Farewell B717

CXRules · Post by **CXRules** » 08 Feb 2006, 21:16

The last B717 is being produced in Long Beach, CA. Once called the MD-95, the last B717 will deliver to Air Trans Airways. This basically marks the last MD-designed plane ever made in Long Beach after more than 15,000 planes.

http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/200 ... 8a_pr.html

DFW · Post by **DFW** » 08 Feb 2006, 21:25

Douglas had a great run, a lot of great airplanes. You hate to see it end. I wonder how much future innovation we will see from only two airframe manufacturers.

MX727 · Post by **MX727** » 08 Feb 2006, 21:37

This is sad news......
Regards,
JAHC

Buzz · Post by **Buzz** » 08 Feb 2006, 22:27

Sad news indeed! I allways loved the T-tailed planes... (real jets, not regional jets)

A logical move by Boeing, since it never sold that well...
Boeing completely transformed the assembly line to a moving line only a year or 2-3 ago, and now the line is shut down... That indicates that Boeing really expected the line to last longer I guess.

Small remark: it's AirTran Airways, not Air Trans Airways

DFW · Post by **DFW** » 08 Feb 2006, 22:54

Buzz wrote: Small remark: it's AirTran Airways, not Air Trans Airways

Formerly known as ValueJet. How they overcame the stigma of the DC-9 crash in Florida due to improper handling of oxygen canisters, I have no idea. But lucky for Boeing they managed to survive and take delivery of the 717's.

rollinvertedandpull · Post by **rollinvertedandpull** » 09 Feb 2006, 01:23

How they overcame the stigma? By buying another small airline, merging, changing the ValueJet name to Air Tran, moving their headquarters from Atlanta to Orlando, and hiring a bunch of Eastern scabs to man the cockpits.

YYZ727 · Post by **YYZ727** » 09 Feb 2006, 09:37

This is real sad news. i always thought the DC & MD-jets were the most elegant around (exception made for the DC-10)

n5528p · Post by **n5528p** » 09 Feb 2006, 10:59

DFW wrote:I wonder how much future innovation we will see from only two airframe manufacturers.

Thatt's the point...

Bernhard

sab319 · Post by **sab319** » 09 Feb 2006, 12:57

Sad to see the last maddog rolling out, i wished they would have been produced for longer...

chornedsnorkack · Post by **chornedsnorkack** » 09 Feb 2006, 13:10

How long do you think does it take for Ilyushin to catch up to the extent that Il-96 or 106 or whatever number they are at is truly competitive (for export) with Boeing 787, Boeing 777, Airbus 340, Airbus 350 and Boeing Y3 et cetera?

sn-remember · Post by **sn-remember** » 09 Feb 2006, 13:50

Well.. How long do you think does it take for Volga the russian car manufacturer to catch up to the extent that their production is truly competitive (for export) with say Mercedes or Bmw ? ;o)

Post by **sn26567** » 09 Feb 2006, 14:49

More than the end of the B717, it is the end of the whole Douglas saga. Sad, indeed! Douglas was oncce the dominant aircraft manufacturer: remember the DC3, DC6 and DC7. The DC8 however came too late after the Boeing 707 and that was the beginning of the end. The DC10 and the MD11 were even more behind the 747. The DC9 could have made the difference again after it successfully won the battle with the French Caravelle, but these hopes were damped after the introduction of the 737. Sic transit gloria mundi...

The demise of the 717 was written in the books as soon as McDonnell Douglas was purchased by Boeing. The 717 represented too much of a competition (at too high costs) for the 737.

chornedsnorkack · Post by **chornedsnorkack** » 09 Feb 2006, 15:17

Is it true that Douglas came to be thanks to a blunder by Boeing?

Boeing built Boeing 247. An excellent craft - and a lot of airlines asked for it.

Boeing, however, could not sell any because all the planes they would be able to make were already sold to United. So the airlines asked for anyone to come up with something similar.

So Douglas build prototype DC-1 and then service DC-2. DC-2 was as good as Boeing 247 and fixed a bug of 247 - namely that 247 had a wing spar across the aisle floor.

And then Douglas produced the Douglas Sleeper Transport DC-3...

earthman · Post by **earthman** » 09 Feb 2006, 15:50

sn-remember wrote:Well.. How long do you think does it take for Volga the russian car manufacturer to catch up to the extent that their production is truly competitive (for export) with say Mercedes or Bmw ? ;o)

Skoda did not take long to become competitive. Of course, they were taken over by VW before that happened. It would be interesting to see what would happen if, say, Bombardier or Embraer would take over Ilyushin. (Before Airbus and Boeing grab all of their engineers)

fokker_f27 · Post by **fokker_f27** » 09 Feb 2006, 17:35

Well, here ends the story of douglas. The 717-200 was never really a successful aircraft.

Knight255 · Post by **Knight255** » 09 Feb 2006, 19:03

Douglass underwent many challenges in the 70's as their DC-10 had stiff competition with the L-1011 and their series of fatal crashes. Not only that, by all accounts, the 737 is a much more economical plane. Due to that, and several other set backs, they would never be as competitive as Boeing. Only reason why AA bought the MD-80......they got 3 MD-80's for the price of one 737 in the 1980's. Now that's an easy way to become the world's largest airline.

8)

Aerocroatia · Post by **Aerocroatia** » 09 Feb 2006, 22:40

This will be my worst day in my life, when last B717 leave Long Beach. It means the last my most favourite plane DC-9/MD-80/MD-90/B717.

MX727 · Post by **MX727** » 09 Feb 2006, 23:43

Only reason why AA bought the MD-80......they got 3 MD-80's for the price of one 737 in the 1980's.

8O It's that true Knight???? Sounds like a hell of a deal...you can't refuse that! Anyway, its sad to se the maddogs fade away. Hope to see the ones in Aeromexico fly for a long time, although they are already substituting them with 737-700's .

Regards,
JAHC

DFW · Post by **DFW** » 10 Feb 2006, 00:05

Yeah, I enjoyed flying in Hawaiian Air's 717 (all 15 minutes of it anyways between islands). Never did like AA's MD-80's though. I'm glad they are replacing them with 737's, though I would have preferred A319's.

Knight255 · Post by **Knight255** » 10 Feb 2006, 00:42

Never did like AA's MD-80's though. I'm glad they are replacing them with 737's

Are they??

I can't say much more cause I signed a confidentiality form.

It's that true Knight???? Sounds like a hell of a deal...you can't refuse that!

That's what I was told by the 737 Fleet Captain, so I would think it is true.