UAL brat got enjoy lots flight time from home base ORD to JFK, HNL, LAX, SFO and back. Remembering the days when te pilots used to invite kids like me to sit in the pilot seat- mid flight

[@ab348]

I never realized the baggage area door was on the underside. That’s a pretty clever system with those curved-bottom bins.

[@scottnichols3685]

That was an option unique to United’s DC-8s and could be very problematic. The underside loading was prone to jamming and failure.

[@GeneralHawk505]

What an interesting way to unload and load the baggage containers on the DC8....

[@WAL_DC-6B]

Yes, it was quite an innovative way of loading a jetliner back in the late 1950s when DC-8s first became operational.

[@bearpaw72]

My very first flight in 1979 may have been on a DC-8. It was with Air Canada in 1979. It was a round trip from Vancouver to Winnipeg and back. Actually, the airline had two types with the 3-3 cross seating configuration - the DC-8 and the Boeing 727-200, and I had no knowledge of planes back then. I'm not exactly sure what the make was on the first flight because I didn't notice anything about the plane to suggest which type it was. But I know that the return flight was a DC-8 because my brother and I looked out the window of the plane and we pondered what the two engines hanging forward below the wings were.

[@ab348]

My first flight of any distance was on an AC DC-8 in 1982, Halifax to Tampa. I remember thinking it must have been pretty old because the window shade pulls had a “Douglas” logo instead of McDonnell Douglas but I didn’t know when they merged. On the way home a week later I got the same aircraft and it was almost empty. I had most of the area around me to myself and a flight attendant joined me to chat for much of the trip. Seemed a very big airplane to me.

[@billr2220]

DC-8-71 cool new engines.

[@mauriceboykin4422]

Re engine dc8 71 with cfm-56 engines

[@sbentjies]

Great footage. I was enthralled with the cargo hoist-now I have to see how it works

[@Rodgerball]

The DC-8 did not have a self-contained APU (auxiliary power unit) which normally supplies compressed air and electric power while on the ground (ie at the gate) It was necessary to use a ground, compressed air cart (aka start cart) to start the engines at the gate prior to pushback. Also, the engines needed to be started before the ground electric cables were able to be disconnected or the aircraft would be relegated to powering only the emergency electrical (essential) systems through the aircraft battery and only for a limited amount of time (30 minutes max).

[@rainbowgateway9425]

I guess they weren't concerned about weight at that time?

[@jjouney]

Wow! This certainly brought back memories, thanks for sharing this! I really do miss these birds.

[@macktravels68]

Outstanding!!

[@ryankenyon5010]

Flew on one OMA-ORD in April 1985. Spectacular!

[@jerryhenson3916]

Holy cow, thank you for this. I used to love seeing these when I was a kid, and was very fortunate to fly on one a couple of times. Oh, this takes me back.

[@CodiganKelly1983]

Beautiful aircraft. Would have loved to have ridden in it.

[@nigeldallas9054]

Such a graceful bird, similar to the A340-600 . I would have loved to have flown on one. There's always the model version! Inflight 200 make great models of DC-8s , as do Aeroclassics, latest being Eastern Airlines DC-8-61 N8778 wearing the hockey stick livery .(January 2020)

[@doug9066]

I've seen models from Aero Classic 200 as Inflight200. I have a United Airlines ftom Inflight200 in the colors before this one. Looks like a beautiful plane which never seen one in person, this plane is older than me which I wasn't born until 1967.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

I remember back about 1984 when I met someone who had a Douglas Factory Model of an all metal (aluminum) 1/50 scale Delta Airlines (delivery "widget" markings) DC-8-61 complete with stand and machined pivot. In really nice condition too. At the time it was going for about $400.00. Doesn't seem like much now, but back then it was quite a bit of money.

[@nigeldallas9054]

@@doug9066 Look after it Doug, be worth money in years to come. I have a few DC-8s in United livery. Friendship , Stars 'n bars , Saul Bass. Canadian Pacific DC-8 being my last.

[@melvyncox3361]

@Nigel Dallas Yes,the model versions are nice.l have DC-8s in 1/400 and 1/200 of all the variants.My favourite airliner! Both the infight and aeroclassics are good,as are the 1/400 Gemini 70s👍

[@melvyncox3361]

@@nigeldallas9054 P.s;Waiting for the UPS 73 at the moment....

[@OHAREAVIATION]

LOVE this one...

[@WAL_DC-6B]

+Jay's O'HareAviation Plane Spotting HD Thanks, Jay. Your channel with all the HD O'Hare Field airliner activity is terrific! Wish I had an HD camera 25 years ago when I shot scenes like this.

[@OHAREAVIATION]

Dan Uscian too bad it took so long for us to advance to HD but I still love seeing these shots HD or not.

[@seeburg220]

There's a movie featuring the DC-8, called The Pilot, starring Cliff Robertson.

[@jamieburroughs427]

They should have done a re-engine conversion to the 727s and DC9s as well since the Pratt & Whitney JT8Ds made the 727s and DC9s just as loud as the JT3Ds that originally powered the DC8s

[@davidharris2519]

love the 8

[@freddyhoyt1849]

I was 22 years old in 1991 my college days

[@davidharris2519]

never deptd ORD on a 8 but arrived on a 8 from DEN

[@WAL_DC-6B]

I departed ORD and arrived at ORD on a Loftleidir stretch 8 to and from Keflavik, Iceland back in 1975.

[@fishodorvagina]

One of the baffling things about DC-8's is that they always started their engines before push back instead of after push back like all other planes.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

It's really not that baffling. The DC-8, like many early jetliners such as the Boeing 707, didn't have an auxiliary power unit (APU) on board the aircraft that provided the power necessary to start its' engines. Instead, the DC-8 required a portable ground unit which produced the power to start its engines. You can see that in action on my video. Thanks for your comment!

[@slytherin3034]

What did the pilots do if engines needed to be restarted during flight?

[@nomasknoway9903]

@@slytherin3034 Simply introduce fuel and ignition, since ram air is obviously being provided by forward flight.

[@stevehofmaster4292]

Nice looking❤ D8

[@marcchavez6658]

7:48 The UAL box truck running parallel to the runway is a food service truck that has a lift for loading all the goodies in to the plane. My dad, two uncles, my cousin, and my brother worked at OHare in food servc kitchen for narrow body, ramp service, liqour dept, and cargo not mention my sister inlaw at SFO wonder who had the most relatives working there. BTW nice shot of the cargo loading, but i missed the food servc truck, did they not any?

[@WAL_DC-6B]

I probably wasn't around at the time the catering truck was replenishing the food supply. I only worked for the airline industry once. That was back in the 1970's and I was a pot/pan cleaner for Sky Chiefs (American Airlines) at O'Hare. It was rough work scrubbing pans that had been used to cook scrambled eggs (and that was in pre-Teflon days!).

[@incheon]

The memories of growing up with these! Thank you for uploading this!

[@jimbranca1565]

beautiful bird!!!

[@CurtReynolds]

That's a nice 727-223 in the background.

[@travelsonic]

*-222

[@bendovjoachim7748]

Pretty planes

[@AlonsoRules]

This was filmed 2 days after Lauda Air Flight 004. Everyone would have been on edge.

[@Mgaffo222]

Anthony Kernich I don’t see why Flight 004 was a 767 not a Dc8

[@zEternus]

Jesus that crash was horrific.

[@zEternus]

@@Mgaffo222 why not a 767

[@DL_Productions]

Is so similar to A340-600 :3

[@willamisbezerra1292]

👍👍👍👌👌😉😉

[@n310ea]

Do they start all 4 engines with the siren cart?

[@WAL_DC-6B]

Yes

[@nomasknoway9903]

@@WAL_DC-6B Not necessarily. Pilots typically started all four with the air-start cart because it provided for a cooler starting temperature and minimized the possibility of an overtemp. Once one engine was started however, the pilots could open the pneumatic cross bleed air valve to start the remaining engines, but at the cost of a higher temperature startup. Sometimes we would land at remote airports where start carts were scarce or inoperable, so on quick turnarounds we'd shut down three engines to allow for safe ground operations and leave one running to restart the other three.

[@WAL_DC-6B]

@@nomasknoway9903 Thanks for setting the record straight!