Customer Reviews

McDonnell Douglas DC-9 (Great Airliners Series, Vol. 4)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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Well written, complete history of DC9, including those variants that never made it off the drawing board. Would like to see more about the aerodynamic design decisions made in the design process, but that may not appeal to all readers. Overall, very interesting to anyone who flies, maintains, operates, or just likes the -9.

I have reviewed many books regarding the DC-9 but I have never seen a book about this aircraft that covers both the design phase and the major operators of the aircraft. Any airline that has ever operated the DC-9 is referenced in this book and includes all color schemes of the airlines. For anyone who is interested in collecting books about airliners this is a must have.

Retired MDC employee Terry Waddington has produced the definitive history on the DC-9 series 10-50. After a discussion of early concepts that were never built, he moves into the begininng of the DC-9 program, covering development, construction and flight testing. The book is well illustrated with photographs from MDC and other photographers and most of the DC-9 operators are represented. One problem, for which author and publisher cannot be blamed, is that some of the early Douglas photos seem to have been taken on cheap film (or been processed with cheap chemicals/paper) and have color-shifted. Most photos, however, are excellent due, no doubt, to the widespread use of Kodachrome among aviation photographers. All "standard" DC-9 models are discussed but space limitations prevent coverage of the DC-9-80, later MD-80 (aka "Mad Dog"). This ultimate DC-9 stretch is briefly mentioned in chapter XV, however.

All in all, this book is the definitive history of the DC-9 family and will no doubt be sought after by collectors long after it is out of print.

This is a really informative and interesting book. My father was an airline pilot who retired in 1986 flying the DC-9s, originally with North Central, then Republic and eventually Northwest. He and I found this book to be very interesting to read with lots of really nice photos of the DC-9 in lots of airline's liveries including many of the excellent airlines who utilized the plane who are no longer flying. I would recommend this to anyone who has any interest in the DC-9. It also has a nice list of every DC-9 ever made when it was delivered and if it is still flying. All and all a really good book.

Trans Texas, AirWest, Bonanza and more. The Great Airliners series of books are consistently great. Lots of pics, good reading and of course, fleet lists. Highly recommended.