Stretched to the Limit

MCDONNELL MD-82

Fleet No. Regn. MSN Delivery Date Remarks 9062 N941 AS 49925 12 Nov 98 Ex-Alaska Airlines. 9409 N9409F 53121 31 Mar 94 Ex-Compass Airlines. 9406 N9406W 53126 29 Jul 93 9401 N9401W 53137 19 Jul 93 9402 N9402W 53138 28Jun 93 9403 N9403W 53139 28 Jun 93 9404 N9404V 53140 24 Jul 93 9405 N9405T 53141 12 Jul 93 9412 N9412W 53187 31 Aug 95 9413 N9413T 53488 29 Sep 95 9414 N9414W 53489 27 0(195 9511 N951TW 53570 28 Jun 96 Ex-Alaska Airlines. 9630 N9630A 53561 13 May 97 9615 N9615W 53562 29 Jul 97 9616 N9616G 53563 26 Aug 97 9617 N9617R 53564 26 Sep 97 9618 N9618A 53565 24 Oct 97 9619 N9619V 53566 2 Dec 97 9620 N9620D 53591 18 Nov 97 9621 N9621A 53592 30 Jun 98 9622 N9622A 53593 11 Aug 98 9624 N9624T 53594 9625 N9625W 53595 21 Oct 98 9626 N9626F 53596 30 Nov 98 9627 N9627R 53597 15 Dec 98 9628 N9628W 53598 26 Jan 99	Fleet No. Regn. MSN Delivery Date Remarks 9629 N9629H 53599 16 Feb 99 9661 N961TW 53611 12 May 99 9662 N962TW 53612 20 May 99 9663 N963TW 53613 25 May 99 9664 N964TW 53614 8 Jun 99 9665 N965TW 53615 18Jun 99 9666 N966TW 53616 29 Jun 99 9667 N967TW 53617 7 Jul 99 9668 N968TW 53618 19 Jul 99 9669 N969TW 53619 27 Jul 99 9670 N9701W 53620 9 Aug 99 9671 N971TW 53621 18 Aug 99 9672 N972TW 53622 27 Aug 99 9673 N973TW 53623 10 Sep 99 9674 N974TW 53624 17 Sep 99 9675 N975TW 53625 27 Sep 99 9676 N976TW 53626 8 Oct 99 9677 N9677W 53627 29 Oct 99 9678 N978TW 53628 20 Oct 99 9679 N979TW 53629 10 Nov 99 9680 N9801W 53630 18 Nov 99 9681 N9681В 53631 30 Nov 99 9682 N982TW 53632 10 Dec 99 9683 N983TW 53633 17 Dec 99 9684 N984TW 53634 28 Dec 99 N984TW was the last Douglos (McDonnell Douglas) MD-80 built, and named, appropriately, Spirit of Long Beach.
MD-83 (N9402W) in flight.

Delivery scheme for the first DC-9-80s sported a bare-metal upper vertical fin. This was later painted all white to conform to other TWA aircraft.

An Old Tradition

Back in the 1930s, the Douglas company had shown considerable enterprise in developing its original twin piston-engined world-beater, the legendary DC-3. Later, in the 1940s and 1950s, it did the same with the four-engined DC-4/6/7 series; and continued the tradition of “stretch­ing” the fuselage with the DC-8 jets. It did even better with the short-haul twin-jet, the DC-9, which went into service with Delta in 1965 (see page 77). This started off as an airliner with as few as 65 seats (or up to 109 in all-economy layout); but with progressive improvements, especially in more engine power, its fuselage was stretched as never before. The Series 10’s 104-foot length was increased by 15 feet for the Series 30, and further extensions, permitting extra rows of seats, were made with the Series 40 and 50.

The Dash 80

The ultimate challenge to the Douglas engineers came when their project office proposed a fur­ther 15-foot stretch of the Series 50. This became the Series 80, or the Super 80, and follow­ing the inevitable change of nomenclature resulting from the McDonnell Douglas merger in the late 1960s, this highly successful airliner was known as the MD-80. Remarkably, its additional length, devoted entirely to the passenger cabin, permitted a seating capacity of 172, twice as many as in the first DC-9-10. The first airline to put this version, a DC-9-81, into service was Swissair, on 5 October 1980. T. W.A. took delivery of its first MD-82 in April 1983, and liked it so much that it kept buying more of both the 82 and the 83 variants. It even bought some of Swissair’s 81s and converted them to 82s.

Last of the Line

Deliveries of this fine airliner, with its unmistakable silhouette in the sky, continued until the end of 1999. The last one went to St. Louis on 28 December of that year. It had taken off from the factory where the airplane was first conceived and developed, at Long Beach, California; and although T. W.A. had abandoned its practice of naming its aircraft at the end of the piston-engined propeller era, this was a special case. T. W.A. fleet number 9654, manufacturer’s serial number (msn) 53634, registration number N984TW, was proudly named the Spirit of Long Beach.

Engines Pratt & Whitney JT8D-217C (20,000 lb) x 2 Length 148 feet

MGT0W 140,0001b Span 108 feet

Range 1,500 miles Height 30 feet