The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is an early long-range narrow-body jetliner designed and produced by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. Work began in 1952 towards the United States Air Force's (USAF) requirement for …

Sep 20, 2024 · On August 21, 1961, during a test flight to validate wing design improvements, a DC-8-43 powered by Rolls Royce Conway engines destined for Canadian Pacific exceeded Mach 1 in a dive from 52,090 ft to 42,000ft. Subsequent DC-8 test flights set altitude and range records that were never bettered by first-generation commercial jets.

DC-8-63/73 - Wing span 45.23m (148ft 5in), length 57.12m (187ft 5in), height 12.92m (45ft 5in). Wing area 271.9m2 (2927sq ft). Flightcrew of three. Max seating capacity 259 or standard seating for between 180 and 220 in Series 61, 63, 71 & 73. Super 62 & 72 standard seating for 189.

The Douglas DC-8 is a four-engine long-range Jet Airliner with a capacity of maximum 259 passengers produced by the US-American manufacturer Douglas Aircraft Company. A freighter variant of the DC-8 was available also.

Although outwardly similar to the competing 707 with a swept low-mounted wing and four podded turbojet engines, the DC-8 incorporated many innovations of its own, including advanced servicabilty and reliabilty features.

On August 21, 1961 a Douglas DC-8 broke the sound barrier at Mach 1.012 or 660 mph while in a controlled dive through 41,000 feet. The flight was to collect data on a new leading-edge design for the wing. The DC-8 became the first civilian jet to make a supersonic flight.

The Douglas DC-8-71 was designed with a low-wing sweeping backwards design. The wing was at the 30 degrees angle with two engines on each wing. The cabin diameter was 11 feet.

The DC-8 Skybus, Douglas Model 1004, was a radically new design intended to replace the DC-3 on short-to-medium range routes. It would carry twice the passengers at half the seat-mile cost of the DC-3. Using design and performance data gained from the XB-42, which first flew on May 6, 1944, Douglas designers

The DC-8-61 had the same engines, pylons, and wings like the DC-8-55. Its wing has a span of 45.24 meters. It has a wheelbase of 20.62 meters. The aircraft has a cabin length of 50.1 meters, width of 3.51 meters and height of 2.21 meters. It can accommodate 180 to 220 passengers in a mixed-class seating, or 259 passengers in a high density setting.

The Douglas DC-8 was an American piston-engined airliner project by Douglas Aircraft. A concept developed more than a decade before the DC-8 jetliner, the piston-engined DC-8 was to have propellers in the tail, an idea first used at Douglas by Edward F. Burton on a fighter project. [1]