The
McDonnell Douglas MD-80 is a family of twin-engine, short- to medium-range, single-aisle commercial jet airliners. The
MD-80 series was lengthened and updated from the
DC-9. The airliner family can seat from 130 to 172 passengers depending on variant and seating configuration.
The MD-80 series was introduced into commercial service on
October 10,
1980 by Swissair. The series includes the MD-81,
MD-82,
MD-83,
MD-87, and
MD-88. These all have the same fuselage length except the shortened MD-87. The MD-80 series was followed into service in modified form by the
MD-90 in
1995 and the
MD-95/
Boeing 717 in
1999.
In
January 1985 McDonnell Douglas announced it would produce a shorter fuselage MD-80 variant, designated MD-87 (DC-9-87), which would seat between
109 and 130 passengers depending upon configuration. The designation was intended to indicate its planned date of entry into service,
1987.
Dimensions: With an overall length of 130 ft 5 in (39.75 m), the MD-87 is 17 ft 4 in (5.28 m) shorter than the other MD-80s but is otherwise generally similar to them, employing the same engines, systems and flight deck. The MD-87 features modifications to its tail, with a fin extension above the tailplane. It also introduced a new low drag "beaver" tail cone, which became standard on all MD-80s.
Powerplant: The MD-87 was offered with either the 20,
000 lbf (89 kN) thrust JT8D-217C or the 21,000 lbf (93 kN) thrust -219.
Performance: Two basic versions of the MD-87 were made available with either an
MTOW of
140,000 lb (64,000 kg) and
MLW of 128,000 lb (58,000 kg) or an MTOW of 149,000 lb (68,000 kg) and an MLW of 130,000 lb (59,000 kg).
Fuel capacity is 5,840 US gal (22,
100 l), increasing to 6,970 US gal (26,400 l) with the incorporation of two auxiliary fuel tanks.
Typical range with 130 passengers, is 2,370 nmi (4,390 km) increasing to 2,900 nmi (5,400 km) with two auxiliary fuel tanks.
Cabin: The MD-87 provides typical mixed-class seating for 114 passengers or 130 in an all economy layout (five-abreast 31 in and 32 in seat pitch). The maximum seating, exit limited, is for 139 passengers.
MD-87 timeline:
Announced/go-ahead: January 1985
First flight:
December 4,
1986
FAA certification:
October 21, 1987
First delivery:
November 27, 1987 to
Austrian Airlines
Last delivery: March 27,
1992 to
Scandinavian Airlines (
SAS)
Danish Air Transport A/S, abbreviated
DAT, is an airline in Vamdrup,
Kolding Municipality,
Denmark, operating scheduled and chartered passenger and cargo flights.
Danish Air Transport was founded and started operations in
1989, initially as a cargo airline.
Soon special operations like the transport of live horses or supplies for the
Paris Dakar Rally in
Africa were offered, too.
Passenger charter flights were added in
1994, with the subsequent launch scheduled services on
18 November 1996. DAT flies regular services from Denmark to
Norway as well as domestic flights within
Denmark and Norway.
Photo credit cover picture (MD-87 takeoff:
Carlos Miguel Seabra)
- published: 22 Jan 2016
- views: 4254